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.
I can't stand those long monotonous workouts I used to do. I can't stand doing thousands of yards without having time to focus on technical aspects of racing. This is much more sustainable for me.
Either can I
JH....I consider myself far more progressive than the vast majority of swimmers I know in both masters and USS...and probably a lot of colleges as well.
I've tried most of the things you are doing...and more going back exactly 30 years ago this fall when I entered college...I've had the good fortune to swim and lift and do cross training such as spinning and yoga with some of the top coaches and athletes in the world....and I would be the first to tell you after all of this that I don't think I know much about anything other than I continue to strive and learn and get better.
What I think your missing here is how your posts come across for many of us who are old enough to be your grandparents...there is a tone of arrogance that your way is the correct way that simply isn't true to many people who have been there and done that and you might actually learn from....if you asked.
As for the possibility of failing next year and people from here telling you "I told you so"...you are mistaken. I would be the first in line to slap you on the back and say good effort get back to work after we go have a beer...its a tough crowd here...but if you get a chance to meet any of us (including Sir Geek) you would probably be surprised to find our bark is worse than our bite.
I can't stand those long monotonous workouts I used to do. I can't stand doing thousands of yards without having time to focus on technical aspects of racing. This is much more sustainable for me.
Either can I
JH....I consider myself far more progressive than the vast majority of swimmers I know in both masters and USS...and probably a lot of colleges as well.
I've tried most of the things you are doing...and more going back exactly 30 years ago this fall when I entered college...I've had the good fortune to swim and lift and do cross training such as spinning and yoga with some of the top coaches and athletes in the world....and I would be the first to tell you after all of this that I don't think I know much about anything other than I continue to strive and learn and get better.
What I think your missing here is how your posts come across for many of us who are old enough to be your grandparents...there is a tone of arrogance that your way is the correct way that simply isn't true to many people who have been there and done that and you might actually learn from....if you asked.
As for the possibility of failing next year and people from here telling you "I told you so"...you are mistaken. I would be the first in line to slap you on the back and say good effort get back to work after we go have a beer...its a tough crowd here...but if you get a chance to meet any of us (including Sir Geek) you would probably be surprised to find our bark is worse than our bite.