Sports Science Topic - May 11, 2009

As for "doing the right thing", I think that's always a flipped coin in the air.
As for "accomplishing those training objectives"...it is usually time what guides the whole thing.

Jonty,
I use a season long progression from aerobic to aerobic threshold to VO2 max to lactic tolerance. I took this from a trusted coach of mine that worked very well. During our microcycles we start at our best time pace and then we move down to our goal pace, all the while working technique and race strategies. I have tried to get information on this from other coaches but many keep their season plan tight to themselves. I am open for more and more information on this, the LEVEL 3 ASCA school teaches the fundamentals of training zones but not how to apply them throughout a season. This is my frustration in advancing. We have had success with our plan so if anyone wants to hear more please let me know!

aren't race specific and race pace training two different things?! isn't race specific training doing exactly what your going for- like for example for 50m fly you do mostly sprints, all kicking and pulling in butterfly and with the goal to improve your speed for the 50m race, all on longer rest intervals bit with high intensity, a lot of starts and break out training. and if your doing intervals it would be 50m, again, with long rest but very high intensity, where you should come close to the race pace. Here you cannot do too many repetitions though. Or the other intervals would be (and here comes the race pace training) 25s with shorter rest BUT with the same pace that you would swim the 50m fly in a race and you can do much more repetitions... which should give you the speed endurance.. which is still race specific training. But you can swim race pace in non-race specific training too. The distance swum, would be shorter then, and the rest could be longer too... when your experimenting with your technique for example...

... am I mistaking something?! I am confusing myself right now...

How I know if it works?! Well... if you do not improve at all, you're doing something wrong :D Then you have to analyze what's missing and what you can/ have to do different.

All I know it is swam for months, months which swimming peformance has not improved so they know its something wrong at training - which case I might have :(

I added this question this week since it’s an extension to some degree of last week’s question. So I have answered some of it in small parts, but will expand on it a little more here.
Again… swimming is about shape, drag, anchor pressure, and cycle rate. You can change your shape and reduce your drag (or wear a new suit) and gain velocity. You can improve your start, turns, underwater phases and transitions and drop time. However, racing is ultimately about the relationship between Cycle Rate (CR) and Distance Per Cycle (DPC). You should see them as almost symbiotic twins… as one goes up, (CR) the other goes down (DPC) so very linked. The key is being able to design training that influences one or the other (or both) in order to drop your time. Last week I explained the basic premise to this in terms of adapting to a certain velocity, so will skip that part… this week I’ll talk about how that works.
What few people take the time to understand is that the brain ultimately controls everything we do. I use the term brain in a global sense since different parts of the brain get very involved in swimming, but to keep it simple here, I’ll just keep it as an “empowering entity” that controls and regulates pretty much all of what goes on when you race. So although we think of training as a physical process, what we’re ultimately doing is essentially training the brain to manage our race in an effective manner. So as I said, if James wants to sustain a velocity of 2.5 meters per second for 50 meters, then he will need to help the brain become very comfortable with that process. The only way to do that is by putting the brain in a position where it deals with that velocity, and over time develops a strategy and understanding of how to manage it. So to focus on the last two items that involve the metabolic cost of performance, I’d add that in order for James to swim at 2.5 m/s, he would need to hold a DPC of 2.5 and a CR of 55 cycles per minute. Now I haven’t taken the time to compute those numbers… just taken them off the shelf, and in this case just using any numbers to illustrate a point. So when doing race specific or race pace training, James would now have to be able to hold that DPC (2.5 meters) with that CR. (55 cpm) This would involve a metabolic or energetic cost. The first time he swim at that velocity, the brain might have to recruit say 100,000 motor units to achieve the result, and because the cost is very high, he can only do that for 5 seconds. However, over time the brain will begin to understand the strategy, and get better at managing the number of motor units it needs to produce that velocity… so only need 50,000 to get the job done. That causes the cost to go down… he can now hold the speed for a longer time say 15 seconds and so has adapted. In time the brain might get very efficient at managing that intensity and essentially rotate groups of 33,000 motor units to get the job done… so now the cost is much less, and he can now hold this for 30 seconds… and in doing so achieves his goal time. The key is to understand that when shooting for a better performance you have to cut down the repeat distance in order to achieve adaptation. So better to swim 10x15 at the right parameters than 3x50 with maybe 25 being swum correctly and 25 incorrectly. All that does is confuse the brain and in the long run end up with less at the correct intensity. So it’s ultimately about the total volume swam at that parameter so that the brain gets enough volume training at the correct intensities in order to adapt. So 10x15 might become 10x20 and then 10x25… eventually with multiple sets and various distances. I think you get the point… well hopefully.
So when he climbs on the block come race day, the brain is totally comfortable with his intentions. It has become very good at it… done it over and over, and essentially is in a mode where… its says OK let’s get this over with. If you have ever been a swimmer, you will know that some races will seem like you went to the wall, and some will feel as though you hardly stepped on the gas… so very easy. Hopefully this example explains that phenomenon. OK so there are many more psychological notions that go along with this example, but have kept it as simple as possible to avoid the whole mind versus brain debate. That might be a topic for another day.
So what I have given is a simple explanation of the adaptation process that we all go through in order to get better. The key here is that in order to do this efficiently, you have to do a large part of your anaerobic training at the velocity that you want to race at. So when one talks about the terms race specific training, or race pace training, then it should mimic the exact conditions that you want to achieve in the race. To get that you have to be able to analyze your prior races and develop strategies on how to get faster. As I said you can influence any number of factors to do that, but the large majority of any race LCM is comprised of CR & DPC so have to be the core of the training plans that take you forward. At the elite level I would develop exact race models for each athlete, and in training work on those specific areas independently. Come race day as my esteemed colleague Sean Huchison states… (Quoted by Billy) you get to review the results of your training and have an opportunity to gauge whether you have done enough to achieve the effect you’re looking for.
So race specific training should be exactly that. Whether it involves starts, turns, or specific segments of the race, you’re essentially training the brain to manage the race in a very exact way. Training hard usually means training all over the place, and although in many cases you might get some positive effect from that training, you’re never guaranteed that you will hit the mark. Worst off, you will have nothing with which to gauge the effective of your training… way to nebulous, and possibly ultimately frustrating to the athlete who can’t understand why total commitment doesn’t always pan out.
I hope I haven’t lost too many people with these thoughts, but please ask questions if you need a clarification.

To figure all this out use this these three parameters and these basic formula’s
V = Velocity (or speed)
D = Distance
T = Time
V = D ÷ T
D = V x T
T = D ÷ V

So in a very crude form you can take that 1:00 and figure out the basic velocity. In this case 100 ÷ 60 = 1.66m/s. Goal time is 56, so 100 ÷ 56 = 1.79m/s. Turn that velocity in segments by using the velocity to calculate swimming time for the segments. To get that you use this formula. Time = distance ÷ velocity. So a velocity of 1.79 m/s equals what in time?
10 meters is… 10 ÷ 1.79 = 5.58 sec
15 = 8.38 sec’s and so on…

The next level (still crude) take the lap split and divide it into the distance. That way your 1st lap and subsequent laps will have different velocities. Use the same formula’s

The next level would be to take each lap. (ballpark figures)
Calculate the actual swim distance (so 50 meters minus the underwater distance) = A
Calculate the actual swim time (so split time minus the underwater time) = B
To get actual swimming velocity divide A by B
Use that velocity to calculate swimming segment time.

The best level would be to:
Take A and divide it by the number of strokes to get Distance Per Cycle
Take B and divide it by the number of strokes to get Cycle Rate
That way you’ll have efficiency numbers to add to the formula’s
This level is pretty extreme and hard for coaches to do, but if you have a math brain and are good in excel, you can work this into not just swimming a certain time, but how many strokes the swimmer should take to swim that time over a specific distance. That way you will be training exactly where you want to race.

If you can’t get the DPC side of the equation you need to focus on the neural side of the equation… so the firing rate or cycle rate… that way at a neural level the muscles will be very comfortable with the CR’s that you want to swim at. When the athlete swims, holds the rates, and the time is off, it’s a DPC issue and training should take that into account. Just remember this… swimming performance is a moving target, and you have to be very good at evaluating performance in order to design training programs that are successful. What works one season won’t always work the next season… you have to be good at thinking on your feet.

En mi opinion muy particular son diferentes objetivos como lo marcan lo programas de natacion donde en de formacion tiene 1 o 2 frecuencias a la semana es decir sesiones, mientras que el de competencia tiene 3 o mas sesiones en una semana.