and I think it makes sense, I hope it works. I raced in a SCY meet back in late Feb. I swam pretty well since I wore my practice suit (forgot racing suit), was not shaved or rested or anything else, but my times were still a little slower than i had hoped. I have decided to focus on the 50 free and 50 fly for nationals, with my entries in the 100 free/fly/IM on days 2 and 3 just being an excuse to stay in Arizona longer. So for the past 4-5 weeks I have done three things differently.
1) I have focused on speed work in practice more than ever, making almost every set into speed work. If I'm given 8x125's I will do them as 75's or 100's and focus on sprinting different portions of them. Always working on EVF, always working on SDK, always working on all the other stuff I always do
2) I am incorporating a ton of explosive type weight sets on my off days. squats, lunges, bench press etc.....
and I'm hanging my hat on this last thing making the biggest difference, and is why I named the thread what I did.
3) I want to lose 20 pounds before nationals. I raced at my meet a month ago at 195. That very day I dropped coca-cola cold turkey. I had a 4 can a day habit, maybe more on the weekends. I have had maybe a total of three cans in a month an I have gone from 195 to 184 as of this morning. Starting tomorrow I cut all fried and fast foods from my diet as well, as I'm not sure the no coke thing will make the last 9 pounds go away.
So could racing at 175 and not 195 with the same or better strength make a huge difference?
I want to lose 20 pounds before nationals. I raced at my meet a month ago at 195. That very day I dropped coca-cola cold turkey. I had a 4 can a day habit, maybe more on the weekends. I have had maybe a total of three cans in a month an I have gone from 195 to 184 as of this morning. Starting tomorrow I cut all fried and fast foods from my diet as well, as I'm not sure the no coke thing will make the last 9 pounds go away.
I kicked my diet coke habit seven or eight years ago. Doing so played a big factor in helping me lose almost 100 pounds (I've kept it off).
Last September, I stopped eating wheat. My weight has stayed more or less the same, but my body shape is changing. I'm losing residual belly fat, and I'm swimming measurably faster.
Nowadays, I generally follow a paleo diet. While I might occasionally miss eating pizza or a slice of hot bread — not really — there are compensations. I get to eat lots of butter, bacon, fatty meats, whole milk, cream, eggs, etc. One caveat — the meat and dairy must be from pastured animals — no industrial meat! My wife and I actually add fat into our diet to achieve the balance we're looking for.
If you're interested, there's lots of food blogs out there that discuss this idea. The one that inspired me is
www.heartscanblog.org/.../wheat-belly.html
I took the author's 4-week challenge and have never looked back.
P.S. My doctor approves, and my blood work looks great!
I want to lose 20 pounds before nationals. I raced at my meet a month ago at 195. That very day I dropped coca-cola cold turkey. I had a 4 can a day habit, maybe more on the weekends. I have had maybe a total of three cans in a month an I have gone from 195 to 184 as of this morning. Starting tomorrow I cut all fried and fast foods from my diet as well, as I'm not sure the no coke thing will make the last 9 pounds go away.
I kicked my diet coke habit seven or eight years ago. Doing so played a big factor in helping me lose almost 100 pounds (I've kept it off).
Last September, I stopped eating wheat. My weight has stayed more or less the same, but my body shape is changing. I'm losing residual belly fat, and I'm swimming measurably faster.
Nowadays, I generally follow a paleo diet. While I might occasionally miss eating pizza or a slice of hot bread — not really — there are compensations. I get to eat lots of butter, bacon, fatty meats, whole milk, cream, eggs, etc. One caveat — the meat and dairy must be from pastured animals — no industrial meat! My wife and I actually add fat into our diet to achieve the balance we're looking for.
If you're interested, there's lots of food blogs out there that discuss this idea. The one that inspired me is
www.heartscanblog.org/.../wheat-belly.html
I took the author's 4-week challenge and have never looked back.
P.S. My doctor approves, and my blood work looks great!
