I'm just wondering if anyone can explain the trade-offs and considerations when deciding the number of repeats and amount of rest for a race pace set? If one is training for, say, a 200m race and want to do a set like:
N x 50 on interval I
how do you decide on appropriate N and I? How does the training effect differ if you do more repeats with more rest versus fewer repeats with shorter rest? Are there any guidelines relating the target race distance to an appropriate total distance in the set?
Another way of phrasing the question is: if I determine that I can currently complete N repeats on a time interval I, as I get better how do I decide whether to do more repeats or to take less rest?
Thanks,
Lindsay
Parents
Former Member
This is all good advice- take it...BUT...on the hairier sets where you are really suffering, you need someone to tell you if your stroke is falling apart (& I don't mean just on the last couple of meters). Sometimes when when focus on transcending the pain of a really tough set (especially when we really aren't quite ready for it), we let our technique suffer too much & not only 'imprint' bad habits but flirt with injury. Having said that, the 'negative motivation rule' (already mentioned) does really work: if you really don't want to do it, you probably need to (still doesn't mean I'm going to do butterfly though...)
This is all good advice- take it...BUT...on the hairier sets where you are really suffering, you need someone to tell you if your stroke is falling apart (& I don't mean just on the last couple of meters). Sometimes when when focus on transcending the pain of a really tough set (especially when we really aren't quite ready for it), we let our technique suffer too much & not only 'imprint' bad habits but flirt with injury. Having said that, the 'negative motivation rule' (already mentioned) does really work: if you really don't want to do it, you probably need to (still doesn't mean I'm going to do butterfly though...)
