Can swimming be used exclusively instead of tempo running with more or less the same benifits? Sprinting would also be done during the week of course.
I understand tempo is important for:
I think swimming covers most of the above but maybe I’m missing the point?
BTW,the reason for not doing the tempo is ankle pain, however the sprints cause no problems.
Thanks
Swimming might be done some of the time, but I wouldn’t do it exclusively as tempo. All the other benefits of tempo that Charlie has talked about (capillarization, less electrical resistance to motor neurons, being able to retain a warm up, etc) I would think would be specific to the tissues that are trained in this fashion, and swimming just won’t involve the “running” muscles much at all.
Also, I have seen mentioned before that unless you are a very good swimmer, you probably won’t burn very many calories doing it. Plus the cold will likely increase appetite, so it may not be the best activity for “staying lean.”
If you have ankle pain running, maybe biking would be a better option.
Running transfers conditioning to swimming, but the reverse is not necessarily true. The problem with swimming, as mentioned above, is that you have to have decent technique in order for it to be effective as a form of exercise. Additionally, you have to do lots of volume - particularly due to the cooling effects of the water - to burn calories and stay lean.
I had one athlete try to use swimming for tempo and he actually experienced poorer performance on the track and in the weight room because the swimming was simply leading to fatigue. He felt slow, weak and sloppy outside of the pool. I limited his time in the pool to basic recovery work at much lower volumes and no more than 1-2x per week.
Yes biking would be perfect, completely forgot!
Just a few other questions:
1.What kind of volumes / intensities are recommended for biking?
Whats the transfer of biking to sprinting like? Simmilar to tempo? slightly less than tempo?
I read somewhere in supertraining that cycling negatively impacts running due to the shortening of a muscle around the hip (can’t remember exactly what it said). How true is this?
Would rowing on the rowing machine be another good alternative to tempo?
Thanks again.
Others might have better ideas, but…
This is obviously going to be individual, but I would think that in general, you would be able to handle a higher volume of biking than running, so volume could be higher. For intensity, I guess it might depend on how you are measuring it. One idea I guess is to measure HR during a typical tempo session, and then use that info to base your bike workouts off of. Usually HR on bikes is slightly less than when running though, so keep that in mind.
Obviously biking won’t have the same carry over to running than running itself will, but if it lets you train pain free then its a positive change.
I remember reading this too, but I probably wouldn’t be too worried about it. Maybe if you were on your bike for hours a day, but at typical tempo volumes I am sure it would not be an issue.
Rowing would be even less specific to running than biking would, but again if its pain free, then its better than nothing.
Charlie has a bike tempo workout at the store I believe, that I am sure has lots of ideas.
Thanks for the help. Will try maybe 10-15x30second intervals and see how it goes.
Ideally tempo is best on grass like a golf or soccer set up. ( in fantasy land)
However you do the best you can.
It is true that many people do the running in the pool as though magic is going to happen. If you are a good swimmer and like the water the amount of work that can be replaced in the pool is great. Many of Charlie’s athletes hated the water. While others used it leading into major competitions ( Molly Killingbeck) and did very well.
The bike = you need to do 2 sets of 10 @ 45 second intervals and the rpm to start could be 120 ish. You can work to 160 rpm over time and you will find it is pretty good ( see No Excuses bike workout) but you should try to stregthen your ankles and gradually add the tempo over time.
Options are necessary for people in climates that dont have unlimited options but there is never a replacement for the real thing.
CHarlie was brilliant at creating workouts that got the job done in unconventional ways.
good luck.