oxygen deprivation

[disgruntled]

i have been thinking about how i can work out my cardio and i was wondering if slightly depriving yourself of oxygen would help. i know some athletes do this by training high altitude, but moving to the top of a mountian is sadly not an option for me. would swimming work? if i trained by swimming longer and longer distances with out needing to come up for air, would i increase my overall endurance?

my logic:

i deprive myself of water while i train so that my body is use to the feeling of working while dehydrated. this way if i am in that situation, my body would be use to being dehydrated and not freak out. and so if i do fight and have access to enough water to keep me well hydrated, it is just a bonus and i will perform even better.

therefore:

if i train with less oxygen, won't my body get use to performing with less oxygen and know not to freak out. so when i fight, even if i am tired and cannot catch my breath, i will still be able to perform well because my body will know how to deal with little oxygen.

won't my body just learn to use oxygen more efficiently and won't i increase my lung capacity if i train gradual enough? or would you need to do something more similar to high altitude training?

[sirdarksol]

Much of this is more of a mental thing. Getting used to your body moving while it is running low on oxygen is what you're working on. Your body may get a bit more efficient (and you can improve your breathing), but the most important part is focusing your thoughts through the dizziness, overcoming the imperative to stop doing everything in order to get more oxygen, working through the burning in your lungs for as long as possible.

It's the same thing as with the dehydration training. Nothing can stop your cells from suffering from lack of water, but you can become used to the strange feelings as they suffer.

[disgruntled]

so, are you supporting this approach or not? granted it is questionably good for the body, but i thing ultimately it make a person better prepared.

[sirdarksol]

As with anything, I think it would be a matter of not overdoing it. Samurai did a breath control exercise that would leave them aching by the end (it amounts to breath in for a 10 count, hold for a 10 count, and breath out for a 10 count, repeating ten times). I believe that David Lowry's sensei suggested that it not be done too often.
I would think that if you did the oxygen training once or twice a week, it would be helpful without being overly detrimental. Don't ever let yourself get to the point you pass out, however. That is not good for you, especially if you fall and hit your head.

[disgruntled]

how can it be detrimental? other than making yourself pass out that is.....

[sirdarksol]

Lack of oxygen to the point that you pass out causes a small amount of brain damage. Not too much, but, like with drinking heavily, if you do it repeatedly, it adds up. (Really, though, the big danger is damage from falling down)