I'm 4 weeks into my first consistent conditioning program. I have three total body routines a strength coach developed for me to work on my overall mobility and posture with a few swimming specific things thrown in the mix. I'm in the 35-40 Age group, so "mobility" doesn't seem like it would be a huge priority but having kids really messed with my hips and posture. I'm doing these three days a week on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
I did a 10K swim and 5K swim this summer and had several weeks where I was over 30,000 yards per week, so I've cut back my swimming to 4 days instead of 6. In addition, my average daily yardage is way down, partially by design, partially because I'm sore and tired. When I started the new routine, I started at 12,000y a week and I'm up to 14,000y a week, with plans to keep my average closer to 16,000 yards per week.
I've already noticed big improvements in my ability to get into and hold a streamline position. My breaststroke also feels like it's coming back together. I feel like I'm getting much better distance on my underwaters, not just because of the streamline but because the push-off is better, and my SDKs have improved, too. However, my times are sucking eggs, relatively speaking.
On sets that I would have been able to hold a solid 1:21-1:22 100 pace in the middle of a 30,000 yard week, I'm barely holding together 1:27-1:28 (for example, 20x100 on 1:35 has become 15x100 on 1:40). My 25 yard sprint times are about 2 seconds slow across all strokes. I understand that there's some adjustment that happens when starting anything new. I'm curious where the tipping point comes to decide if it's helping, hurting, or neutral with regards to my swimming.
Does this sound like a normal slow down from lifting that will lighten up as the season progresses and when I cut back the strength volume before my next big meet? Or more like the kind of slow down that screams too much too soon?
So if you're doing S&C three days a week... and swimming 4 days a week... does that mean you're not taking a rest day or that you're doing doubles at least once a week?
On two days I'm doing doubles. In the past, I've done better with the whole weekend off rather than spreading to 6 days, or spreading out the two rest days. This could be something I tinker with for better results.
What does the S&C program look like? Focus on progressively loading compound barbell lifts (squat, deadlift, press, etc) or more bodybuilding type isolation exercises?
More compound style "lifts" and mobility. I am being prepped to do some Olympic style lifts but I've got a long way to go with just getting in the right posture before I can even pick up the bar. I've got various squats, lunges, planks, dumbell presses, TRX moves (roll-out, rows, T's), dead-bug, box jumps, carry's, cables,
What does the swimming program look like? Is it cyclical or is it just whatever you or your coach feel like that day/week?
The swimming is very cyclical. After the summer "season" was over, I took a full two week break and have been primarily doing technique work and aerobic base work over the last couple weeks. Since the summer was so heavy on endurance freestyle, we're hitting up all the strokes now. On a given week, I try not to have two "hard" days back to back which is very tricky to arrange because all the lifting is "hard" right now.
Monday AM: IM work: mostly moderate, heavy on technique
Monday PM: S&C
Tuesday AM: Freestyle Aerobic/Endurance Work (where I might get those 15x100 on 10sRest set or something similar in)
Wednesday: S&C
Thursday: Sprint Work (most of the day is technique with a "fast" set in the middle. Like 10x50 Free AFAP on 1:00 or 1:15.)
Friday AM: Non-Free Stroke Specific Work (will focus heavily on *** or Fly with lots of technique for that stroke and a main set that mixes that stroke with free)
Friday PM (or Saturday AM if I'm gassed): S&C
This is constantly evolving through the season but I have a plan for the week that's decided at the beginning of the week and things would only change to make things easier if a particular set is stinking up the pool.
I'm 2 years into starting a strength program. I remember the days when I was so sore I couldn't walk down the stairs without feeling wobbly with my legs. I don't do nearly the yardage (I average a little under 25 miles per month) that you do but I consider myself a sprinter and don't do long distance. This summer the dividends really paid off as I swam times better than when I was your age and I just aged up to 50. Keep at it. I firmly believe you will realize the benefits in the longer term. If you feel to beat up, there is no shame in taking a recovery day.
I wholly endorse waves101's "I firmly believe you will realize the benefits in the longer term. If you feel to beat up, there is no shame in taking a recovery day."
This is reassuring/reaffirming.
Yes, it is hard to know without having my full schedule written out...but then again what’s plenty doable for one person could totally break another. Since I coach the masters team, I use the youth team coaches as my unofficial swim advisors. They’ll call me out on not sprinting enough and generally keep me in line. So yes, the coach “team” is working together. I personally do not have enough experience to know from the past how this works for me. In college, our coach said, “here’s the weight room, I highly suggest you use it” without further instruction.
The thoughts from the strength coach is he would like to thoroughly asses what I am eating and when. The thoughts from one youth coach is that he doesn’t like to see more than a 6 second per hundred slow for a week or two without mixing things up and it just might be more than I can handle. The thoughts from the other youth coach, who saw me swim today, is that my stroke rate is down but I’m not riding too low in the water and my underwaters look good. She’s feeling that this fatigue might lift and she’d be more concerned if she thought I looked “sinky” when I swam.
So if you're doing S&C three days a week... and swimming 4 days a week... does that mean you're not taking a rest day or that you're doing doubles at least once a week?
What does the S&C program look like? Focus on progressively loading compound barbell lifts (squat, deadlift, press, etc) or more bodybuilding type isolation exercises?
What does the swimming program look like? Is it cyclical or is it just whatever you or your coach feel like that day/week?
Very interesting post m2t2. Like waves101, I'm about two years into a regular dryland routine, in my late 50s. My early experiences were very similar to you both, the drylands knocked the snot out of me and I was considerably slower in the pool. I only saw the benefits (time wise) when I tapered and rested with no drylands. But the benefits were very worthwhile: much more resilience in multi-day meets, increased strength and endurance in longer swims even though my swim yardage is relatively modest by the standards of the distance crowd. I haven't been working on sprinting for a while so I'm not really sure how much it might be helpful there, but next year I'll be doing some pool racing and I'm hoping that it will at least arrest the decline, if not help me go faster. I wholly endorse waves101's "I firmly believe you will realize the benefits in the longer term. If you feel to beat up, there is no shame in taking a recovery day." I have experimented some with frequency, cycling and intensity of drylands - I seem to do best if I go through a recovery phase every few weeks as otherwise the drylands keep me consistently beat up. You might want to experiment some with cycling/recovery (4-6 week mesocycle?) even if you are not tapering for a meet.
Do you have a swim coach? Or just a strength training coach? Ideally your two coaches should be talking to each other so that you can make adjustments to both programs in order to ensure that you are maintaining the proper balance between both and that you are incorporating new elements into your routine gradually, so that if you experience any negative effects/injuries, you can have a better idea of their source.
JPEnge's questions are on point- it's hard to make any judgments as to your programs because we need to know, generally speaking, what your strength training program looks like AND what your swimming program looks like.
Regardless, you should ensure that you are incorporating technique work into your workouts to make sure you avoid any injuries. Fatigued muscles from strength training may exacerbate problems inherent to your stroke, which could lead to injuries.
