What's the best way to build endurance for 200 stroke events or mid to distance free?
some people at my pool tell me to do tons of repeats with only 5 sec rest if 25s, and only 10 sec rest if 50s or 100s.
this doesn't work for me if I'm doing stroke or IM. My form breaks down after not that many repeats and I have to add more and more effort only to get slower and slower. ( and get less and less rest - double whammy!)
i know some people will do 20-40 repeats of 25 at race pace to develop a 200 but what should be the work to rest ratio?
i also know there is a science behind all this. Different intervals to train creatine phosphate energy system (ultra short) anaerobic energy system, and aerobic. Sometimes I think it might be better to give myself longer rest, like 20 sec on a 50 stroke so that I have time to clear lactate and each 50 is cleaner. But how do I train my body to clear lactate more quickly so I can actually complete a 200 stroke with quality.
People say do lactate threshold sets, but again I don't know what that really means for me in terms of work to rest ratio, and what intensity of effort in the work part?
i just did a 200 fly as 3.46 even though I was able to pull off a total swim time of 3.28 as a broken swim in practice coming in under 52 per 50 @ 1:00. I didn't think that was much rest to make that much difference but apparently 8 seconds is too much to be realistic
i think i am I am beating myself up thinking I have to workout more and more to gain endurance but maybe I am just overtraining because I'm not making the improvements I'd like to see for how often I practice.
any suggestions for me?
thanks in advance!
That seems pretty conclusive. It is also pretty impressive since you just started that way of training. Does it feel comfortable?
Yes, it does. I attribute it to a couple of reasons. First, I taught myself "power yoga" just over a year ago and do it after every swim session (6-days/week), in addition to my usual physical therapy exercises using a Theraband. I also do planks (I'm up to holding it for 1:30, but think I could go longer with shoes on rather than in bare feet), crunches, etc. In all, I spend about 45 minutes on deck doing it after my swim workout. As a result, I have developed more strength and endurance to be able to withstand the repetitiveness of USRPT workouts.
Second, I did a trade-out with teammate Mark Beatty, a Top Ten (45-49) swimmer and swim instructor. In exchange for shooting video of his strokes, he coached me on breaststroke. By the end of one session, he had me swimming a 50-yard breaststroke with a short 6 strokes down, and 6 strokes back at :53. (Prior to that session, it would take 9 strokes each way at the same speed.)
My stroke count was always too high, so he helped me with my streamline, pullout, and body position on the stroke. (He tried to get me to keep my head from popping up too soon to breathe, and I did make some improvements; however, I find it difficult to sustain. :dunno: )
Since our late-October session, I have spent most of my breaststroke yardage (which wasn't much due to being concerned about my hip) just trying to work on my stroke and stroke count. I didn't worry about my breaststroke speed at all, so my 50 has really suffered!
Now, I'm trying to put it all together, and I'm finding that USRPT is the best way to do it. My body is adapting well to the repetition within a set, and the 20 seconds of rest for 50's gives me enough time to think about what I need to do for the next 50. When I have a failure, I don't look at it negatively. Instead, I think of it as my body's way of telling me it's time to rest and regroup. When I start again, my first 50 after the rest period is always fast and feels great! :banana: For me, that's positive reinforcement the rest was needed and worthwhile.
One decision I made about USRPT that I will stick by is this: I won't do more than one set of it per stroke in a day, and won't repeat the same stroke the following day as a USRPT set. This is to help prevent repetitive stress injuries, something I am very prone to experiencing. What seems to work is following my warm-up with USRPT fly, and then moving on to freestyle. On the following day, I substitute fly with breaststroke, and then move on to a set of backstroke. Breaking up the long access strokes to separate days is important for me!
I'm finding that I fail much sooner on the second set which is to be expected; however, breaststroke and fly are my priorities, so I don't mind giving the other two strokes the backseat.
I'm going to stick with this as long as it works. I fill in the rest of my workout with drills and kick sets, and by Saturday (my 6th day in a row), I do a body check to see what I can take. Yesterday, it was a very short session of USRPT before I designated the remainder of my shortened session "Play time!" Play time consists of fooling around with underwater SDK's with fins, doing favorite drills, trying to float :lmao: (which I don't do very well) without laughing at myself, doing a couple of handstands, and :blah: with whoever is around and in a sociable mood. After that, I hit the deck for yoga and stretching, use my foam roller, and :bolt:
That seems pretty conclusive. It is also pretty impressive since you just started that way of training. Does it feel comfortable?
Yes, it does. I attribute it to a couple of reasons. First, I taught myself "power yoga" just over a year ago and do it after every swim session (6-days/week), in addition to my usual physical therapy exercises using a Theraband. I also do planks (I'm up to holding it for 1:30, but think I could go longer with shoes on rather than in bare feet), crunches, etc. In all, I spend about 45 minutes on deck doing it after my swim workout. As a result, I have developed more strength and endurance to be able to withstand the repetitiveness of USRPT workouts.
Second, I did a trade-out with teammate Mark Beatty, a Top Ten (45-49) swimmer and swim instructor. In exchange for shooting video of his strokes, he coached me on breaststroke. By the end of one session, he had me swimming a 50-yard breaststroke with a short 6 strokes down, and 6 strokes back at :53. (Prior to that session, it would take 9 strokes each way at the same speed.)
My stroke count was always too high, so he helped me with my streamline, pullout, and body position on the stroke. (He tried to get me to keep my head from popping up too soon to breathe, and I did make some improvements; however, I find it difficult to sustain. :dunno: )
Since our late-October session, I have spent most of my breaststroke yardage (which wasn't much due to being concerned about my hip) just trying to work on my stroke and stroke count. I didn't worry about my breaststroke speed at all, so my 50 has really suffered!
Now, I'm trying to put it all together, and I'm finding that USRPT is the best way to do it. My body is adapting well to the repetition within a set, and the 20 seconds of rest for 50's gives me enough time to think about what I need to do for the next 50. When I have a failure, I don't look at it negatively. Instead, I think of it as my body's way of telling me it's time to rest and regroup. When I start again, my first 50 after the rest period is always fast and feels great! :banana: For me, that's positive reinforcement the rest was needed and worthwhile.
One decision I made about USRPT that I will stick by is this: I won't do more than one set of it per stroke in a day, and won't repeat the same stroke the following day as a USRPT set. This is to help prevent repetitive stress injuries, something I am very prone to experiencing. What seems to work is following my warm-up with USRPT fly, and then moving on to freestyle. On the following day, I substitute fly with breaststroke, and then move on to a set of backstroke. Breaking up the long access strokes to separate days is important for me!
I'm finding that I fail much sooner on the second set which is to be expected; however, breaststroke and fly are my priorities, so I don't mind giving the other two strokes the backseat.
I'm going to stick with this as long as it works. I fill in the rest of my workout with drills and kick sets, and by Saturday (my 6th day in a row), I do a body check to see what I can take. Yesterday, it was a very short session of USRPT before I designated the remainder of my shortened session "Play time!" Play time consists of fooling around with underwater SDK's with fins, doing favorite drills, trying to float :lmao: (which I don't do very well) without laughing at myself, doing a couple of handstands, and :blah: with whoever is around and in a sociable mood. After that, I hit the deck for yoga and stretching, use my foam roller, and :bolt:
