I've been focusing on stroke work for the past year or so and I'm hitting on a phase I'm hoping others have hit and have answers to.
My 75-85% efforts are when my stroke is best but 1) It seems to fall apart when I really put the pedal to the metal and 2) If I try to slow down to build endurance, the stroke also does not stay together. If I can't maintain stroke mechanics during peak sprints or cardio/muscular endurance sets would that amount to garbage yardage?
This funky middle ground means I get some decent effort in practice, but it seems too short compared to other swimmers workouts. Without building power or endurance using 'the right stroke' I worry that I'm not really making as good of progress as I can.
Thanks in advance.
If I can't maintain stroke mechanics during peak sprints or cardio/muscular endurance sets would that amount to garbage yardage?
To second on this comment, if you're stroke is coming undone, there's a tendency to drill bad mechanics into your muscle memory. This isn't necessarily garbage yardage, but it's not the ideal practice method.
Like Kirk suggests, always try to swim clean and smooth. If you have to back the effort down a little, so be it. Sooner or later you'll find yourself in the midst of the set with good mechanics and that's when you'll be moving along at a new found pace.
Years a go I though that the key to improvements was in being able to survive a very tight interval set of 100's or 200's for thirty or forty minutes straight. It took a while to realize that the key to getting faster was technique technique technique. Slowing down the interval allowed this to happen. Form first. Engine building second.
If I can't maintain stroke mechanics during peak sprints or cardio/muscular endurance sets would that amount to garbage yardage?
To second on this comment, if you're stroke is coming undone, there's a tendency to drill bad mechanics into your muscle memory. This isn't necessarily garbage yardage, but it's not the ideal practice method.
Like Kirk suggests, always try to swim clean and smooth. If you have to back the effort down a little, so be it. Sooner or later you'll find yourself in the midst of the set with good mechanics and that's when you'll be moving along at a new found pace.
Years a go I though that the key to improvements was in being able to survive a very tight interval set of 100's or 200's for thirty or forty minutes straight. It took a while to realize that the key to getting faster was technique technique technique. Slowing down the interval allowed this to happen. Form first. Engine building second.
