should i do doubles

I have a limited amount of time in my morning workout, about 70 minutes, so I will occasionally do doubles when I want to focus on one particular aspect of my swimming, and can't fit it in in the morning. I rarely double more than twice weekly, and the second session is usually in the evening and only 1200-1500 yards/meters. Also in the final 2-3 weeks before a taper I will start doing doubles 2-3 days a week just to get my daily yards up an additional 1500-2000 yards, and again to focus on what I consider my weaknesses. If you consider the spin sessions and yoga practice that I do you could say that I do doubles almost daily.

What happens if you do doubles and try and swim sprints? I think this focus on yardage and "singles vs doubles" is a little misleading, whether you are a sprinter or not. It doesn't matter how many yards I'm doing, if I don't do speed work or lactate sets with some frequency and intensity, I'll be slower in 100s and 200s and even the 400/500. Conversely, doing doubles won't kill your speed at all as long as you continue to work on it. Don't do everything at moderate speed...which may happen if you don't allow yourself adequate recovery time. So just be sure to build adequate recovery time into your training cycle because that's when you actually get faster. As you get older you tend to need more recovery time.

Sounds like you should go for it. The only reason I would tell you not to is if you are a sprinter and are training primarily for 50s or 100s. As you are probably aware, less is more with sprinters. Remember, even when Dara Torres was 33 and training for the 2000 Olympics, she was just swimming once a day. Otherwise, I say go for it. What happens if you do doubles and try and swim sprints?

I would suggest just trying one morning a week at first. Some get addicted to the morning workout, even to the point where they don't do afternoons. Some don't function correctly after a morning workout. It isn't like you are honoring a scholarship and have to show up to mornings no matter what. If you like one double per week, try two. I wouldn't do more than three though. I, personally, workout about 7k 6 days per week, lift Tues and Thurs from 6AM-8AM, with both gym workouts followed by an hour of easy technique swimming so as not to bulk up and lose flexibility. Also, before M/W/F afternoon workouts each week, I run 3 miles and do plyos for an hour. I then play tennis for two hours on Sunday and swim about 1000 to hang on to feel for Monday workout. My yardage declines throughout the season(down to 4-5K), and I am actually a 100 swimmer. 43 free, 47 fly/back!?, and I've only been swimming for 10 months. Don't believe too much hype about the sprinters doing almost nothing in the pool, you need your aerobic base before you can train power/sprints. A lot of these online posters don't seem to understand that. For example, Dara did her aerobic work out of the water. I've swum in workouts next to her/watched her workout many times and know her coach a little bit. She spent two hours per day in the pool, and an average of 1-1.5 hours in the gym per day.(Usually M/W/F doing cardio/spin etc., and T/Th lifting) This does not include her hours and hours spent each week stretching/yoga/getting massages. On top of that she has a lifetime of aerobic base and is a uniquely gifted athlete. So if I were you(recover quickly/medium yardage trainer) I'd probably swim M-F afternoon, swim Wed morning, and lift T/Th/Sat. On Saturday I would swim easy recovery after lifting to loosen up and mentally relax. Then on Sunday I'd get really drunk watching the Raiders and Niners lose. Rinse and Repeat.

Thanks for the great post and additional insight. I would suggest just trying one morning a week at first. Some get addicted to the morning workout, even to the point where they don't do afternoons. Some don't function correctly after a morning workout. It isn't like you are honoring a scholarship and have to show up to mornings no matter what. If you like one double per week, try two. I wouldn't do more than three though. I, personally, workout about 7k 6 days per week, lift Tues and Thurs from 6AM-8AM, with both gym workouts followed by an hour of easy technique swimming so as not to bulk up and lose flexibility. Also, before M/W/F afternoon workouts each week, I run 3 miles and do plyos for an hour. I then play tennis for two hours on Sunday and swim about 1000 to hang on to feel for Monday workout. My yardage declines throughout the season(down to 4-5K), and I am actually a 100 swimmer. 43 free, 47 fly/back!?, and I've only been swimming for 10 months. Don't believe too much hype about the sprinters doing almost nothing in the pool, you need your aerobic base before you can train power/sprints. A lot of these online posters don't seem to understand that. For example, Dara did her aerobic work out of the water. I've swum in workouts next to her/watched her workout many times and know her coach a little bit. She spent two hours per day in the pool, and an average of 1-1.5 hours in the gym per day.(Usually M/W/F doing cardio/spin etc., and T/Th lifting) This does not include her hours and hours spent each week stretching/yoga/getting massages. On top of that she has a lifetime of aerobic base and is a uniquely gifted athlete. So if I were you(recover quickly/medium yardage trainer) I'd probably swim M-F afternoon, swim Wed morning, and lift T/Th/Sat. On Saturday I would swim easy recovery after lifting to loosen up and mentally relax. Then on Sunday I'd get really drunk watching the Raiders and Niners lose. Rinse and Repeat.

Oh, and I see you are from Bakersfield. My grandmother lives there and I like to check in on her every few weeks, on the weekend. I haven't looked for somewhere to swim. I am usually there from Friday night to Sunday at noon, is there any pool/lap swim that you could suggest that is open from anytime between Sat morning and Sunday morning.(I don't like to go to church with her, so it would be a good excuse to miss! haha)

Oh, and I see you are from Bakersfield. My grandmother lives there and I like to check in on her every few weeks, on the weekend. I haven't looked for somewhere to swim. I am usually there from Friday night to Sunday at noon, is there any pool/lap swim that you could suggest that is open from anytime between Sat morning and Sunday morning.(I don't like to go to church with her, so it would be a good excuse to miss! haha) Check parks an recreation 661) 326-3866 they have many pools.

Just felt I had to ask the question. My coach as of now does not allow me to do doubles as he thinks I'll get too worn down. Who wants to argue with that!? Even when I was training for the 25K OW I did not do doubles. Nor did I do any weights or dryland or other activity during the last LCM season. HOWEVER, that being said, when I did do doubles for a short time last SCY season, I later on during that season did drop significant time across the board in all distances and events. It was for a "short time" b/c frankly it just got ugly. I don't recommend them for most if any masters, but in moderation and on occasion, they can be good for a jump start. Everything seems pretty easy when you cut them out! lol. Well, I don't have the focus and dedication to hone in on a couple of events. And I refuse to lift heavy, so I'm afraid that 50 time will never reach low 23. But thanks! :) We should probably ask Dara that question. There's a reason she swam only once a day in training for 2000 and 2008 Olympics. Particularly in athletes over 30, recovery becomes an issue. If you are asking me, it has been a disaster for me to do double swim workouts since I was 16. Broke me down to a point that I was beyond the help of a taper. I'd get sick, injured, etc. and be out for a week, so a taper would become meaningless. Of course, I believe each person is different and on the masters level, folks should do what they want. I do think, however, masters swimmers that want to do well in JUST the 50s and 100s should be mindful of the lesson we have learned from Torres - less is more. I will add that I have found swimming twice a day to be more taxing than doing a run workout and a swim workout in one day. Why this is, I don't know. Again, I go back to Dara - there must be a reason her coach had her doing just one swim workout and one dryland workout a day versus two swim workouts a day. Some folks aren't as talented as the (S)he-man. I do think though that if you just wanted to focus on the 50 free, and decided to go the low yardage route, you'd swim a low 23. On the other hand, with a multi-talented athlete like yourself, focusing on just a few short events could be boring.