Go For Muscle Or Skill?

I want to stimulate our thinking about the difference between focusing on building muscles (i.e. fitness) during swim practice versus focusing on building skill. Let’s take this example of the difference between a practice set using  paddles versus a set using a fist in the stroke. Paddles increase the surface area of the hand and [...]

Training: 2.5km Alternate FG/Hand

I swam 3072m in the 32m PC outdoor pool, around 15:00. It was sunny, hot. The pool was 26.5 C, just right for brisk swimming with a hot sun. 512m warmup (8 laps), then a ladder alternating Fistglove and Open-hand. 64 FG / 64 open-hand (SPL 23) 128/128 (SPL 23) 192/192 (SPL 23) 256/256 (SPL [...]

Recovering Lost Water

I swam 3500m starting at 10:30. The pool was 29 degrees C. 4x [400 Fistglove, 400 open-hand] hold SPL. #1 #2 #3 #4 Time, SPL held Time, SPL held Time, SPL held Time, SPL held 400 FG ????, 17-18 7:30, 17-18 7:30, 17-18 7:29, 17-18 400 open-hand 6:52, 16 6:38, 16 6:33, 16 6:41, 16 [...]

How Did I Go Faster Without Trying To?

Today I swam 3500m. The water was 29 degrees C. My focus today was to hold SPL across the set and descend times. My goal was to hold 17 SPL for the Fistgloved , and 15 SPL for the open-hand legs. 2x 400m, 4x 200m, 8x 100m, 8x 50m where I alternated FG and open-hand [...]

Go Faster With Fewer Strokes

Today I did 3000m. I swam around 14:00- I had breakfast at 9:15 but no lunch- so I was naturally looser (as evidenced in my stretching beforehand) and my fuel tank a bit more filled than usual. The pool was a perfect 29 degrees so it was pleasantly un-noticed. (I use the term 100m “hand” [...]

How do we get faster when we use fewer strokes?

The main set was 20x 100m. The intention of this set was to see how my stroke and time was affected as I moved into faster and faster tempos- this is still only my 3rd experience with a TT and I need to gather data on how I swim at different levels. Once I get some real numbers on where I am at currently, I can compare that to where I want to be, knowing precisely what numbers I must be able to hold in order to do it.

Torso Trumps the Shoulder

The point of today’s longer swims was to experiment with the Tempo Trainer and see how my body and brain responded to a more extended tempo constraint. I am also just gathering data on how various tempos affect my stroke and SPL and times- from these experiments, I hope to design very specific sets with very specific focus and tempo guidelines to help me reach my speed goals.

My First Tinkering with a Tempo Trainer

I got two new toys in the mail this week: a Tempo Trainer and Fistgloves! I was first intrigued by a beeping tempo device in how I could work on increasing my running cadence, as described in the Chi Running. Then I started to read about Terry Laughlin‘s experience with one in training for his [...]