The Jazz Hands training log, an alternative swimming experience
Former Member
Whenever I mention something about how I train, somebody flips out and asks for clarification. "Jazz Hands," they say, "do you really bathe in ox blood before workouts?" Or, "Jazz Hands, how many grams of testosterone do you inject weekly?" I hope to answer these questions and many more in my training log. I'll be covering water workouts and weight workouts, and I'll answer questions about both, as well as questions about my nutrition and supplementation.
I hope my alternative swimming experience will give other swimmers ideas for their own training, and expand everyone's idea of just what kind of preparation a swimmer needs to go fast.
I typically list weights this way: weight x reps. I list swimming sets this way: reps x distance. They are kind of the reverse of one another, but each one is the standard for each particular activity.
I'll start with some recent workouts.
Evening weights
Saturday December 8, 2007
School mostly finished for me on Friday, so I decided to celebrate with some sumo deadlifts.
Warmed up with 135, 205, 275, 345.
Attempted 415, felt good and fast but something went wrong. I lost control of the bar and it swung and hit me in the right shin, leaving a big red rectangle.
Finished up deadlifts with a bunch of singles at 345, and a few more at 365.
Did a set of alternating negatives on the calf machine with 140.
Evening weights
Sunday December 9, 2007
Started with 90x4 on dips. I try to do dips as deep as possible.
Did several sets of 185 on bent-over barbell rows. Didn't count reps. I mostly focused on form: back flat and parallel to the ground, no jerking and swaying. My form improved with each set.
Finished with 90x5 on dips, a new personal best. My brother watched and said I went really deep on all of the reps.
Morning swim
Monday December 10, 2007
Started with 4x25 sprint flutter kick on my back, with several minutes rest. Went 19, 18, 16, 16.
Did a couple 25s sprint free, my mind was wandering though. I was thinking about how Paul Smith says I can't do a good 100. Why not start it today? Back in the day, I used to do a 100 fly from a push every week or so just to see if I could keep up my endurance while I was swimming mostly 25s. If I remember correctly, I did about a 57 at my best. Pretty cool considering my best time in competition (high school) was a 58.
So, 100 fly! I breathed every stroke, and finished in 59. The first 50 felt really good, but I died just about as bad as I ever had on the last 25. It felt like I was actually going backwards. My friend in the other lane watched me and said I split 26 at halfway. Twenty-six to 33 is not good, and I felt like I was going to throw up for the next half hour. I hope to improve on that a lot in the coming weeks.
Parents
Former Member
Thanks, Kirk. A little chop busting would be constructive, but a lot of the criticism so far seems to be coming out of nowhere. Yes, I get the message that everyone thinks I need more aerobic training. But what is the reasoning behind that, and what would it entail? I'm trying to lay out my reasoning for what I do, but not everyone is responding to it constructively.
I believe in practicing specific skills to get better at them. I have an idea that if I work on the specific skills involved in swimming a fast 100, I can swim a fast 100. Now, I do have a knowledge of the different energy pathways, and I'm aware that the aerobic pathway must be well trained for a good 100. But I think that people overestimate the training volume necessary for that kind of effect.
I recently read an interesting study on this topic. Subjects sprinted on stationary bikes for 30 seconds at a time with several minutes of rest, three times a week for seven weeks. This training resulted in aerobic adaptations, including increased levels of certain enzymes, and increased V02 max. According to the authors, "Changes of this magnitude are usually associated with training programs involving several hours per week at submaximal exercise intensity." This is a volume of training equivalent to about 1500 meters per week of swimming. That's about what I do.
I also have some past experience training for a 500 with very low volume and getting a personal best time, although a personal best for me is not a particularly great 500 by real distance swimmer standards.
All of this evidence together gives me a hunch that I'm not so far off what I need to swim a fast 100 yards.
Thanks, Kirk. A little chop busting would be constructive, but a lot of the criticism so far seems to be coming out of nowhere. Yes, I get the message that everyone thinks I need more aerobic training. But what is the reasoning behind that, and what would it entail? I'm trying to lay out my reasoning for what I do, but not everyone is responding to it constructively.
I believe in practicing specific skills to get better at them. I have an idea that if I work on the specific skills involved in swimming a fast 100, I can swim a fast 100. Now, I do have a knowledge of the different energy pathways, and I'm aware that the aerobic pathway must be well trained for a good 100. But I think that people overestimate the training volume necessary for that kind of effect.
I recently read an interesting study on this topic. Subjects sprinted on stationary bikes for 30 seconds at a time with several minutes of rest, three times a week for seven weeks. This training resulted in aerobic adaptations, including increased levels of certain enzymes, and increased V02 max. According to the authors, "Changes of this magnitude are usually associated with training programs involving several hours per week at submaximal exercise intensity." This is a volume of training equivalent to about 1500 meters per week of swimming. That's about what I do.
I also have some past experience training for a 500 with very low volume and getting a personal best time, although a personal best for me is not a particularly great 500 by real distance swimmer standards.
All of this evidence together gives me a hunch that I'm not so far off what I need to swim a fast 100 yards.
