Middle Distance Training

RE: Middle Distance Training

trexleradam — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 11:37:30 GMT

Swimming is mostly a skill sport. Swim every day except Sunday, first. Then think about swimming doubles and dry land *after* swimming.

RE: Middle Distance Training

shera — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 10:32:56 GMT

Hi, I'm not qualified to give such advice. But I know of a great book, Complete Conditioning for Swimmers, that gets into such specifics. I think you will find it useful. It is by Dave Salo and Scott Riewald. It recommends a workout schedule at different stages of life, with specific exercises to boost strength/flexibility and prevent injury. My unsolicited .02 cents: Your workout schedule is very ambitious. I would make sure you had time for fun with friends doing activities that are different from swimming....soccer, basketball, dancing, frisbee, etc. Something you enjoy, whether or not you are good at it. Not only will it fill the important need for fun and socializing, especially important at your age, but it will also allow you to move in different ways, therefore boosting your athleticism and most likely your swimming performance....I know this is more advice that what you asked for, but hey, I'm a mom...can't help myself! (-: Good luck! Hey Shera- I am planning to do sessions with my high school coaches just like you mentioned. Thank you for your input! But again, do dry land workouts after swimming replace weight room only days? Or should I do one or the other?

RE: Middle Distance Training

Former Member — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 14:15:44 GMT

Thanks for your advice. I am going to shift around my workout schedule to account for more rest before and after weight room sessions, maybe only doing 2 per week. I still have a few questions though- I see that in that Michael Phelps workout there no weight room specific workouts. Does that mean I should be relying on post-swimming dry land rather than weight room sessions? I was going to use this (www.bodybuilding.com/.../jasonlezak1.htm) sprinter workout program to build muscle and it seems to rely a lot on weight training in the gym. Is it necessary? Also, this is my new modified program that I came up with, with you guys' suggestions in mind. Sunday: AM- Weight room, PM- rest Monday: AM- Work on IM, PM- Go for high volume Tuesday: AM- Pace work, PM- Sprint/low volume with lots of active recovery: focusing more on recovery for Weight room tomorrow Wednesday: AM- Weight room, PM- rest Thursday: AM- Work on IM, PM- Go for high volume Friday: AM- Pace work, PM- rest Saturday: Rest After each swim session do a dry land segment. I tried to cushion weight room sessions with rest or an "easy" swim (maybe like some 25, 50, or 100 sprints with active recovery in between each one) that would be relatively low-volume and help my body rest to some extent while still getting in the pool. Also I kept in the weight room specific sessions for now... or should they be completely replaced by dry land?

RE: Middle Distance Training

Former Member — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 05:57:52 GMT

Hey Shera- I am planning to do sessions with my high school coaches just like you mentioned. Thank you for your input! But again, do dry land workouts after swimming replace weight room only days? Or should I do one or the other?

RE: Middle Distance Training

shera — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 01:22:33 GMT

Hi, It looks like you have a lot of motivation and great ideas. I want to chime in with one more suggestion. I think the easiest way to improve a 500 free in short course yards is to improve your turns including the streamlines off the walls. I realize you practice mostly on your own, but I would have a coach look at your turns every few weeks and identify any areas of improvement. Then when you practice, make sure every single turn, even in warmup, is the best you can do. Not lifting your head as you approach the wall. Pushing off the wall as hard as you can in a tight streamline. And executing streamlined dolphin kicks (also referred to SDK in some of the workout blogs on this website), working with your coach to figure out the optimal number to do in both practice and in a meet. You can do sets of 50s starting and ending in the middle of the pool that would require two turns and build athleticism by making yourself build speed without a wall push-off. Hope that helped and good luck!

RE: Middle Distance Training

Former Member — Sun, 29 May 2016 16:19:14 GMT

I think swimming more often would be helpful, doing dry land post practice, supplemental to swim training and proportional to yardage. Otherwise, separate dry land sessions would take away from your swimming. Here's an example of Michael Phelps training from 2002 7 variable swim sessions 51,000 yards total / average 7300 yards a session / range 4500 to 9000 yards 4 post practice (after practice, not separate) 1) 30' running, 15' stretching 2) 500 abdominals + stretching 3) dryland wall sit 2' 3x8 pullups, assist if needed 2x15 dips, no weight pushups / 10x +5 clap (elbows in / elbows out / opposite / reverse opposite) ab wheel 2x15 3x10 ball squats 3x10 squat jumps stretching!!! 4) dryland medicine ball (repeat 3x) chest pass 10x behind head pass 10x right to right pass 10x left to left pass 10x between front pass 10x squat pass 10x dyna disk 3x30 seconds balancing each leg foam rolls 3x30 seconds ab wheel 3x25 stretching!!! Swimming Technique Jan/Feb 2003 "American Flyer" by Bob Bowman, with Michael Scott

RE: Middle Distance Training

Former Member — Sun, 29 May 2016 14:08:55 GMT

I wish I knew enough to really help you but I am fairly new to swimming and make up a lot of stuff as I go. I do know that the rest in the morning followed by weights pm and then high volume next am is a bad idea. Your body needs time to recover more than that. Maybe shift some of that around. Muscle is built during the rest (as opposed to being in the weight room). It sounds odd but it is true. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

RE: Middle Distance Training

Former Member — Thu, 26 May 2016 06:52:55 GMT

Thanks for the reply Dan. I'm still a little fuzzy on what I should be doing in the weight room. Should I be doing a sprinter workout 3 times a week? Or maybe a distance swimmer workout twice a week? A combination? I'm still not too sure what that would look like or what I would need to focus on.

RE: Middle Distance Training

ForceDJ — Wed, 25 May 2016 10:59:34 GMT

Wow, I was once looking for a swimmer like you. I've been swimming for 35 years but never swam on an organized team. In h.s. I was a distance runner. When I began swimming, I did it to be a distance swimmer (open water, triathlon). I only knew how to train for distance running, so that's how I went about training for distance swimming. I have never understood why an entire h.s. team does the same exact workout. Seems like any specializing is strictly forbidden. Fast-forward to several years ago when my daughter was on her h.s. swim team. The coach asked me if I'd like to be an unpaid assistant. And, like your team, no one wanted to swim the longer events. I told the coach that I could weed out one or two swimmers that I thought would excel at the distance events, and I would train them separately from the rest of the team. My swim coaching career lived and died right there. I mentioned my plan in these forums and was ridiculed here too for wanting to let a swimmer specialize in just one discipline. I guess that's what I get for trying to bring a running mentality into swimming. But, good luck with your plan. I think it's a great idea. Dan