I am a 58 year old male swimmer - generally swim 4 times a week - 1800-2200 meters per workout. I was considering going to zones - which is first week in April. I picked up the intensity of my workouts - lots more effort - about the same yardage - after about a month - i was exhausted - i think i ran my immune system down and got a very bad cold that basically sidelined me from doing anything for a few days. i find this very frustrating. I do not feel like i am asking too much of my body to work hard 3 to 4 times a week at these yardage levels which probably put me at the lower end of a competitive scale. Perhaps as we get older - we need to limit the "hard" workouts and give our bodies more time to recover? Thoughts? Just seems a little depressing that i cannot swim hard 4 times a week at 58.
Thank you for taking the time to offer these thought. When i discussed intensity - i would generally be swimming much faster - but utilizing an interval that would give me more rest - say if i normally did 100's on two minutes and perhaps averaged 1:40-1:45 - i would do them on maybe 2 and a half minutes - but get the times down in the 1:30 range - more race pace type of swims. that is how i have typically prepared for a big meet - and i would mix all this up during the week - 50's, 100's, 200's - generally with more rest between the swims - but the swims were faster. As i would get closer to zones - i would often start swimming events i was targeting with "broken swims" - taking a break at the 50 for a 100 - or taking a break at the 100 for a 200. The breaks/rest get longer as I approached zones. I usually had a distance day once a week thrown in to give my body a break from this - and i generally never swim on weekends - so i get some rest there as well.
This all seems pretty logical and without significant issues - increasing intensity while dropping volume is what tapering is about and the resulting greater amounts of rest should produce the gains if you have a good base to taper from. Why then the exhaustion?
If the exhaustion returns when you start back up, consider seeing a medical doctor and reviewing what you are doing and how you are feeling. There may be some tests (blood, cardio, etc.) that would be worthwhile and provide some answers.
Thank you for taking the time to offer these thought. When i discussed intensity - i would generally be swimming much faster - but utilizing an interval that would give me more rest - say if i normally did 100's on two minutes and perhaps averaged 1:40-1:45 - i would do them on maybe 2 and a half minutes - but get the times down in the 1:30 range - more race pace type of swims. that is how i have typically prepared for a big meet - and i would mix all this up during the week - 50's, 100's, 200's - generally with more rest between the swims - but the swims were faster. As i would get closer to zones - i would often start swimming events i was targeting with "broken swims" - taking a break at the 50 for a 100 - or taking a break at the 100 for a 200. The breaks/rest get longer as I approached zones. I usually had a distance day once a week thrown in to give my body a break from this - and i generally never swim on weekends - so i get some rest there as well.
This all seems pretty logical and without significant issues - increasing intensity while dropping volume is what tapering is about and the resulting greater amounts of rest should produce the gains if you have a good base to taper from. Why then the exhaustion?
If the exhaustion returns when you start back up, consider seeing a medical doctor and reviewing what you are doing and how you are feeling. There may be some tests (blood, cardio, etc.) that would be worthwhile and provide some answers.
