| Author | Message | ||
     Marcel Senior Member Username: Marcel Post Number: 31 Registered: 04-2010 |
I have used my SpiroTiger now for about 12 months, here is some of my findings, please give feed back. This is what has worked for me and may have different results in other people due to their weaknesses. Some people may say that it could be a combination of other training that has made the improvements but it is almost too much of a coincidence that when I started training with the ST that I have made these improvements. Most of these ideas are on feeling rather than cookbook and looking at SpO2 and pulse. I originally started using the ST because after really hard sessions or races I would cough really badly and be almost gasping for air. I had myself tested for asthma and although not enough of a drop off for exercise induces asthma there was a drop of in the lung function (don’t ask what the drop off was? Think they looked at perhaps VE or TV?) But this made me question the strength of my lungs and made me start breathing training. Although in hindsight and until I get tested the end of the month to prove this I don’t think breathing was ever a limiter, just not as strong or efficient as it could be. Most of my ST training has been strength and endurance based with very limited fast breathing work, the biggest challenge has been to maintain the training but I try and do about 5 to 6 sessions a week. I mostly used a bag which was about 60% of my TV with which to do endurance and strength training. One of the biggest gains I found is diaphragm strength. When I used to get tired in a race my upper body would “fall apart” from the core, and I used to do lots of traditional core training to try and solve this with out much success. The last year I have hardly done any traditional core work and actually have tried to avoid it. I have focused on the diaphragm training with ST, at a guess id say it took about 5 months to see a noticeable improvement. I recently moved to a 5 litre bag which I clamp down to about 4-4.5L for strength training as the 3L bag is now way too easy. So has ST been responsible for improved diaphragm strength? id say yes. As long as there is not too many races around id do about 3 strength sessions a week. And now having just completed a full race season I can say that the start of a race and end of a race my technique has stayed the same due to a much stronger core. A lot of my workouts are on feeling but for strength e.g. I would do about 4 sets of 5 min at 0 RF some times its longer some times shorter. If I have not done anything hard in my normal training I would do IHT with the largest possible bag, so doing strength at the same time. Although the combined strength does takes its toll, and if I feel tired would use a bag half the size, where my respiratory system is not stressed as much but I can focus on the IHT. Going to altitude I have definitely felt better breathing, but it is hard to say if this is due to the IHT training or the ST strength and endurance training itself? Or a combination? ST is used for cool downs e.g. races, and typically I would use a bag size as mentioned above where I don’t tire my respiratory system too much and can focus on hypercapnia. Normal done as soon as possibly followed by a second cool down a few hours later, how long? Done on feeling, sometimes 10min, sometimes 20 sometimes, 45min. Depends how tired my respiratory system feels. This coming season I want to start taking Lactate samples during my cool down to get more of a idea on the lactate state. Warm up. I have tried different variations of a warm up, some right before a hard session some upto a hour before, I can say that not doing any kind of ST warm up is noticeable in my initial breathing pattern. Although doing some hard breathing right before or a hour or two before a hard session or race seems to have a similar result as I do not think and this is still a bit of a guess a respiratory system as a limiter, or at least not anymore if it ever was. Where I have noticed differences is using hypercapnia before races. I would do my normal warm up typical 15 to 20 min, then go straight on to hypercapnia typically 5min on a med bag size. My idea behind this is getting a optimal blood flow from the warm up, then using hypercapnia I am clearing some of the H+ and neutralizing the PH created from the warm up and getting more LA into my body. 10-15 min later I'm on the race track feeling pretty good. Not using ST? A few weeks ago where for one week I had a sore throat and sleeping badly so didn’t want to use ST. Coming back to hard training again was a shock to my body to say the least. In none scientific terms it felt like my lungs had shrunk, I had a greatly increased RF, and felt like I was gasping for air (metaboreflex?). For two days after this session I used ST training with med and large bag sizes and sure enough the next hard session I didn’t have any of the shrunken lungs feeling. Don’t really know how to explain the physiology behind this? So ST has made big structural gains but this this coming summer I have some integration ideas that I want to try e.g. integrating ST in to training session, e.g. hiking. Using ST between intervals with different breathing ideas to challenge and recover the body in a different way. Lastly thanks go to Juerg and Herb for this forum which has given me a lot of ideas and insight in how I can use the ST for more than just what I originally bought it for and making me realize that everything is not a cook book recipe. | ||
| Holman325 Senior Member Username: Holman325 Post Number: 87 Registered: 11-2009 |
Marcel that is a great snapshot of 12 months, playing with and doing what ideas get discussed. It is difficult for most athletes to challenge the process and do what most people think is funny. Respiratory limiter, probably you are the best gauge of that, but the training has probably made your respiratory system a strong compensator. If anything previously you may have been limited by your TV relating to your FeV6 or efficiency. Maintain that compensator strength, focus on your other limiter, and you'll probably have a breakthrough season later. Go where the path does not lead, or turn up the good and turn down the suck and just Give'r. |