Ultra Short Training At Race Pace

Fortress: I have read so much of his stuff that maybe sometimes I speak like him, with his occasionally abrasive tone toward everything that he doesn't explicitly endorse. As a result, I want to change "would" to "might" in my statement.

Drills and toys and garbage yardage would only hurt these top-notch young age groupers. It's these kind of blanket unsupported statements that make Rushall seem rather cult-like ...

None of the links seem to work. Try searching for it........Clyde Hart "train slower to race faster"

I believe he says that some type of deconditioning occurs after 2-3 days so he advocates each set be done several times per week. I have never had time to do that many but I have seen gains with fewer than what he recommends. I think he would say doing each set 3 times per week is optimal. Any more than that is counterproductive and any less is beneficial, but sub optimal. With respect to your comments about doing things within the USRPT format, I think he is much more rigid about doing the sets themselves HIS way. He definitely does not like swimming slower than race pace and he does not like excessive rest.

Go to plan C - switch to race pace 25s when the 50s fail. Peter Andrew advocates for this.

Read the article and a few comments. It implies if this training is done correctly, it can be done more frequently than every 48 hrs. I question this as the central nervous system can be overtaxed. I don't think you can train like this day after day. Where does that leave us? What do we do all the other days? Training at or below threshold. Where does this fit into a progression? A 45-60 second effort is 40% aerobic. You need this training as we'll. http:/.../c_hart.pdf Your link doesn't work. Rushall's bulletin 45a recommends 3-4 times per week for each event. I said 3 so I wasn't too far off. You may be right about the CNS getting overtaxed. I have heard of coaches who do the training described in 45a and they say that sometimes it is a disaster for the remainder of the week after having a good workout on Monday. Peter Andrew seems to prefer 2 sets per workout as opposed to the 4 described in bulletin 45a. Maybe Peter Andrew knows best.

rtodd: Fascinating article. I know nothing about track training but I am curious about parallels between success in other sports and USRPT. At first impression your article seems to completely refute USRPT. I did find one parallel though - 8x200 (the set they like)=1600m. 1600m is 4 times as long as a 400m. Dr. Rushall says that training sets should optimally be about 3-5 times the distance of the race based on some study that was done. It almost sounds like other track teams aren't getting the required yardage in their sets, compared to Baylor's track team.

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new." ―Machiavelli Ha! I think Rushall's promotion of his "new order" is great in that (1) he's stirring up a lot of animated/analytical conversations, and (2) he has people thinking more about race pace training instead of garbage yards. But not every "new order" is valid and he lacks some of the actual science that he claims to have at this juncture. I hardly think I qualify as someone who has "done well under the old conditions." My training is very different than most masters, and I embraced a race pace philosophy early on. I do think it's troublesome that the 50 sets for 100s and 200s seem virtually impossible to most (even Andrews and Mann). Rushall needs to address this ...

I do think it's troublesome that the 50 sets for 100s and 200s seem virtually impossible to most (even Andrews and Mann). Rushall needs to address this ... it's not a problem at all...here have some more koolaide! :D

does anybody else read this and go.....BORING....omg BORING!!!!! the same workout several times in the same week, week after week after week. ug, stick a fork in my eye that is so boring. i'd retire again by the 3rd week that sounds so boring. do you have to eat the same breakfast, lunch and dinner too? everyday to go along with this completely bored to tears workout. steve - i'm just not drinking the koolaid I guess boring is relative. I figure in over 30 years of masters swimming I have done 6,000 + workouts. I can't think of one that I would have called boring. Some were better than others for a variety of reasons, but never ever boring! No matter if you are doing USRPT, HIT or tons of yardage workouts, to me it has always been about the clock, and that challenge can never, to me, be a bore.