Runners versus swimmers - whose heart reigns supreme?

Ha! I was just jumping in to say hey , what about rowers?! And what do you know, there it is!

Triathletes

After swimming and cycling (among other things) for many years, I took up running. I will never be a particularly fast runner, but it has really improved my fitness!

Through running, my resting HR has gone down by 10BPM, indicating that I am in better aerobic shape than when I started. I am sure this is true: at the beginning I was completely limited by my aerobic output. My HR would creep up as I ran, limiting the total distance I could run without taking a break. And I wasn't running all that fast! I went through the C25K program, then continued to work on the 5k (3.1 miles), pushing the distance eventually to 10k (6.2 miles). Now I'm training for a half-marathon (13.1 miles), which includes running long runs on the weekend. (The next one is 11 miles.)

My running has also improved my endurance when swimming. I did a 2 mile open water swim this summer (which actually turned out to be 2.5 miles). My cycling has gotten a bit better as well.

aokoye wrote: »

whose heart reigns supreme

Cross-country skiers.

Beat me to it. Competitive Nordic skiers attain the highest VO2max scores recorded in humans.

@777Gemma888 ... You're ALL 3@runners, swimmers and rowers. Recall you agreeing with aokoye and NorthCascades from some previous discussion similar to this.

Appreciate the article thank you pierinifitness

MarcyMavin wrote: »

NorthCascades wrote: »

aokoye wrote: »

whose heart reigns supreme

Cross-country skiers.

Beat me to it. Competitive Nordic skiers attain the highest VO2max scores recorded in humans.

Do you know of any recent articles on this? Super interesting to me. I’ll google it anyway, but just wondering if you had a specific one in mind.

I don't know of any one article that's better than others, but here's one from Training Peaks, which is fairly well respected skiin6g triathletes. I skied as a child, stopped for many years, and took it back up as an adult. My interest started as a way to enjoy winter and a thing to do while visiting one of my favorite mountain towns. The speed and glide is so much fun! It can be the intensity of running, except that you're also making serious user of your arms, core, and back. Check out double polling technique and skate skiing.

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/nordic-skiing-101-for-the-triathlete-or-cyclist/

Competitive Nordic skiers are known as the fittest people on earth. This designation comes from scientific testing that demonstrates Nordic skiers have the highest VO2 max, which is the amount of oxygen the human body can take in and utilize per minute. Outside of genetics, the sport itself develops VO2 max through the requirements of movement and engagement of the whole body. Arms, legs and core are all essential, and when combined with proper technique, Nordic skiing can generate some incredible speed and performance gains.

The off-season triathlete or cyclist can benefit from incorporating Nordic skiing into their winter training routine. Not only can it be a great break from the monotony of indoor training, but it also offers enormous cardiovascular and muscular benefits, as well as increased coordination and the chance to fire up some different muscle fibers.

BrianSharpe wrote: »

aokoye wrote: »

whose heart reigns supreme

Cross-country skiers.

There is a competitive x-country club where I live and I'm awestruck every time I see the young athletes out on the Gatineau Parkway climbing hills that are challenging on the bike!

I've always wanted to try cross country skiing. I also will hopefully be going to the University of Ottawa for grad school next fall...

Yes there's cross country here, but getting to the mountains, while fast (90ish minutes), is not something my car is built for.