Swim III, Spring 2013, Class 6

Swim III

Spring 2013

Class 6

This week the focus is on distance free. But as always, there is something to think about within the sets. You always want to have your mind in the game.

Warm-up:

300 easy swim

200 as 25 dolphin kick / 25 swim with dolphin kick

4x25 fast with 15sec rest

Main Set:

3x500 as follows:

1^st 500 – Breath Control – 3 strokes per breath for 25yds, 5 strokes/breath, 7 strokes/breath, 5 again for the final 25yd. A breathing ladder. Go very easy and keep your strokes long and slow. The mistake is to speed up to get to the next breath faster – that just causes more fatigue and stopping at each end.

2^nd 500 – Multi-Focus – 25-hard pull/minimal kick, 25-hard kick/easy pull, 25-minimize strokes/length, 25 flop (super relaxed)

3^rd 500 – Best Effort – Build from moderate to very hard, adding some effort with each 100

Cool Down:

2-300 easy swim

Swim III, Spring 2013, Class 4

Swim III

Spring 2013

Class 4

This week we went back to work on stroke length.

10min

WU: 200 easy swim, 300 as 25kick/25swim

Both main sets build focus points, one on top of the other.

15min

MS1:

3x (4x25), leaving every minute, building effort through four 25s, DROPPING one stroke every 25.

Reps 1-4:

25 – easy effort, count strokes

25 – moderate, narrow shoulders to ears at extension

25 – moderately hard, add a strong kick

25 – hard, add a stronger arm stroke

Reps 5-8:

Same. Go back and start with the same stroke count you did to start the last four 25s.

** Check in with yourself after the first four - did you drop strokes? If not, go out easier with a “normal” effort and stroke count to start. You can’t go hard and minimize strokes the first 25 and expect to continue to lower the count.

** Pushing off farther doesn’t count. Use the same push-off for all swims.

30min

MS2:

9-12x100, :30 rest, HOLDING stroke count steady, build effort from moderate to hard each 100

25 – easy effort, count strokes

25 – moderate, narrow shoulders to ears at extension

25 – moderately hard, add a strong kick

25 – hard, add a stronger arm stroke

** Stop for a check-in to ensure you held stroke count through the swim. If not, go out much easier the next 100. Stroke count should be constant throughout the set. When you tire, you will have to work that much harder to hold it.

5min

CD:

Easy swimming or kicking

Swim III, Spring 2013, Class 3

Swim III

Class 3

As Larry Lewis so eloquently posted to FB, “I need a personal assistant to keep track of my strokes per length.” Or was it distance per stroke? I can’t recall. But he’s right: you need to keep track, and sometimes it can be daunting. This is especially true when you try to increase or reduce strokes per length every 25 yards. It takes a lot of careful thought and patience. Probably more patience.

What’s the point of practicing steady increases or decreases in stroke count?

1 – Practicing lowering your count while holding (or increasing) pace makes you STRONGER so that you can MAINTAIN low counts for longer distances. It means you are EXPERIMENTING with the many variables that affect distance per stroke: reducing movements against the line of travel, streamlining, kick effectiveness, etc.

2 – Practicing increasing stroke counts (while holding or increasing pace) gives you a sense of what stroke RATES you can maintain and still swim as fast as you desire. More strokes per length to go the same distance in the same time means your arms turned over at a faster RATE.

3 – There is an energy cost associated with keeping counts low as well as raising them up. You will never be able to hold your best velocity for a given distance at your lowest stroke count – can’t happen. But there will be an OPTIMAL stroke RATE and COUNT  for you at any goal distance you choose. Some of you may be surprised to find out that if you turn your arms over faster (that your normal) and add a stroke or two per length, that you can swim longer at a faster pace.

This week was focused on long sets. And of course there was a stroke focus  throughout. Here it is:

Warm-up (500):

5x50 descending, 15sec rest, each 50 is 1-2sec faster than the last

3x50 done as 25 dolphin kick / 25 swim

100 easy

Main Set (1000-1500):

2x 750yd (or 650, 550, 500, depending on your lane) with 1min rest between swims.

First 750 – Every 100, start slow and count strokes. Then increase effort a little each length and ADD one stroke per 25. So if you begin with 19 strokes, you would then take 20, 21, and 22 over that 100yd. And if you do it right, your pace should IMPROVE every 25.

Key: You must start out easy each 100 or you won’t be able to increase pace. You may increase your stroke count by turning your arms over faster, but if you go out too hard you’ll stay at the same pace.

Second 750 - Every 100, start slow and count strokes. Then increase effort a little each length and SUBTRACT one stroke per 25. So if you begin with 19 strokes, you would then take 18, 17, and 16 over that 100yd. And if you do it right, your pace should be CONSTANT every 25.

Key: You must start out easy each 100 or you won’t be able to hold pace while reducing stroke count. Generally, it is more difficult to swim with lower stroke counts – it takes more energy. You’ll either need to pull harder so that you get more glide off each stroke, or kick harder or more times for every pull so you get more distance that way.

Cool Down (200):

200 easy free

Swim III, Spring 2013, Class 2

Swim III

Spring 2013

Class 2

This week we went to work on exploring stroke rate.

Since Velocity (yards/sec)= Stroke Rate (strokes/sec) * Stroke Length (yards/stroke),

you can see that increasing stroke rate while holding stroke length (how far you propel your body with each stroke) will increase speed. Or even if rate increases faster than length decreases, speed will increase. And if you’re velocity isn’t increasing, there’s no point in working harder to turn your arms over faster.

For the same distance push-off, a constant number of strokes per length of the pool means you’ve traveled the same distance with every stroke. So we don’t have to know exactly how far we’re traveling with each stroke as long as we know strokes per length of the pool. This is the metric we’ll use in class: strokes per length of the pool.

Also check out the separate post on the kick and catch, aptly titled:
Freestyle Stroke: Kick & Catch
Here you can see a breakdown of each, frame by frame.

Focus - Stroke Rate

Warm-up:

5x50 descending, 15sec rest, each 50 is 1-2sec faster than the last

3x50 done as 25 dolphin kick / 25 swim

100 easy

Main Set:

4-7x through the following:

Set your Tempo Trainer to 1.20, swim 100yd VERY EASY counting strokes per length.

Reset it to 1.00, swim 50yd MODERATELY but maintain the same stroke count or fewer.

Reset it to 0.9, swim 25yd FAST but maintain the same stroke count or fewer.

Swim back easily to the start for a total of 200yd.

If you don’t have a Tempo Trainer, you’ll use perceived exertion.

Swim 100yd VERY EASY counting strokes per length.

Swim 50yd MODERATELY but maintain the same stroke count or fewer.

Swim 25yd FAST but maintain the same stroke count or fewer.

Swim back easily to the start for a total of 200yd.

Note: As you swim faster and harder, body position at extension is one of the first things to break down. Make sure you rotate fully with each pull and are over on your side, fully extended, in time for the beep.

Cool Down:

250-350 easy

Total: ~1800yds

Swim III, Spring 2013, Class 1

Swim III

Spring 2013

Class 1

I want to welcome all of you to the new quarter of Swim III. It was great seeing each of you this week and getting starting with the spring season.

Every quarter we have a new focus as we work to build our swim fitness to a high level. This time we’ll rotate through the weeks as follows:

1)      Stroke length focus

2)      Stroke rate focus

3)      Distance focus

Within each, there are points of form that are crucial to maintain so as to avoid breakdowns as you fatigue. We’ll cover something new each week.

This first class, one of my goals was to meet all of you and get a feel for how you swim and what you personally need to work on. I’ll try to catch up with each person in the class at least once every couple of weeks to give pointers one-on-one.

I also wanted to get you back into the routine of swimming sets and a variety of distances and intensities. This particular workout was about a mile, and we’ll extend that as we go forward.

Focus - Stroke Length

Warm-up:

5x50 descending, 15sec rest, each 50 is 1-2sec faster than the last

3x50 done as 25 dolphin kick / 25 swim

100 easy

Main Set:

6-7 x 100, 20sec rest

Build effort from easy to hard within each swim

Reduce stroke count by slowing down your catch motion out front a little more each 100. This allows your body to move farther forward as you shape your catch downward, lengthening your stroke.

6-7 x 50, 10sec rest

Build effort from easy to hard within each swim

Reduce stroke count by pushing harder with each stroke to accelerate forward and move farther over your catch.

Note: if this is what you were doing for the 100s, go the other way. Use your kick, either by kicking harder (but narrow) each time, or by kicking faster and adding kicks per armstroke.

Cool Down:

250-350 easy

Total: ~1800yds