Ultra Short Training At Race Pace

True enough. It’s evolving for 50s. That’s part of the fun. But there is some relevant science (see SSJ): ♦ Pace and mechanics are inseparable. ♦ Mechanics improve only by way of serial repetition. So, how can you get enough repetition into your training week, at race pace, without wearing yourself out? You can’t even do race pace if you're tired. USRPT would seem to be an answer. Dr. Rushall wrote me that at his recent clinic he met a top masters swimmer, a drop-dead sprinter, who was having trouble with the sets. Seems he couldn’t do enough yardage, using the prescribed 15 and 20 second rest intervals, to work on his stroke mechanics. Rushall told him that since 50s are largely hypoxic that he should err on the side of race-pace yardage rather than oxidative conditioning. That he should increase the rest intervals in his sets, progressively, until the yardage came, even if he had to go up from 20 to 30 seconds. If I were able to get serious again, I think I would start the season with strict USRPT, as a way of solidifying my stroke and of laying down an “oxidative base.” We sprinters are mainly fast-twitch, and I can’t help thinking that it would be of benefit, especially in long course, to force some of that muscle to use oxygen (II to IIb conversion), as well as to enhance the capacity to store oxygen. Then at some point I would begin adding long-rest sets, like the ones Leslie advises, to work on power. That would be a kind of periodizing, which Dr. Rushall doesn’t like, but until we get the full science we are surely entitled to experiment. Merry Christmas!

True enough. It’s evolving for 50s. That’s part of the fun. But there is some relevant science (see SSJ): ♦ Pace and mechanics are inseparable. ♦ Mechanics improve only by way of serial repetition. So, how can you get enough repetition into your training week, at race pace, without wearing yourself out? You can’t even do race pace if you're tired. USRPT would seem to be an answer. Dr. Rushall wrote me that at his recent clinic he met a top masters swimmer, a drop-dead sprinter, who was having trouble with the sets. Seems he couldn’t do enough yardage, using the prescribed 15 and 20 second rest intervals, to work on his stroke mechanics. Rushall told him that since 50s are largely hypoxic that he should err on the side of race-pace yardage rather than oxidative conditioning. That he should increase the rest intervals in his sets, progressively, until the yardage came, even if he had to go up from 20 to 30 seconds. If I were able to get serious again, I think I would start the season with strict USRPT, as a way of solidifying my stroke and of laying down an “oxidative base.” We sprinters are mainly fast-twitch, and I can’t help thinking that it would be of benefit, especially in long course, to force some of that muscle to use oxygen (II to IIb conversion), as well as to enhance the capacity to store oxygen. Then at some point I would begin adding long-rest sets, like the ones Leslie advises, to work on power. That would be a kind of periodizing, which Dr. Rushall doesn’t like, but until we get the full science we are surely entitled to experiment. Merry Christmas!