Category: Seasonal Training

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Mexican National Record Setter Joins Forces with Faster Swimming Coach for Custom Daily Workout Plan

COLUMBUS, Ohio (October 30, 2019) — A 14-year-old swimmer from Mexico City has her eyes on Olympic gold after setting a Mexican national record time in the 50-meter butterfly using the innovative Faster Swimming 19-week training plan.

Athena Meneses-Kovacs, coached by her father Andres Meneses, set the record at the 2019 FINA Junior World Swimming Championship Aug. 23 in Budapest, Hungary, completing the 50-meter butterfly in :26.74, breaking the record she set the day before when she finished in :26.78. The previous Mexican national record was :26.97, which was set in 2016.

To achieve her Olympic dreams in Tokyo in 2020, Athena, along with Coach Meneses, will use a daily training plan custom designed by Faster Swimming co-founder and veteran swim coach Brad Burget.

The Faster Swimming training products, which Athena started using in November 2018, have been integral to Athena’s success, says Coach Meneses.

“From the moment I started training her, I started studying everything I could: books, videos, reports, other coaches’ training methods,” Coach Meneses said. “I started studying daily and then I found the Faster Swimming 19-Week Sprint Training Program.”

“I was excited to learn of Athena’s record-setting performance using the Faster Swimming training program,” Burget said. “When she and her father asked me to design a personal program to help get her to Tokyo in 2020, it was an honor. I’m so proud that Faster Swimming will be a part of this young woman’s Olympic training regimen.”

Athena has been competing in the Junior World Swimming Championship since she was 10, but it has only been in the past year when she started training with Faster Swimming’s 19-week program, that her career has taken off, earning five gold and three bronze medals in competition.

For more information on Faster Swimming’s 19-Week Sprint Training Program contact Burget at info@fasterswimming.com, or visit fasterswimming.com to check out the entire library of Faster Swimming training products.

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Faster Swimming was founded by Brad Burget as a source for innovative training programs for swimmers at all levels. Brad brings more than 35 years as a swim coach at high school, age group, masters and collegiate levels. John Coffman, who contributes to the strength training in the line of materials from Faster Swiming, is a coach of three separate sports (swimming and diving, track and field, and cross-country) at the high school level, and is also a certified personal trainer. Together they bring their bank of knowledge to the Faster Swimming line of training aides to make every swimmer the best athlete they can be.

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Daily practice advice to incorporate into your workouts

PRACTICE TECHNIQUES

1. Racing – The drive to win close races to recover from mistakes and overtake your competition, the desire to win!!!! Some swimmers have that desire and others must be taught. You must add racing sets in your workout. Each swimmer must have the ability to start and stop speed (variable speed) thru out the season no matter what phase of training you are currently involved. Drafting then passing, stagger starts and racing different abilities of swimmers in practice must be some part of a weekly routine.

2. Race Pace – This isn’t sprinting to exhaustion but creating the speed that will be needed to achieve goal times for each event. Let’s take the 100 free for our example: John’s goal is to swim a 48.00 in the 100. In order to achieve this swim we must create and instill muscle memory in john to help him achieve this goal. John will need to maintain 12.00 while swimming 25’s and 24.00 speed while doing 50’s. You can eventually work up to 75’s and broken 100’s (breaking them at different distances) and finally a 100 from the block before he actually swims his big race. This will give John the confidence he needs for his big race. Start the season with enough rest at each desired distance to achieve race pace speed and as the season continues change the rest interval and achieve the same result. If John is tired on a given day that you want him to do race pace then you must give him enough rest to achieve race pace. This doesn’t have to be the main set but just the last 10 minutes of a desired workout. Please remember to do race pace during the aerobic phase of the season and during holiday training. Race pace develops muscle memory and helps create speed and power. Remember that your dryland program is important and must coincide with this type of training. You will do more race pace as the taper progresses. Recovery and over-speed sets are as important and must be incorporated in workouts with race pace. Training with speed and power in the water and during dryland will enhance everything you are trying to achieve in your program.

3. Over-speed – Creating and enhancing muscle memory with the possible speed of a time not yet achieved in a race. Creating speed in short spurts helps train the fast twitch muscle make-up of every swimmer. Cords is wide spread example usually incorporated during the taper or resting phase of a season and should be used thru out. Over-speed can be achieved off starts and walls and during very short distances or with correct Tarzan swimming.

4. Tarzan for speed purposes – Swimmers that do water polo use Tarzan to see the ball. They are strong, have arm speed, upper body strength and usually are great at kicking. Wow, everything you need for sprinting!!!!! Sprinting doesn’t always mean short distances. 200’s are now in the sprint category. If you have ever seen Diana Munz swim she has great kicking skills that were evident in her swims off each wall and at the end of distance events. She shows variable speed and power in the distance events with her upper body and legs…………..

5. Recovery and dryland – These two categories make most coaches nervous. I understand the thinking of overtraining, as I have to constantly trust what I believe and not slip into the way I was trained to over train. Proper recovery must be part of each workout phase and the dryland program must match recovery and must constantly change body part emphasis to ensure recovery. Hard work should alternate legs, core and upper body. That doesn’t mean if you are recovering the legs you can’t work the arms, etc…. You can even alternate upper and lower body between dryland and swimming as well as in each set! You can alternate within each set, from set to set from work –out to workout, week to week. Add a true recovery workout once during the week and see how your swimmers respond the next day. Maybe recover for an hour and surprise them by sending them home early, you have now added MENTAL RECOVERY.

6. Each set should include distances as well as the repetitions, mechanics emphasis, and what to do on each part of the swim. For example: 6 X 400’s on 5:00 free with 4 fly kicks off each wall breathing to one side of the pool (to insure breathing n both sides and even shoulder rotation) and make-sure the swimmers know why. Odd swims are variable speed 75% – 95% by 50, with numbers 2 and 4 pace holding 1:02 and number 6 being timed with sprint kicking each wall and last 200. Write it down for them to read and repeat it to them verbally as you know it’ll take many times to get it thru their heads.

7. Make sure your swimmers can read the clock and understand negative, even, ascending, and pace terminology for splits in races and practice. Swimmers should constantly be using the clock even during warm-up and warm-downs so times and speed can be inherent. They must understand when you tell them they need to go out in a certain speed for a race strategy or tell them next time to go out faster or slower. Most swimmers shake their head OK but actually have no idea how to actually physically do it. They understand the concept mentally so you must incorporate this in your training sets. Simple example during warm-up 4 X 200’s with descending send-off tell swimmers to just make the send off as it descends with a goal time on the last 200 that is easy to achieve with some effort in order to reinforce feel of that speed in the water. 4 X 200’s 2:40, 2:30, 2:20 and the last one go a 2:15.

8. Just FYI and my opinion about certain types of equipment: Paddles – I like paddles but it does take away the feel of the water temporarily from the swimmers. Please incorporate a longer warm-down after a paddle set to give the swimmer time to regain feel. Pull-boys – They are made with different styles that fit each person differently and usually result in bad body position during a set. Please watch for this, as pull-boys don’t promote streamline body position. Kickboards – again different styles and sizes. Please don’t do all your kick sets with boards as this takes the body out of proper streamline position. Kickboards are good for isolating the legs. Cords for dryland and over-speed – Good for cross training as talked about previously. Please check the cords as chemicals do eventually cause the cords to snap and that’ll hurt!

9. Coaches flexibility: Stay flexible and evaluate if the swimmers are getting what you wanted out of each set. Don’t force the issue if motivation isn’t the issue. Change the set to achieve your goal, scratch the set if needed, adjust it or use it later in the season. If you change the set explain why and try to get them to understand the reason. If you can’t explain it you’ll never be able to teach it. If too much info is written for the set slowly increase the stimulus over time. Flexibility is hard as a coach feels the time constraint to get it all in. Fight that urge and back up, as that’ll help the swimmers more in the short and long term.

10. IM (Individual medley) and the importance of doing sets in IM order. Training the muscle memory of going from one stroke to the other and breathing patterns. Breathing patterns change from one stroke to the other, as does the timing of each stroke. If the swimmer doesn’t understand that controlling the breathing of each stroke will help the success of the IM swim then breathing will control the swim detrimentally. When switching each stroke the swimmer must gain control of the breathing pattern before settling into the race strategy of each stroke. When control of the breathing pattern is achieved then the swimmer can work on what the coach desires for each stroke in the IM based on each swimmers strengths and weaknesses. Each swimmer should be able to negative split each part of the IM. For example in the 400 IM splits should be fly – 28-28 as the start affects the first split, back – 30-29, breast 34-33, free 27-26. The 200 IM would be a controlled sprint, as race pace should be incorporated in practice for this event. Share splits with your swimmers before and after each race. Each swimmer should have practiced what you want in the meet at practice.

11. Old school breathing – Have you ever been told to only breath 3 times each lap in the 200, hopefully not. Breathing is your friend in events longer than a 50 and helps the body alleviate the pain you feel in your body by exhaling and eliminating the lactate acid your muscles are producing as a by-product of the work you are demanding of them. Breathing too much or poorly (mechanically incorrect) in the 50 can slow you down. Breathing is important in the timing or the breast and fly and essential to the backstroke. Breathing is covered in mechanics of each stroke. You can’t expect a swimmer to change or do anything different is a meet that you don’t train at practice. Please keep that in mind ……… Breathing should never compromise streamline position especially before and after each wall or flags to flags.

12. Heart rate is a great tool to see if your swimmer is sick, stressed, over worked, needs more rest or is out of shape. You can measure this many ways by creating a set that helps the swimmer with maxing heart rate and measuring how long it takes to recover. Remember that I am not a doctor nor should you diagnose a swimmer from this, it is only a tool and can be used to help you at each phase of training. This tells you about aerobic conditioning, fatigue during the holiday training and the amount of resting needed to create race pace or sprinting and definitely during taper and resting before meets. Consult a doctor or read up about heart rate, as there are plenty of studies and info on the subject. This will help you with flexibility and changing your workouts when needed.

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Seasonal Dryland Considerations – Part 2

Below are some of the considerations that we take into account for our Dryland programming:

Separate swimming and dryland sessions as much as feasible, ideally separated by more than four hours.  If separated by less than two hours, swim first.

Dryland should most often follow the order of skill work, speed work, strength work, and then conditioning work.  We usually warm up, lift skill and/or explosive lifts (Power Clean, DB Snatch), move to strength work (Bench, Squat), and then to conditioning and deck-based dryland.

Rest between sets is largely determined by the purpose of our work.  If more Energy-System based (Conditioning), less rest between sets is the norm, if more Nervous-System based (very fast and/or very heavy work), more rest between sets is the norm.

Testing should occur regularly in pre-season and post-season, and occasionally in-season. 

– We test conditioning the first week of pre-season and usually the second week of in-season in order to get a handle on our strengths and weaknesses and adjust workouts from there.

– We test lifting the third week of pre-season, near the middle of our in-season, and sometimes test one or two lifts as we approach our peaking phase (late in-season).  We test 1rm and use given percentages for our lifts more and more as the season progresses, and especially use percentages while peaking.

Use established standards to test performance.  We test our main exercises to ensure not only individual progress (increasing individual test values) but appropriate progress across parameters in regard to established general values (our Athletic and Elite standards for both Strength and Conditioning).

Reduce the demands of the dryland program greatly at least once in-season.  We usually do this headed into an important meet mid-season sometime.  This enhanced back-off week allows some insight into what we might need to adjust headed into our peak at the end of the season and allows consolidation of general training gains to that point in the season.  This is a planned back-off week in place of a planned lower-volume week that we cycle through regularly (3 up, 1 down).

Gradually move from more energy-system based work toward more nervous-system based work as the season progresses.  This allows general energy-system fitness to be at a high level as we transition to a peak and higher nervous-system fitness.  This general energy and nervous system fitness then leads us to specific swim fitness and to our peak.

Drop heavy and or fatiguing leg work one to two weeks prior to the peaking phase.  Kicking is important to swim performance and we have found that backing off of intense and/or fatiguing leg work (squats, heavy Deadlifts, high rep jumps, etc) as we head into our peaking phase allows for better kicking.

Every tested metric should be at or very near maximum values during the peaking phase.  For this reason we lift throughout our peaking phase, dropping volume the last month +/- and maintaining or even increasing intensity (usually moving from 80% of 1rm on Power Cleans to 85%+ throughout our peaking phase, for example) while focusing on acceleration.

The swimmers should focus on peaking their abilities as we move into and through the peaking phase.  I have consciously omitted the word “taper” as I feel it allows the athletes to focus on something outside of themselves (a process) and perhaps has a connotation of “ease” or “easier.”  I want them to only focus on peaking their abilities at the end of the season, whatever that requires of them.

Much like any sport’s seasonal plan, our Strength and Conditioning program is divided into phases (as illustrated in the table and alluded to in the above considerations).  Within the framework of these general training blocks (monthly blocks +/-, or mesocycles) we adjust weekly (microcycles) and sessions (both swim and dryland) according to our capacities first, and our needs second.  Addressing what you or your teams are capable of first and then moving on to what needs can be addressed within current capabilities (time available, fitness/fatigue levels, etc) is foundational to lasting progress.  The ability to adjust planning so that athletes continue to adapt favorably to training is key to peaking when planned.  Our general plan is durable (has stood up well season after season) and our specific plan is adaptable (allowing for adjustments as necessary) within this framework.

– Coach John Coffman

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Seasonal Dryland Considerations – Part 1

Dryland is an integral part of our swim training. A solid dryland program allows our swimmers to produce more Force and to have increased Power (capacity). Perhaps just as important, Dryland provides our swimmers with a solid foundation of both durability and adaptability that can be relied upon in the pool. For the sake of clarity, we divide “Dryland” into two separate categories – Strength and Conditioning. For the “Strength” component we strive to exploit the Force curve (F = m x a, Force = mass times acceleration) and most often focus on lifting heavy and/or lifting fast. For the “Conditioning” component we strive to exploit the Power formula (P = w/t, Power = work over time) and focus most of our deck-based (body weight/med ball/etc) conditioning on timed sets with rep goals per set (work per time). Time-based training not only allows us to work together as a team, but also allows us to complete all of the training we want to accomplish in a given window of time. We do combine our training at times and do timed sets that have us lifting at a given % with a rep goal, combined with fast body weight movements… and this training is brutal and confined mostly to Pre-Season training and perhaps the focus of a later article.

A quick note before we get to the meat of this article… We introduce dryland into our club practices early in our swimmers programming, starting with one day per week of deck-based dryland for our middle group (age 10 +/-), progress them to 2 days per week, and then gradually add in lifting components as they move from Middle School to High School. Separating swimming and dryland workouts matters less at the lower levels, and we get dryland sessions in wherever they fit best for any not yet in HS. By the time our swimmers are in High School, it is our goal to have them know what is expected of them and to be able to progress toward team standards in both Strength and Conditioning.

The following table illustrates a typical HS Club season template for our Strength and Conditioning program. The general timeline in the heading row can be reduced for a shorter HS season, or expanded for a somewhat longer college season. As well, you could have post-season running directly into pre-season (overlap) and attempt a double-peak in one year if your season’s timing allows. We account for our work through the Power and Force equations, using work and time (time-based training) for most of our conditioning, and using mass and/or acceleration for most of our lifting. We adjust volume and intensity within the framework below, gradually increasing volume first and then gradually increasing intensity as we drop volume – the base of which is largely accounted for in the table below. Again, we lift both heavy and fast (both ends of the Force curve) year-round. There is rarely, if ever, a dryland session that does not include speed in either lifting or conditioning, or both. We will define our parameters as follows:

WorkTotal Reps, Reps per Set

TimeTotal Time, Time per Set

Mass% of 1rm (one rep max)

Acceleration Speed of the concentric phase of lift(s)

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Weight Lifting During Taper

Coaches – please remember when the core of your training is aerobic you don’t need to lift with an aerobic agenda. Your swimmers are raising their heart rate a lot more than you think while lifting so just lift for speed and strength. Make sure that your swimmers maintain flexibility after lifting. Stretching after any lifting will increase blood flow which aids in recovery. Your swimmers must remain flexible in swimming and maintain your full range of motion.

Always lift your larger muscle groups first when organizing your work-out routine. Basic Guideline: Day 1 Back with biceps and one leg exercise and 15 minutes of ab work. Day 2 Chest with triceps, finish with legs. Take one or two days off or do Legs and Abs on the third day and not with day 1 or 2. Remember that you don’t have to be sore to increase your power and that definitely hinders speed.

Example of how to work thru set (chest exercise):

Let’s say you begin doing flat bench warm-up with 135 lbs. Begin with 2-3 sets warm-up with this weight doing +/- 8 reps, now let’s begin. As you increase your weight you must maintain the speed of each lift, for example, if you increase your weight to 155 lbs and did 5 reps total and 4 of them maintained speed and you struggled with the 5th rep you should have stopped at 4 reps. Now increase the weight and try for 2-3 reps maintaining your speed. Remember that we are training you for power and speed, working your fast twitch muscles. If you are more of a distance swimmer this will only help your training.

Lifting is cross training and is essential for full body strength, power, and speed. It is old school to lift aerobically if you train 2-6 hours a day aerobically in the pool. You eventually reach an aerobic threshold and then the rest of your training is useless. An example of aerobic lifting would be 3-5 sets with 10-15 reps or circuit training where you spend 30 seconds or more at stations, sound familiar? That type of training has a purpose but not when you are getting your aerobic training from swimming, maybe pre-season for starts.

Make sure your athletes aren’t starting preseason training for another sport when you are trying to taper them for Championships. The only time to really worry about cross training will be when you are resting for a meet or in the taper phase or your season for the season end championships. Example, don’t start running during a taper especially if you are in conditioning phase of another sport or throwing if you are in softball or baseball. Things to consider as they will impact your swimming performance greatly. Start other sports after championships.

Understanding how to rest legs through weight training and kicking is key to performance!

Distance swimmers gain from lifting for speed and power. When training for the mile your coach is preparing you in the pool. Lifting as prescribed is a great form of cross-training that will not only help power and speed but help in recovery from all the slow twitch muscle work.

There is a local team that over-trains swimmers and forces bad weightlifting mechanics upon its swimmers. I was asking them about their weight lifting program and he told me that they push multiple reps to ultimate failure. Does any coach even old school, train that way? HOPE NOT! Do coaches ever give hard swim sets where swimmers don’t finish to the wall and complete the set? Do your swimmers ever pass out or sink to the bottom? Then why would you train that way in the weight room?

Each person has a certain muscle make-up that helps pre-determine success for particular events and if a coach doesn’t try to recognize individual differences then true success or full potential will never be known. In short, there are fast twitch and slow twitch muscles in everyone and each person has a different percentage of each. The hard part on coaching is trying to recognize the tendencies. Long distance training or over yardage will reinforce the slow twitch muscles and slow down the fast twitch fibers of that swimmer and the swimmer that is predisposed slow twitch will reach his or her full potential. Weight training correctly will help maintain the fast twitch fibers thru-out this type of program. Remember there is no need to lift aerobically as you are getting all you need and more in practice. There is an aerobic threshold for each swimmer and program that each coach needs to recognize for each training group. What is that yardage number is yet to be determined and hasn’t been studied enough yet? Once this yardage figure is reached the remainder of practice aerobically is useless. I would place the figure to be around 7,500 +/- yards per work-out. Once a swimmer is in aerobic shape and this can be determined by max heart rate sets based on time after the set is complete for a full recovery. The faster the recovery to resting heart rate the better shape the swimmer is in aerobically. The heart rate set must be completed using a set that is a slow build in speed that utilizes slow twitch fibers as they recover faster due to their size and energy demands on the body. Now if a swimmer is predisposed to fast twitch you may begin his or her training. I have developed a 9-week weightlifting program that would start during the finish phase of getting swimmers in shape aerobically and continue thru the sprint phase of training or as some prefer to say the beginning of taper and finish with a 4-week speed work taper that all finishes with the championship meet. You must have some sort of speed work in every practice even if it for 10 minutes at the end of each practice or trailing warm-up. You can’t let the fast twitch of any swimmer to be detrained at any phase of your season.

Coaches please remember the key ingredient to this whole program is based on training swimmers for the exact event. Most coaches still believe that training swimmers for the mile will prepare you for the 500. I believe that training swimmers for the mile will prepare them for the mile and hurt the speed needed for the 500. I said speed for the 500 and speed and power are part of each event. Training for the 50, 100 and 200’s take more speed and power but it one of the important components of training after a swimmer is in shape aerobically. Please remember that while you are in the aerobic phase of training that speed work must always be worked in the work-out and the basis for your lifting program.

The Faster Swimming Strength program and support videos will help you taper lifting with your swimming for Championships!

 

Good Luck at Champs!

Brad

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The 10 Principles of Athletic Success

There are many, maybe even countless, methods to achieve athletic success. However, the principles of athletic success are few. Said another way, by someone much smarter than I – “Methods are many, principles are few; methods always change, principles never do.” Follow the principles listed below throughout your athletic career and find success. I suppose you could argue that the base messages apply to your entire life… go figure.

1. Have a Purpose.

This can encompass a lot – a purpose for your set, your workout, your training week, your sport, even a purpose for your life! In sport it really boils down to being both physically and mentally present at training (completing your training with purpose), and to having goals (your purpose for being there!). Have a purpose, both in your training and for your training.

2. Follow a Plan.

You should have a plan for your season, your month, your week, your next competition. Having a purpose with no plan is just beating your head against a wall. If you are on a team, planning is mostly the coach’s job, if you are on your own – this is your job. The concept of Progressive Overload should be included in your plan, as regular progress should be a result of your training. You should have a plan in place to address Strength and Conditioning for pre-, post-, in- and off-season, as well.

3. Work Hard.

If you need me to define effort for you, you are in trouble! Full efforts are the key to successful training.  Along with hard work, you must include smart work: or working on what matters. This all circles back to having a purpose and having a plan. Hard work does not mean all-out effort all of the time either, but working as hard as a rep, set, workout, or season requires. Racing is ALWAYS 100% effort. Always.

4. Be Consistent.

You should be at training. You should have a plan that you follow 90% + of the time, and you should work hard with your purpose in mind. You should eat well 90% + of the time, and you should get 8 hours or more of sleep per night 90% + of the time. Persevere. Motivation follows action, so be consistent in your actions. If you follow the 1st 3 principals consistently you will be ahead of 99% of your competition.

5. Display Adaptability.

Stated simply – find an answer, not an excuse. Make it work – no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the obstacle, you can usually find a way around it. If something comes up that you can’t figure out for yourself, ask for help. A good coach is indispensable in this type of situation.

6. Be Prepared.

Just like the Boy Scout’s motto – solid preparation will lead to an increased chance of you achieving your goals. Superior preparation wins most often. Plan and prepare for things in advance so that you will have what you need when you need it. This goes for training, food, and sleep (the big 3). Make a list and check items off if you are uneasy or unsure about what you need. This goes double for competitions – use a list to pack and prepare well ahead of time.

7. Competitive Cooperation

Do something EACH DAY that you have never done before. Challenge your teammates to do the same – challenge each other regularly.  This is the type of teamwork that makes good teams great!  Work harder, prepare better, beat last week’s time/sets/reps/weights, etc. Do this for your self each day (attitude) and it will carry over to your training partners, team, and environment (atmosphere).

8. Control Your Attitude and Atmosphere.

Strive to have a positive and realistic outlook. Do not tolerate complacency or apathy in yourself or in your teammates. Pay attention and be respectful. Do not use the words “can’t” or “too”… they foster mental weakness. Your attitude is under your control – so control it to your advantage. Training atmosphere plays a HUGE role in your success – your team should be there to support you, and you to support them. If you are training solo or have a poor training atmosphere – change! Join a team, join a better team, or create a better team if need be.

9. Be a Leader and a Follower.

There will be times when you need to assert yourself and there will be times when you need to take a step back and let someone else take the reigns. Learn to foster both mindsets so that you can take control when needed, and so that you can follow and support others when needed. This applies directly to controlling your attitude and atmosphere from above.

10. No Limits.

World Records are broken regularly – only because someone thinks they can do so and then acts on this belief. Bruce Lee spoke of limits much better than I can, so here’s his quote:

“If you always put limits on yourself and the things you can do, physical or anything, you might as well be dead. It will spread into your work, your morality, your entire being. There are no limits, only plateaus. But then you must not stay there. You must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you.”

So there you have it – The 10 Principals of Athletic Success. Post this list in an obvious place – your gym bag, your training facility, or even the wall of your room – to remind yourself of the principals of athletic success.

Follow these principals and you will find success!

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Tapering for Your Event

The athlete must be in aerobic shape and strong before you start fine-tuning or “taper”. Tapering needs more attention and understanding in our sport.

What is the most important part of the season to you? Aerobic phase, anaerobic training, weights, deck based dryland and kicking? The truth is, they all are essential and coaches/swimmers need a plan.

What does tapering mean to you?

Tapering is not just resting your body for the big event. It is fine-tuning it for optimal performance. Athletes must be able to practice at a high caliber to perform to expectations. Athletes must be their strongest, sharpest and most focused before taper meet(s). Athletes need to take responsibility for training,

“I missed my taper” or “coach didn’t taper me correctly” are just excuses…

To taper correctly your athletes must have goals and the goals must drive training. You must understand recovery and muscle development of athletes and have the flexibility to individualize for a specific athlete and his/her events.

Understanding how athletes respond to different types of training based on slow, medium and fast twitch muscle fibers helps individualize training. Training slowly doesn’t help the athlete who has fast twitch predisposition and resting doesn’t produce optimal performance.

Taper is an in-depth process that is a whole lot more than dropping yardage the last few weeks and adding sprints. Most coaches use weight training to cross train and prevent injury then stop weights 2-4 weeks out from championships. The athletes must continue to lift throughout taper in order to achieve strength gains, which coincide with speed and power necessary to perform at meets. If you cross train during the season you must taper the cross training to optimize performance.

Kicking is more important than ever. Since the legs are slow to recover and are the hardest to get in shape, make sure you always write sets and workouts that alternate upper body and lower body. This is a great way to include active recovery in every workout.

Preparing your athlete to compete at race pace (goal speed) must always be emphasized, “always”. You must create goal speed so your athletes are 100% prepared to achieve.

You can still decrease yardage and maintain/increase aerobic capacity during taper. When done correctly an athlete will be prepared for multiple championship meets. One way to increase aerobic capacity is to monitor heart rates. Heart rate is essential to monitor to adjust the athletes training and recovery needs.

Don’t forget about reaction time training which involves mental focus and increased muscular reaction. Incorporate appropriate drills for focus and quickness.

The athlete must believe in what they are doing so engage and educate them every step of the way. They must be able to give you feedback about how their bodies are feeling and how well they are recovering to adjust workouts. They must also be mature enough to handle proper feedback.

Optimal training = Optimal performance.

The taper outline details yardage demands for distance, mid-distance, and sprinters. It explains when to train tarzan with drills, overspeed, race pace, recovery, starts, and turns. It details when to use variable speed swimming and kicking while detailing intensity and exact distances to be trained. One of the most important aspects of training is alternating upper and lower body, which is built in active recovery, is built into the taper.

The whole 7 week taper outline can be found here.

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7 Week Speed Refinement Program – Week 2, Workout 3 & 4

Workout #3

Warm up: start into 200 choice swim @ 70%

8 x 50 descend by 2  :10 – :15 rest  choice swim

50 easy

Set #1 QUALITY   :20 rest

8 x 50 odds 25 tarzan / 25 3 up tarzan sprint 2 down easy evens swim 10 fast strokes / 10 slow strokes repeat

50 easy

Set #2 paddle free swim set – monitor heart rate for speed

check heart rate twice within the first two parts of the set

keeping heart rate between +/- 24 – 26 for :10 seconds

The pace should be strong aerobically elevating the heart rate while maintain the pace.

:10 rest for set except when checking heart rate then :10 rest

2 x 175 (check heart rate once)4 x 75 (check heart rate once)2 x 1252 x 100

100 easy

Set #3 OVERSPEED

3 x 25 pull for speed only continuous for each swimmer200 easy

Total yardage = 2,350

Workout #4

Warm up: Start into 800 swim alternate choice / IM by 200 @ 70% :15 rest

2 x 300 swim #1 choice, #2 IM, VS by 50 70% – 75% inc stk cnt

2 x 200 swim #1 choice, #2 IM, VS by 25 75% – 80% inc stk cnt

4 x 50 swim one each stroke IM order 5 fast strokes / 5 slow strokes

50 easy

Set #1 top stroke kick :20 rest

5 x 100 #1-2 VS by 50 70% – 100%

#3 sprint

#4-5 VS by 50 100% – 70%100 easy

second stroke kick :20 rest

10 x 50 odds VS by 25 70% – 100%

evens 10 fast kicks / 10 slow kicks

100 easy

3,250 yards

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7 Week Speed Refinement Program – Week 1, Workout 1 & 2

Workout #1

Warm up: start into 300 reverse IM 25 kick / 25 swim @ 70%

Set #1    :20 rest

2 x 100 IM #1 kick, #2 swim @ 75%

200 IM 25 kick / 25 swim @ 75%

4 x 75 @ 80%, IM no fly, odds kick evens swim

4 x 25 partner racing sprint choice kick on :50

100 choice kick 20 fast kicks / 20 slow kicks repeat

2 minutes rest

Set #2 speed swim set and recovery

4 x 75 on 1:30

25 3 up 4 down tarzan repeat pattern with open turn / 25 @ 100 Race Pace top stroke open turn(to get time) / 25 tarzan sprint

100 easy

Set #3 Race Pace swim

2 x 25 fly @ 100 Race Pace on :25

2 x 50 fly @70% on :45Into from send off

4 x 25 free on :20 1-2 make send off 3-4 fast

50 easy

Set #4 Top stroke swim set  (incremental stroke count – is adding at least one stroke each lap)

3 x 100 on 1:45

#1 50 swim @ 90% incremental stroke count / 50 tarzan with incremental stroke count

#2 top stroke with incremental stroke count each 25 @ :05-:10 over best time

#3 choice stroke swim 5 fast strokes / 5 slow strokes repeat

Set #5 OVERSPEED2 x 50 drag and pull with cords continuous100 easy

2,400 yards

 

Workout #2

Warm up:

start into 300 swim free VS by 150 70% – 75%  :10 rest

6 x 75 swim build to 80% each 75  :10 rest

6 x 25 swim free with middle 9 strokes sprint tarzan with the rest easy on :30100 easy

Set #1 kick top stroke  kick

3 (3 x 100) with 50 easy after each set :20 rest

1st set Variable Speed by 50 broken @ 50 for :10 90% – 100%

2nd set Variable Speed by 50 broken @ 50 for :05 70% – 100%

3rd set #1 @ 95%, #2 @ 80%, #3 VS by 25 70% – 100%

6 x 25 10 fast kicks / 10 slow kicks

100 easy

Set #2 top or second stroke kick,  sprint kick with fins

9 x 50 all sprint  :20 – :30 rest

50 easy

6 x 25 underwater fly kick (whole 25) sprint varied body positions if desired.

Sprint and rest as needed.

200 easy minimum

 

3,150 yards

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Deck-Based Dryland and General Physical Preparedness

The main goal of deck-based dryland (or simply “dryland”) within this program is to increase the overall density of work performed and to increase general working capacities. Another term for this is GPP, or General Physical Preparedness. A high level of GPP will not only increase general fitness, but help facilitate recovery from swim and weight training and, in all, bring your ability to train in the water to a higher level. Increasing your GPP will lead to faster swimming!

Multiple qualities can be addressed with a well designed dryland program. Overall GPP can be enhanced through improvements in energy system efficiency, strength (general and core), power output, mobility, flexibility and balance. The goal of this program is not to lay out a cookie-cutter, year-long program, but to give an idea of how to set up dryland work, how to improve some of the basic qualities of GPP, and some general guidelines to evaluate dryland abilities and progression. Dryland workout examples are included, as is a full 7-week dryland taper program.

An individual dryland training session will include an active warm-up, the work sets of the day, and a cool-down including active and passive stretching. Most weeks will consist of two lifting workouts. Micro and meso cycles are less important in dryland (than in weight lifting) as GPP can be incorporated at the levels presented here throughout a season. Instead of back-off weeks, dryland training includes test weeks. General qualities can be tested with the exercises listed, and ideal test values are listed, as are specific test workouts. If there is an exercise that is difficult to reach specific test values for (especially the first, easiest test), it is suggested that this exercise (or a variant) be placed first in subsequent workouts. Front-loading is another term to describe this; placing the weakest link of dryland ability first in a workout so that it can be trained in a fresh state.

Other than the planned training session itself, you need very little to perform effective dryland work. A willingness to perform the work as indicated is obviously the most important thing to bring to any training session. For dryland training, additionally you will want comfortable clothing that is easy to move in, workout shoes, an exercise mat and/or towel, and a full water bottle. Effective dryland work can be accomplished with none of the above, but having most or all of these items will make the workout more comfortable. An index card with the full workout written on it is also easy to take to the pool and make notations as necessary. An additional item that you may want for dryland work is a medicine ball. Any med ball, bouncy or “dead”, from six pounds to ten pounds (depending on your strength levels) will work. A med ball can be used in conjunction with many exercises to make work more challenging and can be a great addition to improve core strength and power development. You can lift it, throw it, carry it, bend with it, twist with it, hold it close, hold it away, balance on it (cautiously), and use it to augment almost any movement pattern. If you have only one piece of exercise equipment for dryland or at home, it should be a medicine ball.

GPP, as defined above, is heightened with all that we do in dryland training. If we improve any of the following qualities, we improve our GPP. Increased dryland ability = improved GPP = faster swimming. Broad definitions of some general work qualities follow.

Energy System- The focus here is on using a large amount of our musculature to produce work. Basic work sets move to longer sets, and then to more dense work. Heavy breathing and a lot of sweat are the norm. Rest intervals vary from half to double the amount of time worked (2:1 to 1:2 work-to-rest ratio).

Strength- The focus here is on improving relative strength, or the ability to move one’s own body. Basic sets move to multiple, short sets, and gradually progress to longer sets with increased density and or intensity. Rest intervals can vary greatly here, but are generally short (1:1 or less).

Core- Improving static, dynamic, and rotational strength in the core of the body (the trunk, or top of the neck to bottom of the hips). Sets can vary, and core work should always be included liberally within a given workout. Rest intervals are very short (4:1 or less).

Power- Increasing the rate and magnitude of force production is the focus here. Short, multiple sets will gradually progress to longer, more dense multiple sets. Rest intervals are usually longer here to facilitate nervous system recovery (1:2 or greater).

Mobility- Increasing the body’s ability to move efficiently through a full range of motion is the focus here. This quality is improved with increased exercise ablility (as we move through a full range of motion in many planes), and with active and passive flexibility work included at the end of each workout.