As I crawled back into the pool today fat and out of shape, I wondered: Don't sprinters need some minimal aerobic work? I see that Ande is doing none whatsoever and Paul advises not "fighting fat" in the pool. I do a lot of race pace training and cross training. But still, is just a little aerobic work called for? I can tell I don't need any for 50s, but my 100s could use a little something. I don't think I have the substantial swimming aerobic base that people like Ande have because I was out of the pool for so many years .. So I'm either taking my 100s out too slow for fear of dying or actually dying. Does aerobic work help counter this? Or do I need more lactate work such as doing 100s with huge amounts of rest?
Parents
Former Member
This is an interesting thought... Hard to say for sure, but you'll get to your best, and that might not be for a few more years yet.
Congratulations on your recent swimming performances... Have I helped you in that process?
I have always had this sneaking suspicion that our current speeds are determined by how far we pushed ourselves in our youths. So if we raised out lactate threshold so that our body could accept the pain of doing a, say, 53 sec 100 when we were young it shouldn't be too difficult to get close to that again when we are older.
It's like your body has memory of this pain and if you could cope with it before, you can probably cope with it now (as long as your heart doesn't pack up)! However, if you never crossed this threshold in your youth, and even though you may be just as physically gifted as the person in the lane next to you who did, it is going to be much more difficult to beat them.
I am not saying that it is not possible. Just that it is going to be more difficult. In fact, I am hoping that I can do it myself. I was only really a useful swimmer when I was younger and stopped swimming at age 16 so I feel I never really developed my potential. I am hoping I can surpass some of those times this year.
This is an interesting thought... Hard to say for sure, but you'll get to your best, and that might not be for a few more years yet.
Congratulations on your recent swimming performances... Have I helped you in that process?
I have always had this sneaking suspicion that our current speeds are determined by how far we pushed ourselves in our youths. So if we raised out lactate threshold so that our body could accept the pain of doing a, say, 53 sec 100 when we were young it shouldn't be too difficult to get close to that again when we are older.
It's like your body has memory of this pain and if you could cope with it before, you can probably cope with it now (as long as your heart doesn't pack up)! However, if you never crossed this threshold in your youth, and even though you may be just as physically gifted as the person in the lane next to you who did, it is going to be much more difficult to beat them.
I am not saying that it is not possible. Just that it is going to be more difficult. In fact, I am hoping that I can do it myself. I was only really a useful swimmer when I was younger and stopped swimming at age 16 so I feel I never really developed my potential. I am hoping I can surpass some of those times this year.
