Not that math was ever my subject, lol!
Anyway, here's something odd I'm noticing: during the masters' workouts and on my own, I notice that when I put out max effort, the times aren't too different (sometimes even slower) than when I'm putting out only a moderately hard effort. For instance, one of the elements in today's workout involved swimming a hundred easy, then two hard 50s. In the first of the 50s, I picked up a bit but was conserving energy for the next one. In the next one, I was--I THOUGHT--picking up the effort to the max. BUT... the second fifty was a second or two slower than the first. HELLO?
The coach told me later that he noticed that my stroke got more choppy, that it didn't have the reach that it had when I was swimming easy or even medium hard. When I went all out, my form suffered. I gather that's fairly common. I could in fact feel a difference in myself: I was more tense, I think. Yet I want to improve my speed. The coach said that as I got stronger, I'd find it easier to hold technique while swimming hard, and that sounds reasonable too.
If you've run into this, what were/are your strategies to deal with it? Obviously it takes some practice, and that's something I'm working on. But any/all tips appreciated.
Here's what's curious too: when I run, the opposite happens. If I'm running easy, my form is so-so, improving when I push myself (although even there, it can deteriorate if I'm running a longer race).
Parents
Former Member
Keeping proper form becomes more difficult as you increase effort, that is no mystery I am sure. I have run into the same problem you are having. I corrected the form issue by working up more slowly to a higher output level as opposed to taking it easy for the majority of practice and then hitting it hard on a few sprints. I now make certain that in every practice I swim a fair amount of my yardage at about 80% effort. This seems to have helped maintain form and it makes the most of my relatively short practices.
Another problem I had with going from easy swimming to 100% effort is breathing. When I am in cruise mode I will breathe every other stroke and that is not beneficial to a good sprint. I now limit my breathing to about 2-3 breaths per 25 when I am sprinting and it seems to have made a significant difference (over a second).
Keeping proper form becomes more difficult as you increase effort, that is no mystery I am sure. I have run into the same problem you are having. I corrected the form issue by working up more slowly to a higher output level as opposed to taking it easy for the majority of practice and then hitting it hard on a few sprints. I now make certain that in every practice I swim a fair amount of my yardage at about 80% effort. This seems to have helped maintain form and it makes the most of my relatively short practices.
Another problem I had with going from easy swimming to 100% effort is breathing. When I am in cruise mode I will breathe every other stroke and that is not beneficial to a good sprint. I now limit my breathing to about 2-3 breaths per 25 when I am sprinting and it seems to have made a significant difference (over a second).
