Cal Breaths

[Dan Donche]

Mike,
Can you explain cal breaths a little and tell how they have helped your underwater performance? What are some other things you did to improve lungs during underwaters?

[Mike Hussle]

Sure. Cal breaths are what I came up with during a space of time after knee surgery when I could neither bend my knee (hence no running or biking) or get it wet (no swimming). I wanted something that would both challenge my VO2 capabilities and build water confidence as a side effect. I was originally doing this with my arms only on an airdyne, but it works even better if you are able to use a bike or use your legs on an airdyne.

Cal Breaths: Get on a stationary bike or airdyne. Set it to count by calories instead of time/distance. Get going. For the first 5 calories, breathe normally. For the next 5, hold your breath. Repeat. Repeat again, until you get to some set goal number of calories. If this is too hard, lower the calories down, for example down to counting by 3's instead of by 5's. You will be amazed how difficult it is to keep going, how much your brain will feel like panicking (if you don't cheat), and how exhausted you'll be by the time you get to, say, 100 calories.

I found that this did indeed improve my anaerobic capabilities, that underwaters seemed easier once I was back in the water, etc. One thing that a lot of people struggle with when they start swimming is timed breathing- they have this fear of it, and tend to think they're getting winded a lot faster than they actually are. This is a surefire cure for that. Your brain will know you're able to keep moving vigorously even when it's only breathing half the time.

Some other things I've done frequently is riding a stationary bike while breathing through a straw. This is to simulate the lower levels of oxygen at higher altitudes. While at high altitude you can breathe more smoothly than through a straw, but you're getting less O2 in each breath, and hence less O2 over the course of your exercise. This is where straw meets altitude. With the straw, you're simply getting less oxygen over a period of time than you would be breathing regularly. This again challenges your anaerobic capabilities, as well as your ability to remain calm under stressful circumstances.

Another trick, which I did not invent, is to do a hypoxic pyramid. This can be done in swimming (Stew Smith has written a lot on that), and it can also be done with running. Breathe in one step, out one step. In over two steps, out over two steps. In over 3 steps, out over 3 steps... keep going in this pattern till you're breathing in over several steps and can't breathe any slower. Then reverse it and go all the way back down to one breath.

Then of course are underwaters themselves. When I first started, I could barely finish 25 yards. I kept freaking out. One day I'd had enough of quitting, so I just decided that I would never stop short again. And I didn't. Soon enough, underwaters become easy. Relaxing, even. The only time I've stopped on a 25m was when some scuba diver came and shoved me down farther underwater... in the pool... yeah.