We have been talking about the effectiveness of race pace vs as far as possible per workout,or at least short rest workouts so I thought"Why not a poll?"Note for this poll check all that apply.
- How much more yardage, as a percentage of the total, should be in zones 2&3 (as this study characterized them) - 30%? 50? 75%
- Does this percentage hold every day of the week? Are there days with less-than-all-out swims - and how does this skew the weekly averages for zones 2 & 3? Do people need more recovery days and more lower-level swims when they pass their 35th birthday?
- What percentage of the total yardage is spent kicking. Of that, what percentage is hard kicking in zones 2 & 3, versus kicking in the aerobic zones (zone 1)?
I am not going to try to answer for "should" or "must," I can only answer for me (and my team).
Here is a typical workout, though naturally they vary (see my or KEWebb18's blog for details; we swim for the same team).
1000 warmup (Z1)
A set of 1000-2000 usually at/near threshold (Z2), sometimes below LT (Z1)
A kick set (500-1000) (varies, see below)
Sprint or race-pace work (500-1000) (Z2 or Z3, sort of)
There is probably about 300 yards of easy swimming scattered throughout the practice after warmup. About every 2-3 days I might do a longer set (1000-1500 yards) below LT instead of either the Z2 or the race-pace/sprint set.
We generally spend more time in Z2 (at threshold) than Z3 (above it).
We do some race-pace work almost every day, but the distances and intensities can vary. There will be some easy swimming in there. Also, I do not think that short-distance "speed-work" fits so neatly in the "zones" idea: LA and HR remain fairly low for the most part, for example, even though you are going all-out.
We also do a high-intensity test-set once a week. An example would be 5 x 100 on 4:00, off the blocks. (Unfortunately I've been missing that practice recently.)
For kicking, very roughly we alternate between Z1-type kicking and harder kicking (Z2-Z3); I'd estimate 1-2 times per week of the latter. (I will say that not everyone on the team feels motivated to kick hard...which has been true of every team I have been on, age-grouper on up.)
So I don't really have magical percentages, though I know that it is different than the ones the study indicated. If I were to focus on 50s more, I would do a lot more speedwork than I do (I probably don't do enough); 200s are my favorite race and I enjoy 100s just fine (but consider them sprints).
What I will say is that I go by feedback (how I feel, times I am able to hit in practice) much more than trying to hit some target percentage. If I'm tired -- if I can't hit 200-race pace even with reasonable rest, for example -- I do less race-pace work (Z3) and more recovery work (Z1).
During a 3-week taper before a target meet, I will decrease Z2 (to almost nothing) and Z3, and greatly increase the percentage of Z1. I'll also do plenty of speedwork.
- How much more yardage, as a percentage of the total, should be in zones 2&3 (as this study characterized them) - 30%? 50? 75%
- Does this percentage hold every day of the week? Are there days with less-than-all-out swims - and how does this skew the weekly averages for zones 2 & 3? Do people need more recovery days and more lower-level swims when they pass their 35th birthday?
- What percentage of the total yardage is spent kicking. Of that, what percentage is hard kicking in zones 2 & 3, versus kicking in the aerobic zones (zone 1)?
I am not going to try to answer for "should" or "must," I can only answer for me (and my team).
Here is a typical workout, though naturally they vary (see my or KEWebb18's blog for details; we swim for the same team).
1000 warmup (Z1)
A set of 1000-2000 usually at/near threshold (Z2), sometimes below LT (Z1)
A kick set (500-1000) (varies, see below)
Sprint or race-pace work (500-1000) (Z2 or Z3, sort of)
There is probably about 300 yards of easy swimming scattered throughout the practice after warmup. About every 2-3 days I might do a longer set (1000-1500 yards) below LT instead of either the Z2 or the race-pace/sprint set.
We generally spend more time in Z2 (at threshold) than Z3 (above it).
We do some race-pace work almost every day, but the distances and intensities can vary. There will be some easy swimming in there. Also, I do not think that short-distance "speed-work" fits so neatly in the "zones" idea: LA and HR remain fairly low for the most part, for example, even though you are going all-out.
We also do a high-intensity test-set once a week. An example would be 5 x 100 on 4:00, off the blocks. (Unfortunately I've been missing that practice recently.)
For kicking, very roughly we alternate between Z1-type kicking and harder kicking (Z2-Z3); I'd estimate 1-2 times per week of the latter. (I will say that not everyone on the team feels motivated to kick hard...which has been true of every team I have been on, age-grouper on up.)
So I don't really have magical percentages, though I know that it is different than the ones the study indicated. If I were to focus on 50s more, I would do a lot more speedwork than I do (I probably don't do enough); 200s are my favorite race and I enjoy 100s just fine (but consider them sprints).
What I will say is that I go by feedback (how I feel, times I am able to hit in practice) much more than trying to hit some target percentage. If I'm tired -- if I can't hit 200-race pace even with reasonable rest, for example -- I do less race-pace work (Z3) and more recovery work (Z1).
During a 3-week taper before a target meet, I will decrease Z2 (to almost nothing) and Z3, and greatly increase the percentage of Z1. I'll also do plenty of speedwork.
