Much has been discussed on this topic but i wanted to revisit it after watching the track & field championships and remembering debates about how much pool training time swimmers put in relative to a runner competing in the equivalent event (a 400m runner to 100m swimmer).
What got my attention on this again was a recent article in Men's Fitness about Jeremy Wariner, specifically his training week during mid-season:
M= 200's: 8 x 200's two minutes followed by 40 yd sprints w/20 seconds rest
T= 350m: 2 x 350's followed by 1 x 300, one minute rest then a 100m to simulate the end of the race
W= 450m: 2 x 450's each under 1:00 with 9 minutes rest between each
Th= 90m: Recovery day each run in an "X" pattern
F= 100m: last run of the week is multiple 100m sprints
That's an insanely lower amount of training time than even i put in....Ande & Jazz come to mind.
More of this in an excellent article:
"Elite coaching special - Clyde Hart coach to Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner"
Here's are a couple of excerpt:
Clyde believes the principles of training are the same for many events: "I trained Michael Johnson like I trained a four minute miler. A four minute miler was doing a lot of the same things Michael Johnson was - a lot of the same things in training but more of them.
"The longest workout we have ever done - not counting warm up and warm down - would be under 20min, I think we have never worked more than 20min. That's not counting the Fall phase.”
So here's my challenge...I'm going to pick one of the next seasons (either SCM this fall or SCY in the spring) and try and adapt to this regime...anyone else game?
Others have gone down this road - consider the tale of Dr. George Schmidt, an optometric physician practicing in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida:
www.usms.org/.../index.php
His training regimen consists of 3-4 days per week, approximately 1100-1300 yards/meters per 30-40 minute session, and usually includes 400-500 yards of descending 100's as the main set. He finds if he trains harder than that, his shoulder flares up and he has to back off for a week or two for healing. "I believe that it's very important to swim your fastest when you're the most tired, focusing on maintaining an efficient stroke," says Schmidt. "Too many swimmers train themselves to swim slowly and inefficiently, which may be great for cardiovascular training, but it's not certainly not helpful for swimming fast. Focusing on stroke and control is the key." I also firmly believe most masters swimmers probably train too frequently, not allowing their body to recover fully before the next workout.
Schmidt's training regimen appears to work, as he has earned a total of six All-America finishes in 2000 and 2001, in the 50/100 freestyles, 100 IM's and 50 breaststroke. ("I'm finally the sprinter I always wanted to be!" says Schmidt.) In 2001 he finished in the Top 10 in the 50-54 age group in 22 events, including all four strokes and individual medley (including the 400 SCM IM, just to prove to his detractors who think he's just a pretty sprinter!). He also was ranked number one in the FINA World Rankings in three individual and six relays that year. His favorite race is the 100 IM. "I love the 100 SCM IM, because the #1 world ranked swimmer in that event can claim to be "The Fastest All-Around Swimmer in the World" in their age group. His time in 2001 was faster than anyone else over the age of 50, so he earned bragging rights that year.
His views on diet supplements also are interesting ...
Others have gone down this road - consider the tale of Dr. George Schmidt, an optometric physician practicing in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida:
www.usms.org/.../index.php
His training regimen consists of 3-4 days per week, approximately 1100-1300 yards/meters per 30-40 minute session, and usually includes 400-500 yards of descending 100's as the main set. He finds if he trains harder than that, his shoulder flares up and he has to back off for a week or two for healing. "I believe that it's very important to swim your fastest when you're the most tired, focusing on maintaining an efficient stroke," says Schmidt. "Too many swimmers train themselves to swim slowly and inefficiently, which may be great for cardiovascular training, but it's not certainly not helpful for swimming fast. Focusing on stroke and control is the key." I also firmly believe most masters swimmers probably train too frequently, not allowing their body to recover fully before the next workout.
Schmidt's training regimen appears to work, as he has earned a total of six All-America finishes in 2000 and 2001, in the 50/100 freestyles, 100 IM's and 50 breaststroke. ("I'm finally the sprinter I always wanted to be!" says Schmidt.) In 2001 he finished in the Top 10 in the 50-54 age group in 22 events, including all four strokes and individual medley (including the 400 SCM IM, just to prove to his detractors who think he's just a pretty sprinter!). He also was ranked number one in the FINA World Rankings in three individual and six relays that year. His favorite race is the 100 IM. "I love the 100 SCM IM, because the #1 world ranked swimmer in that event can claim to be "The Fastest All-Around Swimmer in the World" in their age group. His time in 2001 was faster than anyone else over the age of 50, so he earned bragging rights that year.
His views on diet supplements also are interesting ...
