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KEY SWIM WORKOUTS TO KEEP YOU THE NOVICE, FRESH
Swim Training geared towards the TRIATHLETE
Every body gets to a stage sometime in their training when they seem to hit a plateau. No real progress forwards, just stuck in the rut. This is especially true for the novice, who comes into the world of triathlon and multi sports. Their initial gains are huge as the training and fitness levels increase dramatically when going from practically zero. These gains could last a while (dependant of course on how committed each athlete is towards his or her sport). There will come a time however during training when you need to shake things up a bit to get past that stale patch.
Change of Scenery;
We are all creatures of habit and I am one of the biggest culprits. It’s always the same old route and regime we follow week in week out. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but to keep you fresh, you need to change your surroundings and the workouts.
Swim:
Try a different pool venue if you can or opt for a different spot when you do open water swims. You will be surprised at how this can spice up the training session, even if you stick to the original program schedule.
You can then also incorporate various alternate workouts to coincide with the new venue to really put the zoom back into your step.
For example:
Pool swim at different venue:
Let’s for a minute pretend that you are some hot shot Olympic pool swimmer and today is the day you are going to show off that raw speed. This is what we do!
- Stretch for 5 – 10 minutes before we actually dive in (arms/shoulders/back/legs)
- Bring along all the toys and whistles (zoomer fins/ freestyler paddles/ align kickboard)
- 400m easy swim warm-up (concentrating on the stroke pull and what you are doing underneath the water to make you go slip faster through the water)
- 200m kick with zoomer fins, resting 5 seconds after each 50m but kicking harder than normal
- 400m pulling with freestyler paddles and foam pull-buoy (once again, think about the arm pull/high shoulder/far reach entry)
Okay the warm-up is over and your’ ready to rock n roll. Get out the water and stretch for another 2-3 minutes, more so to get the head into the right mental frame of mind.
If the pool venue has lane ropes and starting blocks, even better:
- 4 x 100m maximum swims (starting off the blocks/good fast turns/high stroke turnover) and going at 100%. Record time? Get out and rest a full 1-2 minutes between each. What we try do is keep our times the same for all 4. That means you will have to work that much harder each one to keep on track with your pacing. It’s almost like a mini time trial over 400m but with rest in between
- 8 x 50m any stroke but freestyle, rest 20 seconds after each and a full 1 minute after 4. Butterfly would be great if you can do it and so would backstroke (as it closely resembles the freestyle stroke).
- 8 x 25m sprints, diving off the blocks each time and trying to breathe as little as possible over the course of each length. Imagine you’re in the final of the 50m Free at the Olympics and it’s all out to the wall. Keep you eyes fixed on the wall at each end and swim hard into the finish
- Ease off with a 200/400m swim or freestyler paddle pull for recovery
Open Water swim venue:
Whether it’s a sea/lake or river swim, this is the perfect workout to keep you fresh and make it well worth your while. I call it ins and out’s.
- you start on the beach/edge and run into the water at race pace intensity, swim out for about 50m (perhaps more so if you have waves to navigate), swim parallel to the beach for 400m and then return to shore. Upon exiting the water, you run back to the start point of the swim and repeat the rectangular course again.
- 500m swim/400m run and you do this a minimum of 3 to 4 times. If you are planning on training for ironman, then 5 to 6 times would suffice. If you want to keep track of your pacing, record each lap ad try finish off with the fastest lap towards the end. This is much more fun when in a group but does keep you focused when alone as well. A mini aquathlon so to speak but great for a number of reasons;
I guarantee you renewed vigour and performances if you adopt similar approaches to alternate training as has been suggested above. Good luck!
Drug-Free Sport Moves to Sports Science Institute
Cape Town – 24 April, 2013 – SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) has moved to the Sports Science Institute in Newlands, Cape Town, to accommodate its expansion and its ramped up anti-doping efforts.
The lunchtime POWER SWIM workout
by Current Triathlon Plus SA Editor and ex Pro triathlete Glen Gore
Maximise your lunch time swim with this no frills easy to do, swim workout
You only have 60 minutes to make use of your lunch-break and that includes the commute there and back plus the change into and out of work clothes. How best can you utilise a maximum of 30 minutes dedicated to a swim workout that is going to produce results? If you want to benefit from a short lunch time swim workout and make it count, you got to swim fast and swim hard. If you intend to just plod along and do some slow laps in the pool, it’s most probably not worth the effort. The aim of any beneficial lunch-time swim workout would be to train at your maximum aerobic capabilities when doing the short and sharp intervals. Anything less than short and sharp is best left for when you have the time to put in a longish session. For now, we only want the shortest best possible workout with the most short term benefits.
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Gwen Jorgensen runs into the history books with superb ITU World Triathlon Series win in San Diego
San Diego, USA (19 April 2013) – Gwen Jorgensen ran her way into the history books in San Diego on Friday, becoming the first U.S woman to win an ITU World Triathlon Series race on the back of a scintillating final leg.
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Alistair Brownlee (GBR) crushes field in return at ITU World Triathlon Series in San Diego San Diego, USA (20 April 2013)
- Great Britain’s Alistair Brownlee hadn’t raced an ITU event since the London 2012 Olympic Games, but the Gold medallist showed nothing had changed when he lead from start to finish in his 13th ITU World Triathlon Series win in San Diego on Saturday.
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Ironman South Africa
Date: 14th April
Port Elizabeth
Schildknecht and Donavan romp to victory
Switzerland’s Ronnie Schildknecht and the USA’s Jessie Donavan ran home with the victories at this year’s IMSA held down in Port Elizabeth.
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Auckland, New Zealand (06 April 2013) - Spain’s Javier Gomez continued his unbeaten record in Auckland today, claiming victory in the opening round of the ITU World Triathlon Series ahead of fellow countryman Mario Mola (ESP) and Joao Silva (POR). Continue Reading →
Gomez maintains his unbeaten record in New Zealand with four wins over the past decade, a 2008 World Cup in New Plymouth, 2003 Under23 World Championship in Queenstown and series Grand Final in Auckland last year. He has added another title today, after opening his season with a win at the ITU World Cup in Mooloolaba just three weeks ago.
