The Tipping Point?

Fortress, I just wanted to let you know that I think you misread that about Laura Val. I knew her personally for years and she insisted she never, ever exceeded 5,000 yds in any given workout. She said she thought she performed better doing 3,500 to 4,500 3 times a week, but within that yardage, was some pretty intense sets. I have an opinion on this and it is: I think that swimming high yardage such as what you mentioned has a very good impact on a swimmer's cardiovascular system; it is obviously helpful. But if a swimmer is swimming multiple miles very slowly, I am not sure that is very aerobic. There may be some other health related pluses to it, but as far as improving a swimmer's aerobic capacity, I would have to think it wouldn't improve it very much if the yardage is done leisurely. But I will let you know in the coming months as my training just started toward my 18 mile goal swim. I'll let you know from this swimmer's point of view how mass mileage benefits me.:help: Because I will be doing mass mileage. Donna

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is the husband. You must know my wife.:rolleyes: My oldest sister said to me, "I don't understand why men are always right. You and (insert her husband's name) are always right. It isn't fair."

I agree with Jim. It is an individual thing. I just checked Ernie Maglischo's Swimming Fastest, probably the most exhaustive research available on swim training. He says: "The matter of training mileage is another issue that currently has no answer. Of course, people have opinions......The desire to outdo the successful swimmer across town or across the world has long dictated the training volume of swimmers. This motivation will probably continue to influence training volume until research provides conclusive evidence of an optimum training mileage."

Hey twin. His name is Trevor Basil. Really great guy. He left Georgia after his shoulder surgery, though, and graduated elsewhere. He also coached my daughter's USS team for awhile before joining the corporate world (which he doesn't like). He couldn't do breastroke though. And my current coach hates it. I'm sunk. What's your "tipping point" or typical season yardage wise for maximum sprinter performance, assuming no ghastly shoulder issues? (I hope you are better and in the water!!!!) Islandsox: I read that information about Laura Val here on some thread. Hi Sis! Luckily, I don't let myself reach a "tipping" point. If I'm exhausted, I take a day or two off and rest! I believe it is such an individual thing. There are so many variables!: - how intense are your workouts? - are you a sprinter or a distance swimmer? - how much sleep are you getting? - are you eating a nutritious diet? - how stressful is your life outside the pool? These are the things that tend to effect performance in the water. I say just listen to your body. Everyone's tipping point will be different at any given time. As a Masters swimmer I have had to change my way of thinking from the "tear down - no pain no gain" mentality to "quality not quantity". I will never forget reaching a "tipping point" one summer when I was about 18. I was doing a 3 hour long course workout in the morning and a 2 hour short course workout in the afternoon every day. One morning we did a set of 10x800's and I was "in the zone"! I just felt amazing.....which is saying a lot for me since I was/am a sprinter! My coach kept encouraging me and I was holding amazing times! (also amazing for the same reason...) At the end of that workout, I passed out when I got out of the pool! I could not even stand up for about 30 minutes without getting woozy. Looking back, I think I probably had low blood sugar and dehydration! I never ate breakfast before I swam and we didn't drink anything during our workouts back then! After that day, I was TOAST! I struggled in workouts and stayed tired! Even with a taper, I never did a pb that long course season! I don't EVER plan on "tipping" again!:frustrated:

Hi Sis! Luckily, I don't let myself reach a "tipping" point. If I'm exhausted, I take a day or two off and rest! I believe it is such an individual thing. There are so many variables!: - how intense are your workouts? - are you a sprinter or a distance swimmer? - how much sleep are you getting? - are you eating a nutritious diet? - how stressful is your life outside the pool? I don't EVER plan on "tipping" again!:frustrated: I do not have fond memories of summer long course training either! Ugh. What were our coaches thinking then?! Way too much face time in the water... Gotta go for quality now. How often do you try to swim on the quality sprinter "aerobic-lite" diet? Personally, I find I can't really go over 4,000 per workout without my shoulders objecting violently. I haven't done that in awhile. I'm just getting back up to 3,500 ... I think all your variables are correct. Somewhere there is a very funny post by GoodSmith where he postulated that you could add tenths to a 50 at a meet depending on the individual variables: .1 fight with the wife .1 bad night's sleep .1 boss yelled at you .1 big project due .1 bad nutrition .1 forgot to caffeinate .1 ill-timed cold .1 in-laws visting .1 children on your nerves .1 forgot to practice starts .1 too much garbage yardage .2 hangover I'm sure there are others. If I could just eliminate these items, I'd be really fast. :rofl:

Somewhere there is a very funny post by GoodSmith where he postulated that you could add tenths to a 50 at a meet depending on the individual variables: .....2 hangover My 50 fly pb last month was on a hangover. A friend and I drank way too much wine the night before. The fly was 1st. Probably why the later races didn't go as well.:rofl: :rofl:

I have done almost every variation from no swimming just dryland workouts to 105,000 yards a week and never ever found the tipping point. Only upchucked looking at water after a 66mile race. I could not look at that lake without getting sick for 6 months or for 10 years if someone put orange juice or a package of orange Tang or glucose powder on the table instant sickness. I have over come this and finally can drink orange juice, look at a package of Tang or glucose powder.

I think I need a minimum of 3000 yds. just to get a decent night's sleep. Typical practices average about 4,000 yds. Six to seven days per week. I enjoyed doing doubles (3 days per week) this past summer, but would keep the daily total to +/- 5000 yds. This included about 3000 mtrs long course in the am and 2000 yds at lake Minnewaska after work. Also raced OW almost every weekend.