Ultra Short Training At Race Pace

Ande, You are correct that Rushall says that strength training is unnecessary, however, he sites the following study that says it is OK for Masters swimmers. coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../hartley.htm Given what I have read on Sarcopenia, it seems to me it is essential. www.unm.edu/.../sarcopenia.html

"Also this really baffled my mind. I mean I think he also said dryland training doesn't effect performance. That just seems weird." Looking at some of the sources it seems like this conclusion is most applicable to sprinters; and one of the premises for some of these studies is that dryland exercises do not mimic swimming movements, though it seems that some such exercises are supposed to do this.

Hello, Ande. Glad you saw my post. Just go to Rushall's site (Swimming Science Journal). It's all there, along with the science that supports it. Ever since my daughter switched over to middle-distance track (6th at age-group nationals), where there is no penalty for being of average height, I have not been as current on USRPT in swimming, though I have had fun adaptiing it to running. Cameron was handling the day-to-day at the USRPT Panel, but he may now be tied up a bit with his studies at Yale (hard science major). However, I just discovered that Dr. R. has recently written several articles of topical interest in Swimming Science Bulletin (in the SSJ), including Adapting to the USRPT Format and Understanding a USRPT Set, and has made an effort to simplify his language for us laymen. Yes, still in Keller. --Dan

Sound familiar? You’re feeling some swagger these days. Putting in the big yardage. Topping it off with high intensity too. And looking to put an edge on that blade. So you dial up one of those ultra-short sets. You know, the 30 x 25 at 100 race pace on 20 seconds rest. And … HOLY MOLY! ... it eats your backside for lunch! Spits you out too. This cannot be right, you say. I’m a stud. It has to be the set. Yea, it’s a bad set. Simply bathes you in lactic acid. Strictly for masochists. Forget it. I am too old for a beat down like that. First thing: No one‒I mean no one‒jumping into the teeth of an ultra-short set comes away without a seriously masticated ego. Why? Because nothing‒I mean nothing‒can duplicate the demands of ultra short. Except ultra short itself. That’s how specific it is. Or how un-specific everything else is. Real life cases of this, and the science too, are cited in Rushall B. S. (2013). Hypotheses about the specificity of physical conditioning in swimming: it is a lot more specific than commonly believed. Swimming Science Journal – Swimming Science Bulletin 42. So, what to do? Ø You’re not too old. Scratch that. Ø You’ve got to ease into it, with longer rests and slower paces at first. This is laid out by Dr. Rushall in Adapting to the USRPT format. Swimming Science Bulletin 45b and in Step by step USRPT planning and decision-making processes. Swimming Science Bulletin 47. Ø You’ve got to recite, over and over, again and again, “ultra-short rests are not too short … ultra-short rests are not too short …” Common sense says otherwise, I know. But the science says that resting too little or too long is what swamps the muscles in lactic acid. Between the too-little and the too-long is the ultra short sweet spot where speed-endurance evolves—where anaerobic, acid-making muscle becomes oxygen-loving muscle. This is explained nicely in Aerobic Training is not Enough. Swimming Science Bulletin 42c. Second thing: In sport, it’s recovery time—the time needed to bounce back from the last workout—that takes the biggest hit from aging. Ultra short can help to counter this unhappy process. The sets are a bear, sure, but they are self-limiting. You get to bail out whenever you can’t keep the pace. No survival swimming here. You get plenty tired, but you never get wasted by acid build up or wacked out by depleted energy stores. Recovery time is quicker, thus preserving—as aging takes its toll—the ability to chalk up an ample load of quality workouts. Then there’s the problem of shrinking reserves of time and energy. Married, kids, real job? You know what I mean. Ultra short can help there too—by excluding everything, like weight lifting, that is extraneous to the direct pursuit of fast racing. This is explained fully in Fatigue in swimming: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Swimming Science Bulletin 46a. And, despite all the interest in the training format, the heart and soul of ultra short is the perfection of stroke technique. Every rest interval is devoted to focused attention on skill. Ultra short is nothing if not efficient. What about recovery within a set? Mightn’t the march of time have an effect on that too? Ultra-short rest intervals, derived from studies on college kids, are 15 seconds for sets of 12.5s or 25s and 20 seconds for sets of 50s, 75s, or 100s. See The mechanisms of ultra-short training: the translation of Christensen’s thinking into swimming terms and its place in training programs. Swimming Science Bulletin 45. Masters swimmers can individualize these rests so that their repeats begin at the same state of recovery as younger swimmers. Here’s how. The science says that breathing, not pulse rate, is the best measure of recovery—and Dr. Rushall says that each repeat should begin before the breathing rate slows by more than 5%. This means that the sensation of breathlessness can be used as a send off signal. You push off, not when you’ve caught your breath, but at the very first easing of air hunger. When I—a 67 year-old, drop-dead sprinter—do this on a fly set of 12.5s at 50 race pace, the rest intervals begin at 8 seconds and level off at 18 seconds before neural fatigue shuts down the set. A word about 50s though. Ultra short chiefly trains the type of endurance that is fueled by inhaled oxygen. Now, at the elite level, 50s are no-breathers—and ultra short has to be modified for these hypoxic dashes (see Swimming Science Bulletin 47). But at the masters level, your race times inevitably slow, and breath holding ceases to be an option. Your 50s become more aerobic, such that fewer changes are required in the ultra-short format. (At age 44, I could no-breathe a 50 fly in 23 seconds. Now, at 27 seconds, the need for air is overwhelming.)

FYI Ultra-Short Race-Pace Training Two-Day Seminars For Coaches, Swimmers and Swim Parents WHERE & WHEN DENTON, TEXAS •December 14th & 15th, 2013 (Saturday & Sunday), at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas Hosted by UNT Women’s Swimming and Diving Program •To Register – Go to: coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../index.htm. LAWRENCE, KANSAS •January 7th & 8th, 2014 (Tuesday & Wednesday) at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS hosted by Indie Swimming and KU Women’s Swimming and Diving Program. •To Register – Go to: www.indieswimming.com/Home.jsp Sponsored by: UNT & KU Women’s Swimming and Diving programs & Indie Swimming

Late getting into this one. When I used to train for the marathon races I would do 100 x 100s with a minute rest and as the race season got closer rest was cut down to 30 seconds. That is certainly a lot of yardage!!! USRPT is not about yardage. It is about race pace. Rest is only either 15 seconds for 25's or 20 seconds for 50's, 75's and 100's. Also, if the set is 30 x 50's it is skip if missed - meaning that if you miss your target time, you sit out the next one. If you miss two in a row including the rest time, the set is done. You are not expected to make all 30. If you do, the set is too easy. If it is too easy, you need to make your target time faster. You do not break the 30 x 50's down into 3 sets of 10. There is no Masters minute. Currently with my target time of :31 I can complete 23 with #'s 22 and 23 failures. My previous target time of :32 I was able to get 25 out of 30 but did not have two failures in a row. As a result I moved the target time down to :31. I am training for the 400 free.

nothing‒I mean nothing‒can duplicate the demands of ultra short. Except ultra short itself. That’s how specific it is. Or how un-specific everything else is. .... Between the too-little and the too-long is the ultra short sweet spot where speed-endurance evolves ... In sport, it’s recovery time—the time needed to bounce back from the last workout—that takes the biggest hit from aging. Ultra short can help to counter this unhappy process. ... Then there’s the problem of shrinking reserves of time and energy. Married, kids, real job? You know what I mean. Ultra short can help there too I've heard that UST also puts hair on your chest, cures cancer, and makes a mean pot roast.

I've heard that UST also puts hair on your chest, cures cancer, and makes a mean pot roast. Thats hilarious. I love it!

When I—a 67 year-old, drop-dead sprinter—do this on a fly set of 12.5s at 50 race pace, the rest intervals begin at 8 seconds and level off at 18 seconds before neural fatigue shuts down the set. Ultra short is intriguing to me. However, personally, I don't see what it has to do with drop dead sprinting. 50s are about 5% aerobic so why would you train with a method dedicated to aerobic fitness? I think you're better off doing max rest sets and race simulation for drop dead sprints. One other thing that puzzles me about Rushall -- how does he account for the SDK? I can't train for 50 fly or 50 back using only 12.5 AFAP sprints because I'm UW for 15 meters in my races. If I used his method for 50s (which I wouldn't), I'd never do any full stroke swimming. Also, the breath deprivation from streamline dolphin kicking or not breathing much during a 25y 100 pace sprint makes his proposed intervals impossible for me. I guess you could use the sensation of breathlessness test you mention, but my rest interval would be nowhere near his proposed 1:1 rest.

P.S. You can find the articles mentioned above by going to the Swimming Science Journal at coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../index.htm. Click on Swimming Science Bulletin in the Quick Links box and then scroll down. In the past, Dr. Rushall charged a fee for access to the Journal, but he has now opened it to everyone.