I have been a master swimmer for a number of years (10?). I first started out in triathlon. Over the years I have learned to swim all the strokes and have recently been able to improve my times.
I have lost a bunch a weight recently, and have added cross fit into my training regiment.
I am now trying to see how to take more time off all my strokes. I am currently swim 3 times a week and do cross fit three times a week. I have one rest day.
I am not sure how to move forward to structure my workouts so that I will improve.
I know I need work on the following:
Free:
Turns(free style, I am still not where I want to be).
Free Style Arms ( My coach tells me to reach out farther.. I am not reaching enough).
Kick: I need a better kick (I am trying to bolt on a new butt by doing lots of squats).
***:
Turns: I am told there is not much more I can improve on.
Pull: Arms can be brought down in a better position.
Stroke: I should ungulate more.
Back:
Stroke: Roll more.
Turns: Needs some work. (Longer and stronger).
Fly:
Stroke: I wait to long to bring my arms up and over..delayed... need to be faster.
Kick: Needs work (I need to ungulate more, and bolt on new butt (see above).
I know that I also have to work on lactic acid threshold, and sprint, sprint, sprint.
I have looked at the workouts provided here on USMS. I am not sure what to do. How should I split up my 3 workouts a week. Should I do sprint (high intensity training ) workouts 1 day? Should I then do a technique (Basic Training) workout the 2nd day? And then perhaps do distance maintenance on the 3rd day?
What books can anyone recommend to help me establish metrics, so that I can measure where I am at, where I need to go and how to get there?
Anyone..Anyone...0.02?
I just looked you up to get your age from your race history, because that would factor into the advice others may give you. While I was at it, I looked at your race times. Wow, looking it over, those could be MY race times! Actually, many of them ARE my race times! Too bad we don't live in the same area, because we would be perfect training partners. I'm 55, I've been swimming for 7 years, and I really didn't learn the strokes properly until I joined Masters. (I swam in high school; however, my coach was a PE teacher who didn't know how to swim-- literally.)
Anyway, having said all that, I have also asked all of the same questions you have asked. Ande will tell you that if you want to improve your times, you need to swim more than 3x/wk. He'll say to swim 5 or 6. Ande and Allen Stark (King Frog!) will suggest you post videos, so we can see your strokes and offer tips on how to swim faster. If you can get somebody to post good close-up videos, that would be great. Underwater would be even better. Check out my videos on "The Breaststroke Lane" thread and read King Frog's comments if you want to get a good idea on the excellent feedback you can receive here online.
On structuring your workouts, several of the guys (knelson, pwb, Ande, etc.) will probably want you to be more specific with your goals. Are there specific races you are looking to improve? (Sprints or distance? 50 fly or 200 fly??) Sprints and distance training are two different animals, and 50 fly is approached differently than 200 fly, for example.
I will leave specific workout advice to the experts on here; however, I can suggest this: Check out http://www.goswim.tv if you haven't already. I have learned so much from the videos on that site, and the basic membership is free.
Stick around here on the Forums, because you will learn a lot. I train on my own, so these guys and gals are my "coaches"! Be sure to poke around some of the other threads, too. Ande's Swim Faster Faster thread is excellent, and the "lane" threads ("The Breaststroke Lane", "The Butterfly Lane") are, too.
Good luck, E! :cheerleader:
I just looked you up to get your age from your race history, because that would factor into the advice others may give you. While I was at it, I looked at your race times. Wow, looking it over, those could be MY race times! Actually, many of them ARE my race times! Too bad we don't live in the same area, because we would be perfect training partners. I'm 55, I've been swimming for 7 years, and I really didn't learn the strokes properly until I joined Masters. (I swam in high school; however, my coach was a PE teacher who didn't know how to swim-- literally.)
Anyway, having said all that, I have also asked all of the same questions you have asked. Ande will tell you that if you want to improve your times, you need to swim more than 3x/wk. He'll say to swim 5 or 6. Ande and Allen Stark (King Frog!) will suggest you post videos, so we can see your strokes and offer tips on how to swim faster. If you can get somebody to post good close-up videos, that would be great. Underwater would be even better. Check out my videos on "The Breaststroke Lane" thread and read King Frog's comments if you want to get a good idea on the excellent feedback you can receive here online.
On structuring your workouts, several of the guys (knelson, pwb, Ande, etc.) will probably want you to be more specific with your goals. Are there specific races you are looking to improve? (Sprints or distance? 50 fly or 200 fly??) Sprints and distance training are two different animals, and 50 fly is approached differently than 200 fly, for example.
I will leave specific workout advice to the experts on here; however, I can suggest this: Check out http://www.goswim.tv if you haven't already. I have learned so much from the videos on that site, and the basic membership is free.
Stick around here on the Forums, because you will learn a lot. I train on my own, so these guys and gals are my "coaches"! Be sure to poke around some of the other threads, too. Ande's Swim Faster Faster thread is excellent, and the "lane" threads ("The Breaststroke Lane", "The Butterfly Lane") are, too.
Good luck, E! :cheerleader:
