Courtesy of James Fike, Founder and CEO of Fike Swim.
Six years in the past, I utterly modified my coaching in what I believed was a last-ditch effort at 36 years outdated to perform what I couldn’t in college- break the :55 barrier within the 100 yard breaststroke. I turned away from conventional coaching to work on high-intensity, short-distance exercises that mimicked the stresses of racing. I gave up on each different race, together with the 100 meter breaststroke. Quick ahead to immediately and I’ve completed that aim after which some- hitting 53.1 within the 100 and 1:56.6 within the 200 (down from 2:02.1), however I’m as soon as once more struggling. This time, it’s that lengthy 100 that I swore off so a few years in the past. My unsuccessful try to qualify for this 12 months’s Olympic Trials has turned my focus to lengthy course. And though I didn’t qualify, I’ve discovered some classes about lengthy course that will assist me, and also you, proceed to drop time.
Physique Weight
A part of my transformation six years in the past was including weight. I used to be advised in faculty to take care of a weight of 195lbs at 6’3”. That was once I went 55.2 within the 100 yard breast. Once I went 53.1 final 12 months, I weighed virtually 220lbs. Including muscle may be tremendously useful in brief course, the place the addition of extra energy will increase wall pace and carries you thru the few strokes you need to take earlier than turning round and doing it once more. We noticed this work wonders for Liam Bell this 12 months at NCAAs, the place he took months of heavy weight room coaching and bulking and turned it into an American Document within the 100 breast. However in lengthy course, the lack of half of your partitions creates a higher dependency on endurance and being lean sufficient to remain excessive on the water lengthy after the lack of wall pace.
On the urging of Coach Kim, a breaststroke guru at Metro Aquatics, I dropped to 200lbs. I used to be skeptical at first. In any case, I used to be dropping time in lengthy course at a heavier weight, albeit very slowly and nowhere close to sufficient to get the ridiculously quick Trials time of 1:02.19 (I dropped from 1:04.8 in faculty to 1:04.1 final 12 months). I knew I needed to play each card I might, and dropping a number of weight was one in all them. The outcomes have been unbelievable. No, I didn’t qualify, however I lastly broke 1:04 (1:03.7) in a flawed race that coulda shoulda woulda been a 1:03low, and I might completely really feel the impression on my physique place as I rode larger on the water. Not solely that, I had far more pace than ever. I figured dropping weight may assist the general time however harm my top-end pace, as a result of dropping weight would impression my energy. As an alternative, my 50 breast time fell from 29.0 to twenty-eight.3!
Yardage & Method
I’ll all the time be a proponent of decrease yardage and a “Much less Is Extra” philosophy. That stated, the variety of meters I used to be doing within the winter on heavy swim coaching days 3 times per week (about 2,600), whereas nice for brief course, was barely inadequate for lengthy course. Given my propensity to lock up on the finish of the lengthy 100, I made a decision to play one other card I had lengthy been reluctant to use- extra yardage. No, I didn’t return to the normal grind of 6,000+ per apply. Nonetheless, I did enhance to about 3,600, together with some practices with Coach Kim at Metro Aquatics as soon as each few weeks that will put me shut to five,000.
I’ve to offer one other shout out to Coach Kim, who’s the perfect coach I’ve ever labored with and who gave me a contemporary take a look at breaststroke coaching. Technically, he helped me rework from a battleship forcing my manner by the water to one thing resembling the younger jet skis on both facet of me in a race. I developed higher hand pace and better hips, in no small half as a result of he took the time to tell me after which, most significantly, observe up and keep on me till adjustments had been made.
By way of conditioning, his units uncovered weaknesses in my pull endurance and kick pace. All too usually, we take a look at issues like locking up on the finish of a 100 and default to units like 10×200 to attempt to repair it. Though his practices almost double the space of my very own and look fairly totally different from my brief burst, lengthy restoration units, they handle to be very purposeful. As an example, one in all my favourite Kim units is 3×400 breaststroke pull, due to the way in which it progresses. The primary 400 is with a accomplice holding on to your ankles, the second is with only a buoy, and the third is with fins, and in all three the aim is to carry a powerful tempo. Or we would do 48×50 lengthy course on :40 damaged into 4 rounds and within the order of two free 50s and one breast 50, in order that you’ll be able to construct endurance for the again finish of a race whereas executing higher-intensity, higher-quality breaststroke than you would for those who had been doing all of it breaststroke.
Power Coaching
As I stated, measurement is my buddy in brief course, however lifting large quantities of weight solely takes you up to now in lengthy course. I used to be a lot stronger than I wanted to be, so I started reducing again the lifting periods from 3 times per week to 2 and changing the third day of lifting with an extended swim day, which bumped my weekly common from roughly 10,000 to round 15,000. The lack of 20lbs from my body did impression how a lot I might raise, however not almost as a lot as I anticipated. Among the massive lifts solely suffered 5-10% loss, whereas most different lifts stayed the identical and even continued to enhance, similar to pull ups.
The sorts of lifts and length of lifting modified barely as properly. As an example, a typical day of higher physique work within the fall and winter included a press, a pull, a row, bicep curls, tricep extensions, and core work that each one lasted round an hour and twenty minutes. Within the spring, the coaching shifted to incorporate extra lighter-weight pace work with fewer reps and fewer actions, such that the full time decreased to an hour. It was good work that largely maintained energy and nonetheless improved on explosiveness.
May Much less Weight, Much less Lifting, and Extra Yardage Work for Quick Course?
Sadly, I believe the reply will depend on who you’re. I’ve had an excessive amount of success in brief course to utterly flip my again on weighing extra and getting stronger. I do know indisputably I couldn’t propel myself off the partitions and thru the breakouts at my faculty weight and energy degree like I did at 220lbs, however there are many guys with sooner instances who weigh 40lbs lower than me. So, the reply may lie someplace within the center. I can completely make energy good points, notably the varieties which can be most related to swimmers, at weights lower than 220lbs, so I don’t see a necessity to return to that simply but. Nevertheless it does seem I’ll be going by intervals of fasting and bulking every year till I discover that good weight-to-strength ratio that enables success in each programs.
In case you have ideas on this that would assist, please be at liberty to ship me an e-mail. As all the time, I hope my journey and exploration can assist you discover your personal path to greatest instances. Good luck, SWIM DIFFERENT!
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