Over the last weekend I competed in 50m and 100m LCM butterfly.
I can swim the events, but I am just not able to keep my stroke together and remain at a reasonable speed (I would say fast, but even when sprinting it takes me about 36 secs per 50m SCM). I then deteriorate into 'survival' fly, where my hips drop and the priority is breathing on each stroke.
On the 50m, I started to struggle over the last 10m, which lost me a few seconds. On the 100m, I went out a bit slower, but by the time I got to the second 50m I was really struggling. This meant it took me around 55 secs to do the second 50m.
I've done a lot of fly in training recently, so I didn't expect it to be so tough.
In contrast, I did the 100m freestyle, and kept my intensity near maximum throughout, so I'm not sure why fly would be so different?
I do all of my training in a 25m pool, so do I really need to get to a 50m pool to get used to longcourse?
Is part of the problem oxygen debt? I seem to have trouble breathing properly on fly, as I am normally rushing to get my head back down after a very short breath.
I saw in the archives a topic about fly endurance. It suggested working on sets of 25m, then 50m, then 75m until doing 6x75m at a good pace. Another suggestion is doing 8x25m fly and decreasing the rest with each workout. My coach suggested doing 20x25m of 6 stroke fly followed by easy freestyle into the wall. That doesn't seem to be working for me, because it seems to be teaching me to swim 6 strokes then relax.
Would you recommend one of the above training methods or another one?
Is land training essential for conditioning to the level required, as most of my training is pool based right now?
Sorry for the long topic, with lots of questions. Hopefully, I will find some help here or just pointed towards some articles/training methods that work.
I have a great coach ( 2 time Olympian and Gold medalist Whitney Hedgepeth) who sets the workouts and they vary however each day has a general approach. Her workouts have helped me build good aerobic capacity as back in the day I was strictly a 100 Flyer! Monday is freestyle mostly short rest intervals, Tuesday and Wednesday are Stroke/IM, We can do short sets of stroke along with freestyle mixed in, Thursday is a grab bag, what ever she feels like, Friday is FAST Friday and all quality, Saturday is Distance free and Sunday is Sprint sets. I make 6 workouts a week and yardage is somewhere around 23K to 28K per week. Whitney's main set everyday is 2500 to 3500 depending if it is free or stroke. so with with warm up and a small set at the end we go between 4K and 5.5K per 90 minute practice
I try to do short rest 2x a week and try to swim Fly as much as possible when Coach lets us choose the stroke. The key is to build up whatever you think is doable and then slowly increase if your body will let you...as we age it gets harder and harder to do. I noticed a big difference between 57 and 60...and now going on 61. We have a pretty big team with 40-50 in 11 lanes every practice so I can adjust intervals as many lanes are going different intervals based on their skill set and also how they feel that day
Thanks for your reply, Jim; I appreciate the information. I'm 56, and I'm already noticing a big difference from a few years ago. (Of course, it didn't help that I had hip surgery for a labral tear and hip flexor release three years ago; and, shoulder bursitis and elbow tendinitis last year-- all non-swimming-related injuries to begin with, until they affected my swimming.)
Although, I also swim six days per week, I have had to reduce my yardage. I used to swim 3,500-4,000 twice per week and 2,500-3,000 yards on the other days; however, I never go over 2,700 now. I also break up my hard days with an easy one in between.
One of the factors adding to the fatigue is doing Theraband PT exercises, some weights, and yoga as part my dry-land to keep healthy. I would need to take your swimming schedule and chisel it down to my level-- far less than what you are doing.
I have a great coach ( 2 time Olympian and Gold medalist Whitney Hedgepeth) who sets the workouts and they vary however each day has a general approach. Her workouts have helped me build good aerobic capacity as back in the day I was strictly a 100 Flyer! Monday is freestyle mostly short rest intervals, Tuesday and Wednesday are Stroke/IM, We can do short sets of stroke along with freestyle mixed in, Thursday is a grab bag, what ever she feels like, Friday is FAST Friday and all quality, Saturday is Distance free and Sunday is Sprint sets. I make 6 workouts a week and yardage is somewhere around 23K to 28K per week. Whitney's main set everyday is 2500 to 3500 depending if it is free or stroke. so with with warm up and a small set at the end we go between 4K and 5.5K per 90 minute practice
I try to do short rest 2x a week and try to swim Fly as much as possible when Coach lets us choose the stroke. The key is to build up whatever you think is doable and then slowly increase if your body will let you...as we age it gets harder and harder to do. I noticed a big difference between 57 and 60...and now going on 61. We have a pretty big team with 40-50 in 11 lanes every practice so I can adjust intervals as many lanes are going different intervals based on their skill set and also how they feel that day
Thanks for your reply, Jim; I appreciate the information. I'm 56, and I'm already noticing a big difference from a few years ago. (Of course, it didn't help that I had hip surgery for a labral tear and hip flexor release three years ago; and, shoulder bursitis and elbow tendinitis last year-- all non-swimming-related injuries to begin with, until they affected my swimming.)
Although, I also swim six days per week, I have had to reduce my yardage. I used to swim 3,500-4,000 twice per week and 2,500-3,000 yards on the other days; however, I never go over 2,700 now. I also break up my hard days with an easy one in between.
One of the factors adding to the fatigue is doing Theraband PT exercises, some weights, and yoga as part my dry-land to keep healthy. I would need to take your swimming schedule and chisel it down to my level-- far less than what you are doing.
