Training intervals

I am not an expert in USRPT, I just dabble in it. For more in depth check out forums.usms.org/showthread.php or if you really want to get in depth coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../47GUIDE.pdf . From what I know, yes, if you miss a goal time you would wait 20+52+20 for the next one. I usually do one USRPT set per workout, so once I get to failure I'd do something else,drills, long slow stuff etc. People who are committed to USRPT would probably do active recovery and then start another set. Since you are going to failure the sets are self limiting, so you could really do them every workout, except not if you feel unduly in pain. If you have unusual pain, wait until that is better to start again. One thing that has helped me in doing these sets lately, that I think might help you, is broadening my definition of "failure". Instead of just going by time, I am now going by stroke count and feel. If my goal is 50 BR in 39 with a 6 1/2 stroke count and I do it in 39 but with a 7 stroke count I count it as a failure, since my stroke is off somehow.This is my idea anyway. This is excellent advice, King Frog, and I really appreciate it! Yes, I have followed that thread since the very first post, and I even muddled through the pdf when it was posted. :eek: I never put any of it to use, though, because I thought of it as more for sprinters rather than anything else. Although I used to be a sprinter, the high-intensity training beat the heck out of my body, and I have had to give it up. These days, due to my various physical issues, I find my body is better able to deal with NOT swimming anything at 100% all-out effort. In addition, my shoulders can no longer handle the repetitive stress of training distance free. 16x100 free sets used to be no big deal. Now I can't do them at all without repercussions. I will last longer in this sport if stick with mixing it up and training the 400 IM and 200's. Repetitive fly at a slow pace doesn't bother my shoulders like freestyle does, so I tried your suggested set today. I was able to do 4x50's under goal, then 6x50's under goal, and then 2x50's before my stroke completely fell apart. Since I had three total failures, I stopped. I was happy with the total of 12x50's for 600 yards of fly, especially since I had already done 600 yards of freestyle USRPT right after my warm-up and before tackling this fly set. (The rest of the workout was spent on drills.) This seems to be the best way for me to build up my fly endurance here on out. I give up too soon with any other type of sets! The :20 rest period works for me on this set, and I like the idea of sitting out on a send-off if I fail. The rest period gives me a chance to regroup and start fresh again, both mentally and physically! :agree: King Frog, how many frog repeats can you usually do before your first failure? How many before you max out? What would you consider a good goal for me?

Fast swimming, Elaine. I recently did a 54 in workouts in Breaststroke but it was resting for about 2 minutes and a slow 50 swim before doing it. I only recently did 51.21 in a race compared to doing 42 as a 45 year old. Now, I'm 59 and in 2 months 60. So, I think your goal is great. Thanks, Cinc. I just aged up to 55, and I'm frustrated that I am slowing down faster than my peers. At 48 (my first year in USMS), I was able to make NQT's in the 50 breaststroke at :38.90. Now, I can no longer make NQT's. Having hip surgery two years ago didn't help, but I also can't train the yardage I used to be able to handle. In 2012, I hit 454 miles for the year. This past year, my goal was 325 and I hit 329. I saw your other post about your high school times. If we had competed against each other back then, we would have been well-matched. My best time ever in the 100 breaststroke was 1:19.6. I mostly swam around 1:20-1:21.

I do USRPT, too, and, for the 200 free, have gone to using for a 50 target time. The difference is only about 1/2 second, but that makes a huge difference the ability to complete a meaningful number of repetitions before failing out of the set. I would certainly recommend a similar strategy for the 200 fly. The first 50 in that race can really throw off the target time if you use the (200 time/4) method. Unless your goal time is pretty close to your current time, it's probably too much of a stretch to train USRPT as your basis for target times. Not likely to get many successful reps. You gotta start where you are now, and work down. ​GREAT ADVICE, Gary! Thanks!!

I hear many people get to 12 before first failure. I am happy with 8, 6 if i am not feeling tip top.

I hear many people get to 12 before first failure. I am happy with 8, 6 if i am not feeling tip top. Thanks! That gives me a good idea on what to shoot for with my sets.

Remember, if you get 4, that is the same as a broken 200, so that is not a bad goal to start.

Remember, if you get 4, that is the same as a broken 200, so that is not a bad goal to start. Great- thanks! So far, what I am liking about these sets is my ability to get more quality stroke yardage in than with the sets I was doing previously. It's a great feeling after a failure to rest up and start fresh again. I'm finding that my frog legs (especially my right hip where I had surgery) are able to hang in much better on breaststroke, and my shoulders do fine with the fly.

Thanks, Cinc. I just aged up to 55, and I'm frustrated that I am slowing down faster than my peers. At 48 (my first year in USMS), I was able to make NQT's in the 50 breaststroke at :38.90. Now, I can no longer make NQT's. Having hip surgery two years ago didn't help, but I also can't train the yardage I used to be able to handle. In 2012, I hit 454 miles for the year. This past year, my goal was 325 and I hit 329. I saw your other post about your high school times. If we had competed against each other back then, we would have been well-matched. My best time ever in the 100 breaststroke was 1:19.6. I mostly swam around 1:20-1:21. Yes, I slowdown a lot since I stop swimming for years. I took it up around 1999 for 2 days of lap swimming and decided to do a few meets in 2,002 to 2004 with more practice. I got two NT's in 50 meter and 100 meter Breaststroke at 46 and 1:43 when I about 46 years old. Swam the next year and complete 50 yard fly at 40.21 since that time is still in the data based and had a bad cough/ some bronchitis wand couldn't breath in the 200 yard breastroke and only swim 150 yards and of course was DQ. Continue some lap swimming until 2006 and pretty much dropped out of swimming again and came back in may of last year with very light workouts and more heavier ones by late July but most of the yardage is between 4.100 to 8,200 yards a week. I weight a lot more than high school even though the swimming has helped losing some of that and breasts are much bigger than high school.

I would say the best war to get faster at 200m is swimming long and easy many Intervalls of 200m, 300m and even 400m..and than I would mix it a little bit with some faster 100m intervalls to get some speed for the stroke... I am not a fan of the USRPT and I really have strong doubt doing this is good for a Mastersswimmer.

Has any body seen and tried this? www.yourswimlog.com/.../ first set is basically 10 rounds of swim, drill, kick by 50 on an interval you know you can make second set is setting your pace at an easy interval over 4 reps, then do 6 more reps each one at descending intervals (10 sec per descend) I don't think I would attempt max velocity but will attempt mod-hard effort if using this set for a 200, of course with completely different intervals, like starting with 2:00 for 50scy For me, I would do 25s to train for a 100 My goal is always to get it to feel no more than moderate/hard but still be fast- the so called easy fast. That's because I'm losing my mental toughness and finding it really hard to make myself gut things out like I used to. So I do a lot of drills and 25s watching the clock, but monitoring feel for sustainability. I'm trying to increase efficiency but the time spent on this type of work does take away from my interval training and is probably deconditioning. I'm looking for that magic formula that will enable me to complete a 200 at a meet without having to do a lot of full 200s in practice because the latter is really mentally challenging. I should add, a few years ago I did a lot of 200s in my solo practices, but now I focus too much on how much they hurt, so I mainly only do them at meets. No choice but to finish them there or get DQd so I keep going. But I am getting slower. Not aggressive enough maybe. I used to go out agressively and try to hang on with adrenaline. Now I'm not willing to do that. I turned myself into too much of a head case for that. anybody relate?