There has been some discussion lately about the necessity of recovery during training. So how much and what recovery do we need? How do we fit in all our training, cross-training, weights, etc. and still have time for recovery? What can we do to recover faster? How much recovery is needed prior to taper? How do you balance training hard and training and recovery?
It sucks getting old. I'm sore as hell. :toohurt:
When it comes to recovery, the best thing is to use what strength and energy you have wisely and don't break yourself down beyond a nights repair, especially if you like training hard everyday. Seems simple enough, but what if you are a butterflyer and want to train for the 100 or 200? Are you going to train 500, 1000, 2000 yards a day at 40+? Maybe Dennis Baker could handle it, but many of us would be destroyed for days or weeks.
Beginning a butterfly regimin, I budget my workout for about 500 yards a day to start (and not every day). I could swim 10 x 50, or 5 x 100, or whatever fits into my coaches workout. Swimming it all together is ok for the first few, but then the pain, fatigue, dropping the legs, and poor technique result in much of it being wasted effort and reinforcing poor habits.
The best results for the least amount of pain (and I don't mean the tired kind of pain) is to salt that 500 yards over the entire workout. The first 25 of 100 fly in a race is not that difficult, so why not focus on the back half or last 25? If the coach gives you a 10 X 100 freestyle set, do the last 25 fly.... take an extra 5 seconds from the normal send off if you like. Maybe go the last 50 if you are ready for it. Your heartrate is already up and you should have enough energy to maintain good butterfly technique.... for sure more than if you did the first 75 fly and are now struggling for the finish.:dedhorse:
I guarantee you will not be afraid of that last lap anymore... in fact you will look forward to your new found confidence in completing it faster and better than before.
When it comes to recovery, the best thing is to use what strength and energy you have wisely and don't break yourself down beyond a nights repair, especially if you like training hard everyday. Seems simple enough, but what if you are a butterflyer and want to train for the 100 or 200? Are you going to train 500, 1000, 2000 yards a day at 40+? Maybe Dennis Baker could handle it, but many of us would be destroyed for days or weeks.
Beginning a butterfly regimin, I budget my workout for about 500 yards a day to start (and not every day). I could swim 10 x 50, or 5 x 100, or whatever fits into my coaches workout. Swimming it all together is ok for the first few, but then the pain, fatigue, dropping the legs, and poor technique result in much of it being wasted effort and reinforcing poor habits.
The best results for the least amount of pain (and I don't mean the tired kind of pain) is to salt that 500 yards over the entire workout. The first 25 of 100 fly in a race is not that difficult, so why not focus on the back half or last 25? If the coach gives you a 10 X 100 freestyle set, do the last 25 fly.... take an extra 5 seconds from the normal send off if you like. Maybe go the last 50 if you are ready for it. Your heartrate is already up and you should have enough energy to maintain good butterfly technique.... for sure more than if you did the first 75 fly and are now struggling for the finish.:dedhorse:
I guarantee you will not be afraid of that last lap anymore... in fact you will look forward to your new found confidence in completing it faster and better than before.
