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.
Parents
Former Member
"Sudden break" tapers are an interesting topic. I have certainly heard of a number of cases -- as I'm certain you have -- where illness or injury forced someone essentially to adopt this strategy, and the result is usually not the disaster that the person feared. In some cases the person does better than in previous conventional tapers (or, at least, no worse). In total agreement.
You see? Theory says that we should plan. Planning for a full season involves knowing before the very first workout, what any specific week will be made of in term of volume, distribution and activities. Before we reach week#1, I can tell you what your week #36 is supposed to be made of.
However, things never go as planned. Forces you to gamble. For instance, extend the duration of a certain mesocycle because the testing did not give the expected results. Modifying this and that because of injuries etc...
Like you mentioned, you sometimes end up prior the taper phase in situations that may call for different taper types. Also, scientific literature do report some cases where a 7day taper involving 3 or 4 consecutive days off would give better results (than a progressive tapers), but these are exceptions though.
stay out of the water too long and you lose your "feel" (muscle memory, whatever) and your stroke efficiency may deteriorate. It is always a good thing not to fall too much in love with any model.:) It is extremely interesting here.
We often think about the lats and triceps and pectorals and quads as the main muscle groups involved in swimming. It's not the case though. These are the muscle groups mainly involved in propulsion. There are several other muscles groups responsible for maintaining proper technique, often involving very small but highly important muscles which will get detrained much more rapidly than larger muscle masses.
For instance, some rotator's cuff muscles involved in keeping high elbow during the catch phase (fly, free) may respond very badly to 3-4 days off during a taper, and may impair your ability to keep your elbow high.
As you mention, it's all very complex.
"Sudden break" tapers are an interesting topic. I have certainly heard of a number of cases -- as I'm certain you have -- where illness or injury forced someone essentially to adopt this strategy, and the result is usually not the disaster that the person feared. In some cases the person does better than in previous conventional tapers (or, at least, no worse). In total agreement.
You see? Theory says that we should plan. Planning for a full season involves knowing before the very first workout, what any specific week will be made of in term of volume, distribution and activities. Before we reach week#1, I can tell you what your week #36 is supposed to be made of.
However, things never go as planned. Forces you to gamble. For instance, extend the duration of a certain mesocycle because the testing did not give the expected results. Modifying this and that because of injuries etc...
Like you mentioned, you sometimes end up prior the taper phase in situations that may call for different taper types. Also, scientific literature do report some cases where a 7day taper involving 3 or 4 consecutive days off would give better results (than a progressive tapers), but these are exceptions though.
stay out of the water too long and you lose your "feel" (muscle memory, whatever) and your stroke efficiency may deteriorate. It is always a good thing not to fall too much in love with any model.:) It is extremely interesting here.
We often think about the lats and triceps and pectorals and quads as the main muscle groups involved in swimming. It's not the case though. These are the muscle groups mainly involved in propulsion. There are several other muscles groups responsible for maintaining proper technique, often involving very small but highly important muscles which will get detrained much more rapidly than larger muscle masses.
For instance, some rotator's cuff muscles involved in keeping high elbow during the catch phase (fly, free) may respond very badly to 3-4 days off during a taper, and may impair your ability to keep your elbow high.
As you mention, it's all very complex.
