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There are several factors that affect the transport
and utilization of oxygen in the body: the respiratory
system, the circulatory system, and the muscular system.
The respiratory system has not been found to be the
limiting factor, since it delivers more oxygen to the
circulatory system than can be transported in the blood
(even during the most strenuous exercise, athletes
exhale more than half of the oxygen they inhale). Some
researcher nowadays believe that the circulatory system
is not the major limiting factor, since muscles do not
extract all of the oxygen that is delivered to them
by the circulatory system. Others maintain that the
circulatory system is the limiting factor. They
think that contracting muscles extract all of the
oxygen from the blood that passes by and could take
more if it was available, and that the oxygen remaining
in the blood after it leaves the muscles is carried by
red blood cells that passed by muscle fibres that were
not contracting.
If the circulatory system is the main limiting factor,
then any type of exercise of the proper intensity is
sufficient for training the circulatory system.
On the other hand, if the muscular system is the
limiting factor, and since training effects in the
muscular system occur only in those fibres that have
been exercised, it is advisable not to substitute
other forms of exercises for swimming, as it is not
clear whether they exercise the same muscle fibres
as swimming does. Thus before there is clear evidence
indicating the limiting factor in oxygen consumption,
it is wise to swim one's major stroke(s) frequently
in training. When training to improve VO2max, one
should pay close attention to rest intervals.
It requires approximately 2-3 minutes for the body
to fully respond to the demand for additional oxygen
and to begin providing it at a maximum rate.
Thus work periods of 3-5 minutes are very effective
because they provide sufficient time to reach one's
present VO2max and then remain there long enough to
produce a training effect. In fact, any distance can
be used for training VO2max if the intensity of swim
and lengths of rest intervals are properly adjusted.
Repeats should be done in sets when training VO2max.
Since the rate of work required to reach VO2max is so
intense, some lactate will be accumulated during the
swims, causing a reduction in speed. When this
happens, oxygen consumption drops and the training
effect is reduced. On the other hand, if the repeats
are done in several sets and a short rest is taken
between each set, there is a better chance that
speed is maintained during the swims and so the
training effect is enhanced.
The following table lists ways to train VO2max
efficiently:
Distance Repeats Rest Interval Speed
50 40-60 10 sec/50 80%-85%
in sets of 50
of 10 speed,
2-3 min.
between sets
75-100 20-30 10-20 sec. 80%-90%
in sets between of 100
of 5-10 repeats pace,
2-3 min.
between sets
150-200 10-20 30 sec. 85%-90%
in sets between of 200
of 3-5 repeats pace,
3 - 5mins
between sets
300, 4-8 2-3 min.+ 80%-90%
400, of race
500 pace
600, 3-4 3-5 min. 80%-90%
700, of race
800 pace
There is evidence that a swimmer can work too hard
that attempts to improve the VO2max or the AT
are interfered with by excess lactate buildup.
Therefore it is important to swim VO2max and AT
training sets at submaximal speeds. It is probably
more effective to swim a large number of repeats at
appropriate speeds than to swim fewer repeats at
a faster pace.
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