Question for Science-minded swimmers...

Muscle atrophy, I imagine. I went from swimming the fastest times in my Masters career (and one lifetime best) to being a pathetic excuse for a swimmer in just month of relative inactivity. The good news is this: I'm less concerned with "why this happened" because I know exactly what I need to do to get back in shape: get in the pool and train!

I'm not an expert in this at all... but when I ask people who should know, they tell me it is "neurological" as opposed to a muscle mass issue. If I am hearing them correctly, it may be connected with how our neurological system gets the muscles to contract, and how patterned this response is. Again, not an expert here, just relaying what I think I've heard.

The way I look at it, form will make me much faster without fitness than the opposite. A sudden increase in time would have me thinking along the lines of poor technique.

My question is this; From a physiological or Kinesiological standpoint, what is happening in your body when you can so easily go from being in-shape to losing that in a matter of a week or two? What is happening in our body when we can swim a 1:07 BR and then two weeks later can't break 1:10??? Since there are plenty of athletes out there dealing with a come-back from the flu just as the rest of the team is getting ready for the season championships.... the truth should be told if soliciting advice. Prior to illness - daily double workouts, consistent high level effort, few or no recovery breaks or competitions. Contracted Swine flu or at least a horrible sounding chest cold. Training through the illness. Birthday in the middle of everything. Prescribed antibiotic treatment by physician Still sick - still training... or did I already mention that? I'm not science minded, but sometimes it is plain obvious. More rest is needed. Intensive interval training while still sick is possibly going to land the athlete in bed during the championship weekend. We have had 3 athletes in this exact situation. Frustrating? Yes. But there are still nearly 2 weeks before the big meet. I don't think all is lost.

This has nothing to do with whatever the hell "biorhythms" are. You might want to work on your social skills just a wee bit. Chronobiology may, indeed, be somewhat off topic, but it's neither pseudoscience (as your comment and use of quotes seems to imply), nor is it entirely irrelevant to this discussion. Most swimmers swear by some sort of taper before a big meet. What is this difference between such allegedly beneficial rest and refueling of substrates or whatever exactly happens, and the deconditioning that occurs when you have to stop training because of being sick? Both involve taking time off, so why should one be so great and the other so deleterious? Ditto for diurnal and weekly rhythms and training cycles--I suspect you are a fan of periodization in weight training. Is this not, in some sense, a cyclical matter, that is to say, a matter of rhythms to optimize biology? Tact, Mr. Hands! Do not let your social skills atrophy from lack of practice!

Try telling that to Emil Zatopek?

Muscle atrophy, I imagine. Long term yeah, but not in a few weeks. It's several things. Some happen right away, some take longer. If you want to read the scientific literature on this, the term to search is "deconditioning." As in, the opposite of conditioning. Every adaptation that your body makes to training gets lost if you don't keep training. Off the top of my head: Skill memory Motor unit recruitment efficiency Enzymes in energy pathways Physical muscle changes (e.g., capillary density) If you're really interested in this stuff, read Maglischo.

Since there are plenty of athletes out there dealing with a come-back from the flu just as the rest of the team is getting ready for the season championships.... the truth should be told if soliciting advice. Prior to illness - daily double workouts, consistent high level effort, few or no recovery breaks or competitions. Contracted Swine flu or at least a horrible sounding chest cold. Training through the illness. Birthday in the middle of everything. Prescribed antibiotic treatment by physician Still sick - still training... or did I already mention that? I'm not science minded, but sometimes it is plain obvious. More rest is needed. Intensive interval training while still sick is possibly going to land the athlete in bed during the championship weekend. We have had 3 athletes in this exact situation. Frustrating? Yes. But there are still nearly 2 weeks before the big meet. I don't think all is lost. Just in case one of these 3 is a night nadadore who listens to my advice over yours. You need more rest. Your focus should be getting well as fast as possible, so you can get back in the pool. Don't worry about deconditioning, worry getting well fast so you have time to get your feel back right before the meet. I got sick right before my first USAS meet in Oct. I immediately stopped swimming, took a day off work, stopped lifting, ate even healthier than usual and focused on getting well. I was better about 3 days before the meet, and when I got back in the water, I didn't worry about conditioning, I worried about making sure my technique was as good as it was going to be. I couldn't regain what little conditioning I lost in 7 days out of the water and 9 days out of the gym, but I could regain my feel for the water and make sure my starts and turns were solid going into the meet. Also, start paying more attention to Ahelee's advice and less to my drivel.

Following 5 months of competitive training (approximately 9,000 yards.d-1, 6 d.wk-1), three groups of eight male swimmers performed 4 wk of either reduced training (3,000 yard.session-1) or inactivity. Two groups reduced their training to either 3 sessions.wk-1 (RT3) or 1 session.wk-1 (RT1), whereas the third group (IA) did no training. Measurement of muscular strength (biokinetic swim bench) showed no decrement in any group over the 4 wk. In contrast, swim power (tethered swim) was significantly decreased (P less than 0.05) in all groups, reaching a mean change of -13.6% by week 4. Blood lactate measured after a standard 200-yard (183 m) front crawl swim increased by 1.8, 3.5, and 5.5 mM over the 4 wk in groups RT3, RT1 and IA, respectively. In group RT1, stroke rate measured during the 200-yard swim significantly increased (P less than 0.05) from 0.54 +/- 0.03 to 0.59 +/- 0.03 strokes.-1 while stroke distance significantly decreased (P less than 0.05) from 2.50 +/- 0.08 to 2.29 +/- 0.13 m.stroke-1 during the 4-wk period. Both stroke rate and stroke distance were maintained in group RT3 over the 4 wk of reduced training. Group IA was not tested for stroke mechanics. Whereas maximal oxygen uptake decreases significantly (P less than 0.05) over the 4 wk in group RT1 (4.75 to 4.62 l.min-1), no change in maximal oxygen uptake was observed in group RT3. These results suggest that aerobic capacity is maintained over 4 wk of moderately reduced training (3 sessions.wk-1) in well-trained swimmers. Muscular strength was not diminished over 4 wk of reduced training or inactivity, but the ability to generate power during swimming was significantly reduced in all groups.

I'm not an expert in this at all... but when I ask people who should know, they tell me it is "neurological" as opposed to a muscle mass issue. If I am hearing them correctly, it may be connected with how our neurological system gets the muscles to contract, and how patterned this response is. Again, not an expert here, just relaying what I think I've heard. I've attended seminars that examined Biorhythms in details. There are coaches who believe in them and will either train their charges according to them or scratch them from an event. ¿Quién sabe?