Tuesday, Oct. 14th.
Swimming only.
25 yard pool.
Warmup
6x25’s, all out, full recovery. All from a push, not a dive.
Best times: 12.3 freestyle, 12.7 butterfly.
These times are really encouraging. They are approaching what I do in peak condition. In freestyle I am still about 5% off, in butterfly no more than 2.5%.
Ab Wheel later.
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Weights only.
I decided today that I would begin real hamstring work today! One of my goals is to build my hanstrings in hopes of becoming faster on land.
5 sets of Peterson step-ups, raising the box. Left leg AND right leg.
4 sets of single-legged Good Mornings. Left leg and right leg. 45 pounds, 55 pounds, 60 pounds, 65 pounds.
At this point, believe it or not, my hamstrings started to spasm. That is how weak they are.
I hope, in a couple of months, to be able to move on to squats and deadlifts instead of step-ups.
What do you mean raising the box?
You need 5,000 yards to make the improvements in mechanics and fitness per day. Such a low intensity program will not lead to any taper effects. It takes guts to do a unconventional program, but I just don’t see it without plenty of easy drills. How can you catch good water without your feel set up?
Good question - it means that I raise the step on which I do the Peterson step-ups periodically, as I can handle it.
I do the exercise in hopes of stimulating the VMO and quad, following my ACL replacement surgery four and a half months ago.
If you have any suggestion on exercises I should be doing at this point, feel free to suggest them. I have been doing Peterson step-ups and split squats (bodyweight) only. No squats. This week, as you can see, I added good mornings, and I still grimace every time I sit down.
I grew up doing a large amount of intermediate yardage (as do all age group swimmers regardless of event), and continued in that through my early 20’s. I got out of that when I realized that my 50 free just wasn’t going to drop below a 24 until I began to actually sprint. I was never any good at distance swimming anyway - would get beaten by the same people I beat in sets of 50’s and 100’s.
With regards to getting the “feel” of the water, I don’t know of any hard and fast rule that says 5000 yards/day plus or minus is needed to establish neurological adaptation. Are there studies to that effect? What have been your personal observations?
Let me be clear - if lots more yardage is needed to get me down to a :22 50-yard free, a :24 50-yard fly, and a :59 100 Individual Medley then I’ll find a way to do it.
I appreciate your input and look forward to hearing more.
The same CFTS principals apply to swimming…do easy drills with zura fins and work various drills. It should add aerobic work and technique.
40x 25 @ 30 ect…
Clemson,or anyone else,
WHAT IS “the feel of the water” ? Is there such a thing on the track?
Yes,I presume,but nobody calls it “feel of the track”,right?
And Mikeh, You talk of “neurological adaptation”,sounds like a more targeted approach,maybe,but actually still esoteric…
Yet IT IS a very complex argument,but I really feel we have to start getting down to earth on this,well before any conventional,or uncomventional training approach is to be taken in our Sport…
Let’s start backwords, from what we’ve all experienced,and gradually build it into knowledges we all can apply…such a discussion would save time and provide concrete chances of success,by avoiding each other’s already done mistakes…
Swimming is a very open panorama,with many limits yet to be broken!
To start with:ever noticed how Your training on land (gym) influences this “feel of the water”?
If You ask Hungarian Coaches how to develop it ,They will mostly answer DRYLAND with BANDS,and “Swim Benches”,and they will tell You things in the water just follow accordingly…so?
I can well list more than one other land based experience which influences this esoteric “feel” powerfully,one way or the other…
So in water work as talked above might be just an option, not a necessity,for this peculiar issue.
But, to stay in the water,and throwing more meat on this table,I am attaching the following abstract…which apparently could well boost the Zura fins cause…
[i]Reer, R., Ramcke, C., Rudolph, K., & Braumann, K. M. (2002). Differences in swim economy and metabolic-cardiocirculatory parameters between endurance and sprint swimmers. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 34(5), Supplement abstract 1339
Male sprint (N = 18) and endurance (N = 18) swimmers performed a standardized swim in a swimming flume.
Endurance swimmers showed lower VO2 values at low intensities and higher values at high intensities than sprinters. Sprinters used less oxygen for performance at higher velocities. Individual anaerobic thresholds were lower for endurance swimmers than sprinters.
Implication. Swimming economy was best in both groups when they performed at their characteristic swimming velocities. Endurance swimmers are most economical when swimming at velocities that are slower than when sprinters are most economical.[/i]
Pakewi,
Sorry I haven’t got back with you - wife just had a baby!
That’s an interesting abstract there. It confirms my own conclusions - that the body will perform as you train it. If I train like a middle distance swimmer then I’ll swim the 50 like a middle distance swimmer.
Let’s not forget a key point - swim distances corrspond to track distance by about a 1:4 ratio. Therefore, a 25 yard sprint is akin, very roughly, to a 100 yard sprint on land. so when I do 6x25’s free all out with full recovery, it is similar energy system use to 6x100’s all out on land.
Same with the 50 yard free, which equals a bout a 200 meters in track. 100 free equals about a 400 meters in track. Think of it this way and it becomes clearer, I think.
Consider this key point - swim distances correspond to track distance by about a 1:4 ratio. Therefore, a 25 yard sprint is akin, very roughly, to a 100 yard sprint on land. so when I do 6x25’s free all out with full recovery, it is similar energy system use to 6x100’s all out on land.
Same with the 50 yard free, which equals a bout a 200 meters in track. 100 free equals about a 400 meters in track. Any thoughts would be welcome.
Mikeh,I agree, under a purely physiological point of view things stand so.
Be careful though when trying to make comparisons between percentage differentials in Swimming as opposed to Track,or Weights:
in the water resistance increases approximately by the velocity cubed,hence the real mechanical energy used by the swimmer to do the work,and - my opinion and experience - CNS impact.
When making % calculations to determine intensities,therefore, the cubed velocities are a much more affordable index,and provide a realistic way to compare the different Sports relative intensities on the CNS.
Again,my experience here is that this way not great volumes are possible without undesired events in the training course timeline,as well as in order for the Athlete to make continous progression…
Saturday, Oct. 18
Swimming
25 meter pool.
Warmup
3x12.5 all-out.
2x75’s, individual medley (fly, back, breast). All-out, 20 minutes rest between. Th epoint of this is to try and get ever-closer to my target splits for the 100 I.M.
Times: :56, :57.3
Not bad but not great either.
Weights
4 sets of split squats, single leg, right and left. Bodyweight up to 24 additional piunds.
3 sets of single-legged Romanian deadlifts. Up to 95 pounds. My quads were so shot from the split squats I could barely do the RDL’s.
Monday, Oct. 20
Swimming
Tempo, 25 meter pool.
Warmup
5x100 freestyles, 2:30 minutes rest between each.
4x125 freestyles, 2:30 minutes rest between each.
Must be careful not to transition muscle fibers…
Tuesday, October 21
Swimming
25 yard pool
Warmup (which, on a speed day, includes a slow 200 -300 yards, a 50 free at about 90%, and 3-4 12.5 to 15 yard sprints.)
2x75 yard I.M.'s (from the blocks for the first time since surgery)
Times: :49, :50. 10 minutes rest between.
Thse times are so-so. In order to do a 1:02.09 yards, I need to be around a :47 or faster at the 75 yard mark.
Wednesday, October 22
Swimming, 25 meter pool.
Tempo.
Warmup (On a tempo day warmup is usually 300-400 yards of slow swimming.)
8x125’s freestyle, 2:30 rest between each.
Weights
5 sets of Peterson step-ups, both legs, varying heights of the box. I would rest 60 seconds between each set, and limit my reps to 10. I think I respond better to that anyway.
5 sets of one-legged Good Mornings. Weight - 45 pounds up to 95 pounds. Felt great. Less sore too. I shall build a pair of hamstrings!
Argh, On Wednesday I also did 4 sets of chinups. Body weight up to 1 rep with 55 pounds attached.
Thursday, Oct. 23
Swimming, 25 yard pool
Warmup for Speed. Also did about 3x15 yard sprints.
3 x 25 yard sprints, all out, full recovery.
Stopped after this because I felt so bad! My times were way off. According to the guy who held the stopwatch (admittedly I have no idea if he is really accurate) I was about 1 second off of what I had done last week. So I closed up shop for the day.
I’ll have my wife time me on Saturday. I can trust her “finger.”
Friday, Oct. 24th
Swimming
25 meter pool
Warmup
6x75’s free, back, breast. Rest 2 minutes between each. Free - 1:10, 1:06. Back - 1:25, 1:21. Breast - 1:25, 1:20.
Did very little today. I want to sprint hard Saturday. I’ll let you know.
Saturday, Oct. 25
Swimming
25 meter pool
Warmup (inc. 4x15 meter sprints)
75 meter Individual Medley, all-out from a push. 25 Fly, 25 back, 25 breast. Time - :57.5
Rest about 15 minutes.
50 meter all-out from a push. 25 fly, 25 back. Time - :36.9
This was really bad. In the 75 I never felt particularly good. The 50 meter sprint was a joke. I was still totally drained from the 75.
Weights
6 sets of 4 reps Romanian Deadlifts. 135 pounds, 145, 155, 160, 165, 160.
4 sets of “assisted glute-ham raises” (essentially I use a lat pull-down machine, pinning my feet underneath the knee pad, and using the lat pull-down cable to assist me back up. I can’t do even one unassisted rep.
5 sets split squats, both legs. bodyweight, 16 pounds, 20 pounds, 20 pounds, 40 pounds.
In the weight room, felt just fantastic. The left quad has never felt so strong since the surgery 4.5 months ago. I worked the hamstrings very very hard (I realize that this probably does not have an enormous carryover to swimming, but I want strong hamstrings and glutes to run faster when the knee fully recovers. I’d like to play a little touch football, maybe even run Masters Track.)
How can I feel so bad in the pool and so good in the weight room? Is the left knee, which does not have full extension, bothering me more than I am admitting to my self?
Monday, Oct. 27
Weights Only
4 sets of bench press, 3 reps each. 95 pounds, 215, 225, 225. ***
4 sets of dumbbell external rotators, 3-6 reps. 25 pounds, 30, 35, 35
4 sets of dips, 4 reps each. bodyweight, 35 pounds, 45, 50. ***
Again, felt fantastic. I haven’t benched two sets of 225 for 3 reps ever. I haven’t dipped with 50 pounds attached to me for four reps ever. What amazes me is that according to my training log I haven’t bench since Oct. 11, 16 days ago! Yet I do something I have never done before.
Yet my swim times are poor! I am stumped here! I thought I was suffering form the old thorn in my side - CNS fatigue, but I doubt that if I am lifting as well as I have the last two sessions. Perhaps it is my knee that is holding me back. The doctor said I have full extension, but not hyper-extension, and that is a big part of my butterfly and freestyle.
Mikeh,
remember Your pool work MUST precede any other supplementary work firstly in Your mind focus,then in Your program organization,if You want to be an effective SWIMMER.
Your good numbers in the Gym are good news,but You are just not utilizing a bit of that strength progress in the water…
I would look first at integration of the training components as a possible area to be revised,secondly at the structure (volumes,Intensities,etc) of the single training components themselves.
Yours is a very interesting try,but sometimes is hard to transfer set training rules from one sport to another… each one has its own!
Without knowing anything more about Your swimming and Your approach to the water, if I were to help in Your case I would advise the following:
> Get in some volumes of Fin Swimming and kicking,and account for the muscular added stress.
> Swim technique: devote sets to technical parameters like efficiency (strokes numbers,body position in the water) and then efficiency and EASE.
> Be sure You can consistently hit split times that are way faster than race pace before putting the splits together attempting full special endurance work.
Remember top speed on the track and in the pool are quite opposite concepts,and the water won’t make any exception for You and invariably slow You down!
> Try basically quantifying Your work this way:
CNS work (all out sprinting) : total volume x3
Race Pace work (muscular endurance): total volume x2
Tempo work :total volume x 0,7-1 depending on O2 reliance
And strive to balance out the pool components between CF’s event
based work brackets (65%/35% to 80%/20%).