Hi,
I am looking for training method to improce sprint speed. I used to swim competitively when I was young, stopped a little more than 10 years ago (i am 32).
Now I am trying to improve my 50 free SCM. I just restarted swimming this year and swam my 50 in pratices at 27.5.
I would love to get back to 24.9. Any tips or ideas on the trainig type? (technique should be fine and I know what to improve, its mostly the training type I am not so sure)
I train 3 times a week and i'll eventually go to 4-5 when my body can handle it.
Thanks!
I have been using USRPT (ultra short race pace training) for a year and have had great success. I however, have been training for the 400/500.
My opinion is that using USRPT for the 50 is not as good. The reason is you really can only do 25s at the most, which is OK, and when you do 12 1/2s you can't get an accurate time. You may want to try 25s at 50 race pace. Do not start at your target time per 25. Add a second or second and a half. The reason for that is so you can get some success and get used to the way these are done. These sets are tough and if you start by using your "real" target time, you might get discouraged and quit.
For 25s the rest is :15 seconds (for 50 repeats like I do and above, the rest is always :20 seconds). What you want to do once you get the hang of it, is to try each time to move the first failure i.e. the first one where you miss your target time, further down the road. In other words, lets say you can do 7 at your target time today then you hit your first failure, tomorrow try to get to # 8 before your first failure.
Whatever else you do, with USRPT you must go until failure on each set. It is never the goal to do all 20 or 30 in the set. The goal is to hit your race pace target time for as long as you can and essentially to stop the set when you can no longer do it. In regular training (we call it traditional training), you do the entire set no matter what, even if your times are not even near race pace. But in USRPT the set is over once you cannot hold the race pace anymore. That way you are not going to exhaustion...you will be tired, but you won't be thrashed. Tired is OK, thrashed is not.
The other thing you might check out is HIT - high intensity training. There is section on the USMS forum for workouts. There is one for HIT, however, the workouts that are currently being posted, in my opinion, are not HIT. If you can find the workouts that Leslie Livingston posted to the Forum last year, I think you would be better off. Her workouts were designed for the 50 sprinter and she herself held (or still holds) I think three of the 50m/y national records in her age group.
Good luck.
Glenn Gruber
I have been using USRPT (ultra short race pace training) for a year and have had great success. I however, have been training for the 400/500.
My opinion is that using USRPT for the 50 is not as good. The reason is you really can only do 25s at the most, which is OK, and when you do 12 1/2s you can't get an accurate time. You may want to try 25s at 50 race pace. Do not start at your target time per 25. Add a second or second and a half. The reason for that is so you can get some success and get used to the way these are done. These sets are tough and if you start by using your "real" target time, you might get discouraged and quit.
For 25s the rest is :15 seconds (for 50 repeats like I do and above, the rest is always :20 seconds). What you want to do once you get the hang of it, is to try each time to move the first failure i.e. the first one where you miss your target time, further down the road. In other words, lets say you can do 7 at your target time today then you hit your first failure, tomorrow try to get to # 8 before your first failure.
Whatever else you do, with USRPT you must go until failure on each set. It is never the goal to do all 20 or 30 in the set. The goal is to hit your race pace target time for as long as you can and essentially to stop the set when you can no longer do it. In regular training (we call it traditional training), you do the entire set no matter what, even if your times are not even near race pace. But in USRPT the set is over once you cannot hold the race pace anymore. That way you are not going to exhaustion...you will be tired, but you won't be thrashed. Tired is OK, thrashed is not.
The other thing you might check out is HIT - high intensity training. There is section on the USMS forum for workouts. There is one for HIT, however, the workouts that are currently being posted, in my opinion, are not HIT. If you can find the workouts that Leslie Livingston posted to the Forum last year, I think you would be better off. Her workouts were designed for the 50 sprinter and she herself held (or still holds) I think three of the 50m/y national records in her age group.
Good luck.
Glenn Gruber
