Any benefit

A.J. said:

I am 60 with a heart condition. I like to think I am doing some good by swimming for 30 minutes 5
or 6 days a week. I swim about 1300 yards in that time. Am I wasting my time or is it doing any
good for my cardio-vascular fitness?

I think it is almost certain that you are doing good for yourself, and I recommend you keep it up
and try to improve both time and distance. You should keep your heart doctor aprised of what you are
doing, of course, and I also recommend joining a masters swim club. You don't have to compete on a
masters swim club. It's all about training for fitness, and you will likely meet other perople there
who have heart conditions.

martin

--
Martin Smith email: [email hidden] Vollsveien 9 tel. : +47 6783 1188
P.O. Box 482 mob. : +47 932 48 303 1327 Lysaker, Norway

AJ Congratulations on undertaking a fitness swimming program. I imagine you are doing this with a
doctor's supervision? You should know that low-intensity swimming is the healthiest of all and the
form most likely to complement other therapies that may have been recommended by your doctor. You
didn't specify what sort of heart condition you have. Have you had a heart attack previously or do
you have a plaque buildup. In other words is your condition reversible through exercise? If so, and
you feel quite comfortable and non-stressed doing your 30 minute swim, then you could plan on
gradually increasing the duration of your swimming. I'll suggest a few "focal points" for your
swimming that will have several benefits:
1. Help regulate your intensity by increasing the economy of your movements.
2. Allow you to swim further before you fatigue.
3. Make the laps more interesting so you enjoy doing more of them. It's best if the swimming doesn't
feel like taking medicine, but is a source of satisfaction and pleasure. I'll include an excerpt
from an article I wrote last year on using focal points in swimming. These refer to freestyle
swimming; if you're using another style, adapt as best you can.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Swimming well is more than good mechanics. Truly gifted swimmers simply have

a better intuitive understanding of how to move through the water. You can develop your "inner
coach" by ignoring how far or fast you swim to focus only on doing what feels good and trying to
make good feel better. Pick one of these focal points and swim short repeats (25 to 50 meters)
slowly and easily, trying mainly to feel as described. Between repeats, take three to five deep,
slow "cleansing" breaths until you feel ready to swim with ease again. To test which work best for
you, count your strokes for 25 or 50 meters before beginning, then compare your stroke count while
practicing these focal points.

What: Hide Your Head Why: Good head-spine alignment is essential to all skilled movement. How: ·
Lead with the top of your head, not your forehead. · See the bottom directly under you, and not
much that's forward of you.

What: Swim Downhill Why: Balance -- feeling completely supported by the water -- is the
non-negotiable skill of efficient swimming. How: · Lean on your chest until your hips and legs feel
light. · Rhythmically press in one armpit, then the other, while swimming freestyle.

What: Lengthen Your Body Why: A longer body line reduces drag, allowing you to swim faster, easier.
How: · Slip your arm into the water as if sliding it into a sleeve. · Keep extending your
arm…slowly… until you feel your shoulder touch your jaw.

What: Flow like Water Why: Making waves or creating turbulence takes energy, all of it supplied by
you. How: · Pierce the water; slip through the smallest possible hole. · Drill or swim as quietly
as possible.

You can find more such suggestions at www.totalimmersion.net

Swim for health and happiness, Terry Laughlin

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am 60 with a heart condition. I like to think I am doing some good

by swimming for 30 minutes 5 or 6 days a week. I swim about 1300 yards in that time. Am I wasting my
time or is it doing any good for my cardio-vascular fitness?<<

Well, my Dad is 89 and a lifelong swimmer. On Jan 4, he competed in the International Swimming Hall
of Fame (ISHOF) 1 mile ocean race in Ft. Lauderdale. He had a good swim and a good time, but it took
him nearly a half hour to find his pile of clothes on the beach afterwards on a record cold (low
40s, very windy) morning. He developed hypothermia while walking around dripping wet in his Speedos
and was taken to the emergency room at Broward County General Hospital.

He had some minor EKG changes (no chest pain) and underwent a coronary angiogram. He had total,
complete occlusion of the 4 major coronary vessels, including the one known as the "widow maker."
Although devoted to swimming for his entire life (he swam freestyle an hour a day and three times
after the age of 70 completed the 10 mile Huntington to Seal Beach ocean race in low 60s water, and
is every year a USMS All American in distance free), he ate a terrible diet (never saw a donut or
cheese omlet he didn't like). But no chest pain and still able to train at a high level (for an 89
y.o.) despite complete occlusion of the "widow maker" and 3 other vessels.

How did he do this? Well, he had to have developed collateral circulation (a rich capillary network
to go around the areas of blockage). Exercise (in this case swimming) gave him these collaterals and
saved his life.

He subsequently underwent a 4 vessel coronary artery bypass, complicated, less than a week after the
surgery, with an 8 unit (ONE GALLON, or an amount equivalent to the entire human blood volume)
uppergastrointestinal bleed, owing to having been overdosed on warfarin/coumadin (a blood thinner).
He required many blood transfusions, literally passed out once because his blood volume go so low,
and also required a very stressful gastroscopy to cauterize the bleeding area in his stomach.

He sailed through all of the above, which would have killed a great many men half his age. It's now
2 months after the initial event on the beach and do you know what he's doing today?

Back swimming, of course.

He and his two (50-something y.o.) sons plan on swimming in the ISHOF ocean race together next
January, 2004.

Larry Weisenthal

Certitude is poison; curiosity is life

A.J. said:

I am 60 with a heart condition. I like to think I am doing some good by swimming for 30 minutes 5
or 6 days a week. I swim about 1300 yards in that time. Am I wasting my time or is it doing any
good for my cardio-vascular fitness?

Do you know what your pulse is during the exercise? 30 minutes at an appropriate level (1300yards in
30 minutes sounds reasonable) should be doing great things for your fitness. The minimum gain is
from roughtly 20 minutes. The minimum suggested frequency is 3 times a week.

If you can go a little longer, all the better. But certainly you're doing a lot already.
--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

Larry Weisenthal said:

He subsequently underwent a 4 vessel coronary artery bypass, complicated, less than a week after
the surgery, with an 8 unit (ONE GALLON, or an amount equivalent to the entire human blood volume)
uppergastrointestinal bleed, owing to having been overdosed on warfarin/coumadin (a blood
thinner). He required many blood transfusions, literally passed out once because his blood volume
go so low, and also required a very stressful gastroscopy to cauterize the bleeding area in his
stomach.

He sailed through all of the above, which would have killed a great many men half his age.

My story, two years ago, is also a bit of testimony to the potential life-saving results of
athletic training - in my case, training for the Ironman as well as for shorter triathlons. As a
result of a little mishap during a minor iliac artery procedure, my distal aorta was punctured and
I lost three quarts (six units) of blood, a lot for a 117 pound definitely old woman. A stroke or
heart failure seemed to be the scenario of the day as my blood pressure took a huge dive and I
twice experienced respiratory arrest. Perhaps the doctors were being generous to me rather than
boastful of their speedy retrievals, but they told me my training deserved much of the credit. I'm
still at it, of course.

Ruth Kazez