Can you describe how you use tempo trainers for USRPT? Thanks.
The way I use the tempo trainer was to set my goal time for a 25 divided by two, then to "beat the beep", or rather the second beep, to the wall. If I'm doing a set of 20x50, I have four beeps to finish the 50 (one at halfway to the 1st 25, one at the wall, one halfway back, one at the finish), for a set of 20x25, I need to finish before the second beep.
I do it this way to get feedback on my breakout. I can see how far I am past halfway when the first beep hits, then I can assess if I'm pushing off the turn hard enough, too many dolphins, etc. Constant feedback helps and you can also see what goes first when you start to crap out. And I do crap out on these sets, I have never done an entire set of USRPT 25's where I have made all of them. I've made some progress, but I've never been able to complete all of them without a single failure.
For example, a typical SCM backstroke set for me is to do 20x25 on 0:45, trying to hold better than 0:15 on each one. I have the TT set at 7.5 seconds. For faster freestyle sets where the time doesn't mesh perfectly with the clock, I'll rest four "beeps" before doing the next one so that my work/rest ratio stays at about 2:1.
We use some cut-up foam noodles to keep track of what we've done, kind of like an abacus. It's cute, but it also works: green/blue means you made it, orange is a miss, red is a rest.
Though only a few of us compete, we've had everyone do these sets because they are not the typical workout and they seem to stimulate a different physiology than what a normal triathlete uses. In other words, it shakes things up which is a good thing across the board.
Can you describe how you use tempo trainers for USRPT? Thanks.
The way I use the tempo trainer was to set my goal time for a 25 divided by two, then to "beat the beep", or rather the second beep, to the wall. If I'm doing a set of 20x50, I have four beeps to finish the 50 (one at halfway to the 1st 25, one at the wall, one halfway back, one at the finish), for a set of 20x25, I need to finish before the second beep.
I do it this way to get feedback on my breakout. I can see how far I am past halfway when the first beep hits, then I can assess if I'm pushing off the turn hard enough, too many dolphins, etc. Constant feedback helps and you can also see what goes first when you start to crap out. And I do crap out on these sets, I have never done an entire set of USRPT 25's where I have made all of them. I've made some progress, but I've never been able to complete all of them without a single failure.
For example, a typical SCM backstroke set for me is to do 20x25 on 0:45, trying to hold better than 0:15 on each one. I have the TT set at 7.5 seconds. For faster freestyle sets where the time doesn't mesh perfectly with the clock, I'll rest four "beeps" before doing the next one so that my work/rest ratio stays at about 2:1.
We use some cut-up foam noodles to keep track of what we've done, kind of like an abacus. It's cute, but it also works: green/blue means you made it, orange is a miss, red is a rest.
Though only a few of us compete, we've had everyone do these sets because they are not the typical workout and they seem to stimulate a different physiology than what a normal triathlete uses. In other words, it shakes things up which is a good thing across the board.
