In my most recent blog entry, "One Man's Garbage..." forums.usms.org/blog.php , I asked my fellow swimmers their respective opinions on the impact long, slow, continuous swimming has on meet performance.
The expression "garbage yards" (and the pejorative overtones such a phrase conjurs) has become so embedded in the forum lexicon that many, I suspect, now consider as indisputable truth swimming this way is a waste of time for anyone with competitive ambitions.
Such a view appears particularly well-entrenched among the many non-credentialed exercise physiology pontificators here on the forums who also have a fondness for sprinting and dry land exercise.
But is the concept of garbage yards truly valid--or a kind of urban legend made up largely by sprinters who would rather be doing something other than spending 90 minutes without stopping in the pool?
I don't mean only practicing this way. But if you are, like me, inclined to enjoy swimming, once or twice a week, long, slow, relatively relaxing, continuous yards, do you believe (and more importantly, perhaps, have any evidence to bolster said belief) that so-called "garbage yards" can have some value for actual racing?
Or do these only teach your body to swim slow?
I invite you to read my recent blog forums.usms.org/blog.php and post your thoughts advice there or here.
At the risk of provoking censure by the forum authorities, I furthermore ask you to leave all civility by the wayside.
Feel free to trash talk and smack upside the head of any and every one who disagrees with your personal bias here!
It's been way too long since these forums have had a good, old-fashioned range war of opinions run amuk and ad hominem attacks!
Go at each other tooth and claw. It will only stir the blood of us all, I say--something we garbage yard enthusiasts probably need a bit more of, I will admit.
It seems I saw Nathan Adrian swim either a 100 or 200 on TV a while back and the last 25 didn't look so good.... because he didn't do enough sets of 15 x 200 with 0:05 rest :bolt:
Because the 200 freestyle is an evil event. I think I currently hate it even more than the 50 breaststroke.
200 Freestyle used to be a big sprint...now it has to be a little more controlled, but not by much. If you slack off in it just a little, you'll be kicking yourself at the end for not doing enough. Yet on the other hand, if you do too much at the beginning, you'll end up kicking yourself in the end double time!! :afraid:
I still say go for it, and hope the training you've done is backing you up that day. :cheerleader:
Yeah, sadly, those guys are going 1:31 to 1:33 and they ARE NOT sprinting the whole way. They have a 200 race strategy that requires some level of pacing and likely the same kind of relative effort expenditure across the 50s as we do ... they're just a helluva lot faster than us old farts and mortals.
A couple years back, I did a deconstruction of the winning NCAA men's Div 1 200 freestyle on my vlog.
I concluded then that that year's winner had, indeed, swum a controlled race.
One thing that needs to be factored in here is that when you can swim the distance in 1:30+, you are exerting yourself a good 25 percent less, duration wise, than someone who is covering the same distance in, say, 2:00.
My own feeling about the 200, and why it is such a fiendish test, is that perhaps more than any other freestyle event, it requires a perfectly intelligent approach to pacing to do your best in.
50s, certainly, and 100s, oftentimes, are too short to require all that much strategy.
500s and beyond, at least for the likes of me, give you time to build and correct mistakes as you proceed.
But the 200 requires that perfect needle-threading of dual suffering--sprint suffering and distance suffering--but both types of suffering managed in such a way as to avoid the worst suffering of all, that is, mental suffering from either having wimped out to much on the front end, or gone out too fast and seized up on the back end, either of which approach will lead to ruin, time wise!
Anyhow, for anyone interested in reading about a NCAA championship 200 pace deconstructed by this amateur analyst, you can find it here:
forums.usms.org/blog.php
One thing that needs to be factored in here is that when you can swim the distance in 1:30+, you are exerting yourself a good 25 percent less, duration wise, than someone who is covering the same distance in, say, 2:00.
Jim does math, intriguing.
While true the exertion lasts about 25% less time, the amount of exertion is substantially greater than doing it at 2:00. There is probably some mathematical formula at play here, chime in at any time knelson.
I am coming into this way late, so I apologize for repeating anyone. I used to be a big believer in garbage yards. But have for about 14 years now, been trying to spread the gospel of Quality vs Quantity. I do not believe that you need the yards. More yards make you tired, tired leads to bad technique, practicing with bad technique leads to injury, injury leads to really slow times. Do less ugly strokes and your times will be very good. Now if you can hold a big practice with good technique, you are doing pretty well. I am sure the top guys and girls are doing a bunch of garbage yards? Or do you think?
Sir James,
with all due respect…. Assuming “all Due” > 0 then thanks… I think.
Imagine, for the sake of explication, two athletes: Usain Boldt When did we start classifying track guys as athletes?
You, having made your way to the same track by the assistance of a Rascal mobility scooter Do I get to compete on my Rascal or can I step it up to my EV Rider Royale?
I ask you: who has worked harder here--Usain in his 9.58 seconds of blazing glory, or this hypothetical version of yourself…? Assuming I’m allowed to upgrade to my Rider Royale, I’d have to answer that the starter worked harder than the hypochondriacal me. Holding that heavy gun whilst I’m taking my mark must be a strain.
What I do know is in the water when my son went 1:33 in his 200, he worked a lot harder than I did when I went my all out 2:00 200 free. And except for age, strength, training, hair, technique, motivation, weight, reaction time and a few other factors; our swims were comparable.
Therefore, without fear of contradiction, young fast dudes work harder than old fat duds.
R.H.I.P.
R.H.I.P.
Rest Hopefully in Peace?
PS I am not sure what this vehicle is that you are discussing, but I suspect that my Honda Metropolitan Scooter works a lot, lot harder going up and down the hills of Pittsburgh.
Just sayin'.
motorcycle-specs.com/.../Honda-Metropolitan-2003.jpg
wow, wish I had only know that I could have fulfilled my "distance suffering" quotas in 2 minute intervalsWhat… you thought distance suffering didn’t kick in until hour 5 or so?
