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.
Search under "sport training intensity polarization" or the like and several studies pop upthat assert that 75% - 8% - 17% training distribution in zones 1,2 and 3 (slow, lactate threshold, and wide open) are common.
www.uem.es/.../La importancia de entrenar fuerte-suave.pdf
Interesting article but I don't think it applies here as the study is centered around endurance athletes and only a small fraction of the competitive Masters community (at least for pool events) falls in that category.
Search under "sport training intensity polarization" or the like and several studies pop upthat assert that 75% - 8% - 17% training distribution in zones 1,2 and 3 (slow, lactate threshold, and wide open) are common.
www.uem.es/.../La importancia de entrenar fuerte-suave.pdf
75% - 8% - 17% training distribution in zones 1,2 and 3 (slow, lactate threshold, and wide open)
This isn't as nuts as it sounds at first.
Consider a workout with four "hard" sets - 10x50 on 1:00, 4x50 IM order on 1:15, 4x50 IM order on 1:30, and 4x100 on 2:00 with descending times that end with an all-out 100 for time. That's about 1,000 yards. But, by the time you get out of the pool - after swimming warm ups and cool-downs, kick sets and recovery swims between the hard sets - you will have logged about 3,000 yards. So, the "hard" sets in zones 2 and 3 will have accounted for about 30% of the total yardage in that one-hour workout.
- 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.
Fantastic thread. Tons of great comments here. Not having been "All American" ranking since 1982, I chose to miss the entire poll.
One important point that came up repeatedly: the high intensity speed swimming need not preclude lower intensity aerobic training. They can be mixed by the work-out and indeed within the work-out. For that matter stroke drills need not be "just drills"; they may also encompass aerobic training. The kick sets are of great interest to me right now: I added them into the training milieu just lately as part of my "high intensity" training: drilling to either descend to sprint pace or sprint/ recover mixtures with lots of emphasis on SDK off the walls for my backstroke kick. I find this addittion to be absolutely wonderful as my work-outs have become fun again.
I also do not think we should discount the value of stroke correction: more on that elsewhere.
Consider a workout with four "hard" sets - 10x50 on 1:00, 4x50 IM order on 1:15, 4x50 IM order on 1:30, and 4x100 on 2:00 with descending times that end with an all-out 100 for time. That's about 1,000 yards. But, by the time you get out of the pool - after swimming warm ups and cool-downs, kick sets and recovery swims between the hard sets - you will have logged about 3,000 yards. So, the "hard" sets in zones 2 and 3 will have accounted for about 30% of the total yardage in that one-hour workout.
And why shouldn't kick sets count as one of the "hard" sets? This attitude is one reason most swimmers are generally poor kickers.
IMO 75% slow swimming (below LT) is too much for pool swimming, even milers. I average about 4000 yd/workout and we do a lot more than 1000 of it in zones 2 & 3. Endurance athletes need to raise their LT but do not need to build up as much lactate tolerance as pool swimmers. Just my :2cents:
I average about 4000 yd/workout and we do a lot more than 1000 of it in zones 2 & 3.
Well, that's more than 25% in zones 2 & 3. So:
- 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)?
And why shouldn't kick sets count as one of the "hard" sets?
I am sorry, when are kick sets not hard sets? When I am kicking without fins, it isn't easy, I don't care how slow it looks like I am going.
Was reading a summary of one of Elizabeth Beisel's workouts, after the post about her joining Univ. Florida:
www.swimnetwork.com/.../inside_the_workout__elizabeth_beisel-2083.html
She does around 4k of warmup/recovery/drill swimming, 2k of fast swimming, and less than 1k of "race pace".
That sure seems like a lot of race pace. Maybe it's possible because it's interspersed with 'strong' swims, rather than chaining them back to back.
Anyways I like how they organized that particular workout. Tough being an IMer though, long workout.
