I'm swimming with an age-group team and I am having some concerns about the workouts. Today, the entire workout was breaststroke. Warmup - 1500 ***. First Set - 7x300 ***, 30 sec rest interval between 300s. Second Set - 300 kick (***), Third Set - 20x100 ***. Cool Down.
I made it through the warmup and 4 of the first 300s before I could no longer lift my arms and my legs were starting to cramp. I swam free the remaining 300s and completed the kick set before I had to call it quits. (No one else finished either).
I've got mixed feelings about this type of workout and I would like some feedback.
On the one hand, my *** stroke muscles got a great workout. On the other hand, it was impossible to maintain perfect form. Instead I concentrated mostly on high elbows and the outsweep portion as well as a good kick.
Prior to swimming with this particular coach, my philosophy was to not sacrifice form and technique for yardage. But are there times when it is good to overwork the muscles?
BTW: Although this is only my 3rd workout with this Coach, I have noticed that this type of workout is not unusual, we have yet to do any freestyle sets. It has all been butterfly, back and ***.
Wonder if it's worth asking the coach (in a friendly way) about this... something like, "This is new to me, having all *** (or all fly or all back). I'd be interested in finding out more about your goals in practices like this." (Imagine you're writing an article about the coach and her team and you just want the information in an objective way.)
You know Fishy, that is a GREAT idea. :applaud:
One of our coaches over the last 2.5 years was very good about explaining why he was giving us what he was giving us, and it really helped out, as we swam how everything exactly how he wanted us to swim. With the extra communication, there was never any doubt when to go fast, pace, easy, sprint. Any time something looked wrong, we got a good reason to do it.
An example - instead of the 10x100 1:20 we did yesterday (my call), we'd do them on 2:00, start at a moderate pace (ie 1:12) and go one second faster each subsequent 100, working down to a 1:02 in my case. Why? Work on establishing a pace and building up to fast swimming. And most importantly, working on how to understand and control your body, working with its reaction to the pain at the end in order to keep the 1 second drops coming.
The alternative? Aimless attempts at sprinting, probably death by lactic acid at ~#7 or 8. And having inconsistent finish times.
Wonder if it's worth asking the coach (in a friendly way) about this... something like, "This is new to me, having all *** (or all fly or all back). I'd be interested in finding out more about your goals in practices like this." (Imagine you're writing an article about the coach and her team and you just want the information in an objective way.)
You know Fishy, that is a GREAT idea. :applaud:
One of our coaches over the last 2.5 years was very good about explaining why he was giving us what he was giving us, and it really helped out, as we swam how everything exactly how he wanted us to swim. With the extra communication, there was never any doubt when to go fast, pace, easy, sprint. Any time something looked wrong, we got a good reason to do it.
An example - instead of the 10x100 1:20 we did yesterday (my call), we'd do them on 2:00, start at a moderate pace (ie 1:12) and go one second faster each subsequent 100, working down to a 1:02 in my case. Why? Work on establishing a pace and building up to fast swimming. And most importantly, working on how to understand and control your body, working with its reaction to the pain at the end in order to keep the 1 second drops coming.
The alternative? Aimless attempts at sprinting, probably death by lactic acid at ~#7 or 8. And having inconsistent finish times.
