I'm new and have been catching up on reading. I don't have a lot of swimming experience and am swimming masters and not in college. But there are a couple things I just don't get.
1. Many posters seem very concerned about technique, but are still really focused on what is referred to as "engine buiding" and on power lifting and things that might not help their swimming as much. What is the lure of engine building exactly besides the endorphins? I guess you need it for certain events? I'm not saying this very well, but it seems like some people are working out harder than they should be? Why?
2. I read one of Ande's latest tips about sprinters on masters teams that ususlly focus on mid to long distance. Does this mean that sprinters should work out alone? I haven't really decided what I am yet, but my team does seem to focus more on distance stuff and long hard sets. Do any masters teams have sprint lanes or just lanes with different intervals?
Thanks. :)
My team usually has 2 coaches on deck (95% of the time). We normally split up into a distance, and something else (maybe IM, sprint, or whatever but I always do distance). After the split, we adjust ourselves within the lanes, and go from there. Typically, there are 1-2 lanes once a week (usually Thursdays) that are for stroke development.
Even with all the possibilities, I just do the distance set 98% of the time. Not too many people move around. I always tell myself that on Friday, if I've made it all the other days I'll do sprint, and sometimes I do. I just don't feel like I get a good workout from the divided sprint workout.
There are some times when everyone will do a sprint set. Last week most of us did 10x100 @ 2:30. Sometimes we'll all do the exact same thing, sometimes we'll do the same set, different intervals. Or sometimes we'll have a choice of a few 100 or 200 fast on 6:00 (with 3+ min of easy swimming or hanging on the wall).
I've swam with a variety of teams over the years, and some other teams do similar things, but none quite like the team I'm on now, which is why I'm there.
My team usually has 2 coaches on deck (95% of the time). We normally split up into a distance, and something else (maybe IM, sprint, or whatever but I always do distance). After the split, we adjust ourselves within the lanes, and go from there. Typically, there are 1-2 lanes once a week (usually Thursdays) that are for stroke development.
Even with all the possibilities, I just do the distance set 98% of the time. Not too many people move around. I always tell myself that on Friday, if I've made it all the other days I'll do sprint, and sometimes I do. I just don't feel like I get a good workout from the divided sprint workout.
There are some times when everyone will do a sprint set. Last week most of us did 10x100 @ 2:30. Sometimes we'll all do the exact same thing, sometimes we'll do the same set, different intervals. Or sometimes we'll have a choice of a few 100 or 200 fast on 6:00 (with 3+ min of easy swimming or hanging on the wall).
I've swam with a variety of teams over the years, and some other teams do similar things, but none quite like the team I'm on now, which is why I'm there.
