I have improved a lot in running from mostly running.
Is the same true for swimming?
I only found this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7871294
but they only write about Vo2max.
Is there any aerobic benefits that comes from the swimming that transfers to bike/run.
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I have improved a lot in running from mostly running.
Is the same true for swimming?
I only found this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7871294
but they only write about Vo2max.
Is there any aerobic benefits that comes from the swimming that transfers to bike/run.
Simple answer: Nope. Fitness is determined by the muscles; they are the units that create energy. Faster energy production = fitter. You can no train one muscle and expect gains in another.
Longer answer: Well, not much. While there is no effect in the running/biking-muscles, there is some central effect, which will mean that when you start running/biking again the central system (heart) is fit already. And since the legs are not 100% limp when you swim, hopefully at least they wont atrophy. There is also a mental effect: You will be more used to push yourself. This is vital in any endurance sport, and it is shown that someone who participates in endurance sports has a higher pain threshold. So yeah, better than nothing but still 100 hours of swimming might not even be worth 1 hour of running in actual run performance.
Interesting, but what about cardiac output and stroke volume (central effects)?
I have improved a lot in running from mostly running.
Is the same true for swimming?
I only found this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7871294
but they only write about Vo2max.
Is there any aerobic benefits that comes from the swimming that transfers to bike/run.
Any time spent with elevated heart rate should be beneficial for aerobic capacity since it is training your heart and should increase your blood’s ability to transport oxygen.
It may not be terribly beneficial in terms of maintaining or increasing muscle capability for running or riding. Muscle size, fibre type and vascular adaptations will as I understand it, only be significantly effected by stress on those particular muscles which may not occur during swimming.
I disagree with the other posters comments.
This may seem pedantic but muscles don’t produce energy, they convert it. Your heart and lungs get fuel and oxygen into your blood stream, your muscles convert this, or locally stored glycogen into movement. Some of the training effect of swimming will translate significantly, other aspects very little.
Another very important thing to remember is that running, being an impact activity, is less tolerant of sudden changes in volume or intensity. You can probably get away with sudden increases in swim and cycle volume but with running you’ll very likely end up with injuries. Swimming will not maintain the ability of your joints, tendons and ligaments to handle the stress of running.
Yes but probably not as directly as we would like.
Many swimmers, especially collegiate level, have mentioned to me that they were surprised at how well they could run when they actually did run. Now this may not be in comparison to other runners - it seemed to be in comparison to their expectations.
Does it help breathing and breath control - yes. Rhythmic breathing also helps on the run/bike.
Could it help with coordination, for example core/body/hip rotation, probably. Enough upper body work so as to reduce or eliminate need to weight lift, probably.
Swimming also helps with singing. Yet, most singers don’t take up swimming to improve their singing.
The only running I ever did as a kid was running around on the playground. I did swim a legit 50-60k weekly in 9th grade, which was the year I first took the presidents physical fitness test and ran a 5:45 mile, the fastest out of the 190 kids in my class.
You can train your ‘engine’ yes, but like others have said, that won’t get you all the way. A V8 under the bonnet won’t make up for a poor chassis.
Very few runners improve their swimming, by running. Same for the bike.
So it is reasonable to assume that swimming does not do anything for running or biking.
But, since it’s triathlon, you do improve your bike, by swimming and your run, by biking.
You do that by being in better shape after each discipline. Leaving you with more in the tank.
If you get out of the water bagged, biking is tough, and so on for running.
Having a healthy aerobic level has to help as you recover a little better and swimming employs so many muscle groups there has to be a follow on affect.
But I have swum all my life and I run like a duck…so talent is still usefull.
The only running I ever did as a kid was running around on the playground. I did swim a legit 50-60k weekly in 9th grade, which was the year I first took the presidents physical fitness test and ran a 5:45 mile, the fastest out of the 190 kids in my class.
Yeah but for kids and relatively short distances it’s all about heart and lungs. Your swimming would have provided the CV capacity. What age is Grade 9?
For older athletes and longer distances, posture and conditioning of muscles and joints is vital.
The short answer here is absolutely… when we are talking about racing.
Even though swimming is the shortest leg of a triathlon; as a average age group triathlete we just simply don’t swim enough to make the 1.2 or 2.4 swim easy enough for ourselves. The better swim fitness we have the closer to our potential we are going to be able to bike and run.
Nope, from first-hand experience. I was sidelined from running and biking about two years ago, so I only swam for about 8 weeks. I swam 4 to 5 days per week at about 3,000 yards/day. When I got back on my feet, I had lost a crap ton of running fitness. Swimming probably helped general cardio and wellness, but it did bupkiss for running.
The only running I ever did as a kid was running around on the playground. I did swim a legit 50-60k weekly in 9th grade, which was the year I first took the presidents physical fitness test and ran a 5:45 mile, the fastest out of the 190 kids in my class.
I strongly suspect that the REAL reason for your 5:45 mile with no training had a lot less to do with your swimming, and a lot more to do with a lucky genetic gift to have a fastest baseline (as well as fast response to training) in running, and in your case, likely cycling, given your cycling accomplishments on what I can recall as being remarkably unremarkable levels of cycling training.
A lot of kids that take to serious swimming in youth, have good if not great genetic VO2, and would have to be seriously UNtalented in the leg department to be just middling at running and cycling once they take it up. (I have, however, run into a few of these - one of the guys was an Oly trials qualifier in swimming who despite training as hard as I do on the run/bike, can’t even run faster than a 21:30 min 5k.)
Cmon, I rode 20 hours a week when I was doing well!
Cmon, I rode 20 hours a week when I was doing well!
Which is good stuff, but trust me - if I rode 20 hours a week, I wouldn’t be anywhere close to where you are in cycling (state champion).
I trained 14hrs a week on average for my 2nd HIM where I was to give it my ‘lifetime best’ and still ended up slower than 5hrs. And at that point, it becomes really, really obvious that even if I added 10 hours of training to the regimen, I was hitting severely diminishing returns as I was already probably near my physical limits.
Similar thing happened to me when I was a pure marathoner - I was doing well with the Pfitz 70+mpw training and approaching BQ times, so I cranked it up to 80,90, and even 100mpw. The push from 70 to 100mpw took a lot more hours, and only gave me like 2 minutes in performance on race day. No way I would ever be seeing a sub-3 short of dedicating my whole life to marathoning, and it was clearly physically impossible for me to run in the sub 2:45 range (where a lot of 100mpw guys end up.)
Genes aren’t everything, but they’re pretty much required for outsized results.
There was a thread about something similar in December. My response was:
N=1 disclaimer. I have found:
Cycling makes me a better runnerSwimming makes me a better runnerRunning makes me a better runnerCycling makes me a better cyclistSwimming makes me a better swimmer
So basically I have seen fitness carry over from swim and bike to run, but the other two require actually doing the sport you are training for.
My take: yes, at least for me, it seems to help.
The more I swim, the faster I run. Not sure how or why that works. When I ran 40mpw, I ran about 17:50 for 5k. When I swam 15k/week, biked 6-8h/week, and ran 15-20mpw, I ran ~17:10, and 17:45-18:00 in tri races off the bike.
For me, swimming seems to help running, and somewhat help biking. Running hurts swimming, and biking hurts swimming.
Also, FWIW, I doubt I have much talent in endurance sports. 13:00 for 1000scy (started swimming at age 16), 4.1w/kg FTP, and 17:10 for 5k so far, but I work decently hard for those results (currently have been swimming for 2yrs, biking for 2yrs, and running for 4yrs). Prior to endurance sports, I played ice hockey, wrestled, and played football. Switched to cross country running at age 14, with mountain biking for fun.
Yes it does. In many different ways swimming translates.
I have improved a lot in running from mostly running.
Is the same true for swimming?
I only found this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7871294
but they only write about Vo2max.
Is there any aerobic benefits that comes from the swimming that transfers to bike/run.
Swimming has helped my running. In college I was strictly a XC/distance runner. When I began supplementing my training with swimming I found my shoulders were stronger which helped my arm carriage. My lung capacity increased and my breathing became easier. I would also aqua jog but not aqua jog with the float belt. Instead my legs would move in a pendulum motion which strengthened my hips and leg drive. So coming from a strict running background, yes it helps with running ability but don’t think that swimming alone (and not running) will make you a better runner. Gotta work those running muscles.
I have improved a lot in running from mostly running.
Is the same true for swimming?
I only found this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7871294
but they only write about Vo2max.
Is there any aerobic benefits that comes from the swimming that transfers to bike/run.
Here’s my crossover matrix:
Cycling > Skating, skiing (snow/water)
Swimming > Yoga, Cognitive
Running> Works for just about everything in a partial way.
Don’t delude yourself into thinking swimming or cycling crosses over to running. You need springs for lower legs to run. Therefore strong feet, ankles and lower leg for that spring action development.
The degree to which swimming will help your running depends a lot on how fit you already are.
For a super unfit couch potato, basically anything they do will help run speed because there is so much low hanging fruit that can be “picked” in any number of ways.
For somebody who is already a fairly good runner (say, sub 40min 10K), the benefits are limited by the fact that the generic fitness base is largely there. A swim session or two in addition to the same running routine would probably help due to increased overall volume, but it won’t be transformative.
For an elite runner. The addition of swimming would just as likely to make them worse rather than better. They would have the run base to cope with a rigorous regimen and use all of their meaningful exercise tolerance on quality running, and taking run time away from specific run drills/sessions would hinder rather than help.