I received this email last night.
“. . . my training zones are from a field test I did two-years ago. At what point should I re-test? Should I be relatively “fresh” when I test? I lifted yesterday, and wrestling kicked my butt so I’m sore as heck. Wait till next week? Or does it not matter because it’s based on max effort?” Continue reading “When to Perform a Lactate Threshold Field Test”
Formulas aren’t accurate
If you have been training for any length of time, you have probably heard about ‘Training Zones.’
Do you know how to set your training zones? More specifically, do you know how to set your heart rate (HR) training zones? Continue reading “How to Set Heart Rate Training Zones”
After stroke technique, the next most important thing to improving your triathlon swim speed is understanding swim threshold pace (STP). You can swim hundreds of thousands of yards each month and if you don’t understand swim threshold pace, those training yards may not have been as effective as they could have been – and they may have been wasted time altogether. On race day, without an understanding of swim threshold pace, you will likely be swimming to fast – leading to lactic acidosis with the obvious negative effect; or swimming too slow – with the equally obvious negative effect. Continue reading “Swim Threshold Pace – What is it?”
Do your normal warm-up. Follow with a short build set to be ready to swim fast. Or you might consider our recommended warm-up.
Once you are thoroughly warmed up, you will do two time trials to establish your STP; one of 400 yards (or meters if you are in a long course pool) and one of 200 yards/meters. Continue reading “How to Determine Your Swim Threshold Pace”
The human body strives to maintain homeostasis; a fancy term for balance. To maintain homeostasis, the body continually adapts to its environment. Training is simply the manipulation of the application of stress and the body’s adaptation to the stress in order to maintain a state of homeostasis. Continue reading “Supercompensation”
Does this sound familiar? You are swimming along, doing your workout and a piece of vegetation touches your leg. You PANIC! Knowing that a very big shark is about to take a bite out of you – never mind you are in a pool. I feel your pain, and I share your anxiety; dare I say fear. Continue reading “Sharks Don’t Eat People . . . Very Often”
In my opinion, body roll is the single most important aspect of the freestyle stoke, so much so that I call it the foundation on which the freestyle stroke is built. Continue reading “Body Roll”
Acquiring good breathing technique may be one of the biggest challenges for newer swimmers. Poor breathing technique can easily have a negative influence on other parts of the stroke. Continue reading “Breathing”
I have never made a secret of the fact that I despise those casual warm-ups many coaches give. You don’t have to look far to find one: 400 choice swim, 200 to 400 kick, 200 freestyle. That warm-up simply wastes precious training time in the water and it is an absolute disservice to a beginning swimmer. Continue reading “A Better Swim Warm-Up”
As a new, novice swimmer, there is a simple truth that you must come to terms with – Technique trumps everything else. You can get in the water and swim lap upon endless lap, but if your technique is flawed, you are wasting your time. Continue reading “Novice Training Plan”
