In threads where training philosophy comes up, discussions of TRIMPS and TSS and other training models occasionally intrude. These models are not very well known, and even more poorly understood, so probably SolarEnergy, qbrain and I are just talking to each other and killing threads in those conversations. In any case, I figured I would present a brief overview of what it is that we're talking about when this terminology starts showing up.
Best case, this will introduce these models to the subset of swimmers (or coaches) who would be interested enough to use them, but didn't previously know enough to do so.
Plus, even if you're not the type to be interested in quantifying your training, it can be useful to think about workouts in this general framework.
And, at the very least, this might serve as a place to discuss some of the details without worrying about driving those other threads too far off-topic.
Steve,
How would 1.2, 1.2 and 1.6 (fly,back,***) work with the numbers you have collected?
breaststroke energy points = regular energy points * 1.6
I am just now reading over the details of Q's point system; I didn't have time to do more than skim it before. I'd be interested in tracking it for a time in my own workouts, and especially for computing it for my taper workouts as compared to my "regular" workouts. Since taper often involves less yardage but faster swimming, a system that includes quality is attractive to make sure one is resting enough (or not resting too much).
Q, can you re-post the formula and give an example or two on how to calculate the energy points for a set?
If I am understanding correctly, BR would have a higher multiplier because, essentially, it is a slow stroke that nonetheless requires a lot of energy to swim slowly. :) Fair enough.
But I don't know if I agree that back and fly are equivalent to each other. Speaking only for myself, I think that swimming back and free require roughly equivalent energy for the same time. Since free is a faster stroke, there should be a multiplier for back that is > 1, fine. But I think a 20% is too much. It wouldn't be hard to compute ratios of (say) records or TT times and get some idea of a reasonable average.
I think the multiplier for Fly needs to be higher than for backstroke. A butterfly set or repeat always seems to get my HR higher (and take more effort) than back or free, regardless of "quality level." I believe that fly, like ***, has greater fluctuations in forward velocity and would require more energy for a given repeat time.
Steve,
How would 1.2, 1.2 and 1.6 (fly,back,***) work with the numbers you have collected?
breaststroke energy points = regular energy points * 1.6
I am just now reading over the details of Q's point system; I didn't have time to do more than skim it before. I'd be interested in tracking it for a time in my own workouts, and especially for computing it for my taper workouts as compared to my "regular" workouts. Since taper often involves less yardage but faster swimming, a system that includes quality is attractive to make sure one is resting enough (or not resting too much).
Q, can you re-post the formula and give an example or two on how to calculate the energy points for a set?
If I am understanding correctly, BR would have a higher multiplier because, essentially, it is a slow stroke that nonetheless requires a lot of energy to swim slowly. :) Fair enough.
But I don't know if I agree that back and fly are equivalent to each other. Speaking only for myself, I think that swimming back and free require roughly equivalent energy for the same time. Since free is a faster stroke, there should be a multiplier for back that is > 1, fine. But I think a 20% is too much. It wouldn't be hard to compute ratios of (say) records or TT times and get some idea of a reasonable average.
I think the multiplier for Fly needs to be higher than for backstroke. A butterfly set or repeat always seems to get my HR higher (and take more effort) than back or free, regardless of "quality level." I believe that fly, like ***, has greater fluctuations in forward velocity and would require more energy for a given repeat time.
