Ultra Short Training At Race Pace

“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.” “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.”

I loved being a rogue, Salo-style coach and competitor. My Longhorn swimmers loved it too, with top-notch results. My masters team was Texas SprinterBeast. You would have had a hard time talking me out of it. But Michael Andrew does not seem to be hurting in his 50s. Start and turn may be half of your race but not for most of us. And then there is long course. Mechanics are not limited to stroking. Every segment of the race, has it own mechanics. Start, submarine, pull-out for breaststroke, break-out, etc. USRPT recommends subjecting each segment to its own set in order to perfect the mechanics of each. Rushall does not disdain kicking that is specific to racing. If speed workouts, using non ultra-short intervals, are of sufficient yardage to improve mechanics, rather than just to maintain them, then blood lactate rises to a level that requires at least 48 hours recovery (in young people). I’m pretty sure he advocates even pacing. I really have no interest in being Dr. Rushall’s mouthpiece. He speaks very well for himself. Just go to the site and read his stuff. Even if you disagree with the science, you can’t help learning a lot.

Leslie, you may be right. Different strokes for different folks. A good area for future research. But I will mention one further thing. USRPT is based in science, and the science says that pace and mechanics are inextricable. Change the pace, and the mechanics change, whether you are aware of it or not. You cannot train at one pace and expect optimal mechanics at another pace. 100 meter and 50 meter mechanics, for example, are not interchangeable. The science also says that the more yardage you train at a specific pace, the more perfect your mechanics will become at that pace. Swimming requires sophisticated technique, unlike distance running, so the question becomes, how do you maximize yardage at a specific race pace? Dr. Rushall created USRPT to answer that very question. The conventional method involves long repeats, often half the event distance, and long rest intervals, which create the kind of fatigue that requires at least two days recovery (longer as you get older). This limits the weekly yardage that can be accomplished at race pace, which limits improvement in propelling efficiency. The science also says that there is a point of diminishing returns as to how much improvement can be obtained by way of conditioning alone, that after a point further speed can only come by way of sharpened skill. USRPT is "based in science," but "future research" is needed wrt drop dead sprinting. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of USRPT. I just don't think it works that well for 50s. 1. The start and turn are half the race. 50s are not just about stroke mechanics. USRPT neglects this reality. 2. Mid-pool sprints don't replicate race conditions or stroke mechanics initially, and are more of a strength training exercise. 3. If you don't do mid-pool sprints and are doing bursts from the wall, you could be only SDK-ing and not doing any swimming. If you don't SDK, you are, again, not mimicking race conditions. 4. If SDK is a key part of the start and turn in drop dead sprints, then it seems to me that doing kick only 12.5s should count as USRPT even though Rushall disdains kicking. 5. Most sprinters should be able to do back to back speed workouts. If they can't, they'll have some trouble at multi-day meets. 6. I thought Rushall believed that you should be above race pace on the start of virtually any race bc you carry easy speed off the blocks and can maintain speed more easily. Another question for Glenn -- did you taper at all for your meet? I would think masters might need to taper despite Rushall saying you don't.

Another question for Glenn -- did you taper at all for your meet? I would think masters might need to taper despite Rushall saying you don't. Yes, but I wouldn't call it anything like a traditional taper. I did my normal workout up until the Monday of the week of the meet. The meet started on Friday and I did half the normal workout on Monday and Tuesday, took Wednesday off and did a meet warm-up on Thursday. I go by your words of wisdom Leslie, "rest is your friend"!!!

See Rushall B. S. (2013). USRPT and the non-taper. Swimming Science Journal – Swimming Science Bulletin 45d. As you have probably figured out by now, I am a big believer in USRPT. It is based on science and I believe that is one of the keys to it's appeal, certainly to me. How much of that science is based upon studies that included or were exclusively with Masters swimmers? There is not much research done on or with Masters swimmers. So if you take the USRPT concepts a step further especially when you consider specificity, I am not sure that all of the concepts apply as well as they might apply to age groupers. I work very hard in the pool. My body needs rest. Today was a perfect example. I got to #15 in my set of 30 x 50 and already had three failures... I went into the jacuzzi for 10 minutes, took a shower, and went home. Actually since Rushall says that USRPT is self-limiting, it was self-limiting today.

Leslie, you may be right. Different strokes for different folks. A good area for future research. But I will mention one further thing. USRPT is based in science, and the science says that pace and mechanics are inextricable. Change the pace, and the mechanics change, whether you are aware of it or not. You cannot train at one pace and expect optimal mechanics at another pace. 100 meter and 50 meter mechanics, for example, are not interchangeable. The science also says that the more yardage you train at a specific pace, the more perfect your mechanics will become at that pace. Swimming requires sophisticated technique, unlike distance running, so the question becomes, how do you maximize yardage at a specific race pace? Dr. Rushall created USRPT to answer that very question. The conventional method involves long repeats, often half the event distance, and long rest intervals, which create the kind of fatigue that requires at least two days recovery (longer as you get older). This limits the weekly yardage that can be accomplished at race pace, which limits improvement in propelling efficiency. The science also says that there is a point of diminishing returns as to how much improvement can be obtained by way of conditioning alone, that after a point further speed can only come by way of sharpened skill. You say USRPT is based on science. There is no doubt that the science behind USRPT for 100s and 200s is very compelling. It is also very clear that the science behind USRPT is not as compelling for 50s training. Dr. Rushall has stated multiple times that 50s are a different animal compared to longer races - from the physiology to the technique. He does not have the lactate graphs to back up his training methods for 50s as the are not as relevant. I think Dr. Rushall is in the process of building out exactly what he believes about 50s as he barely addressed them his first few bulletins. I look forward to the day that his thoughts on 50s are as well developed as his thoughts on 100s and 200s.

See Rushall B. S. (2013). USRPT and the non-taper. Swimming Science Journal – Swimming Science Bulletin 45d.

Dr. Rushall has stated multiple times that 50s are a different animal compared to longer races - from the physiology to the technique. . But Michael Andrew does not seem to be hurting in his 50s. He could probably bang an impressive 50 after 6 months of no training at all.

I ask this of Glenn, Leslie, Rich Abrahams, and THOMMED: As a drop-dead sprinter, and the occasional 200 free/200 *** swimmer, how should my weekly swim workouts look? Need I incorporate HIT and USRPT? Throw in a few broken 200s here and there? I'm swimming only 50s and 100s at Nats but I still relish the thought of developing into a decent 200 free/breaststroker. Any suggestions?:bow:

Merry Christmas!