Reply To: so simple it's…
If you wait until they can complete all 30 of a set. You will be waiting a very long time.or your speed is too slow. You reach a point of diminishing returns and it’s better to adjust pace once they can achieve X number.”
I agree. I’ve learned for myself as a self-coached masters swimmer that staying at a particular interval until the offered number is achieved is not efficient (I offer myself 20 for my 25s, 50s and 75s). Adaptation to a new pace is very high for about 4 weeks or so, then it drastically plummets. I’ve altered my training such that I wait until I feel that the “new pace adaptation” has faded which usually coincides with about 7 intervals before first failure (about 4 weeks or so), then introduce a faster pace at that point. I’ll do this two times at which time I’ll drop back to the original pace and attempt my offered number (20). I always sail through them. The question is: Am I ahead of the game doing this? According my my training data, I am. Exposing myself to a faster pace earlier keeps me at a high level of adaptation for a longer period. What’s interesting is that although swimming to failure causes adaptation, it has a limited affect on adaptation when the body has gotten used to a particular pace. Forcing a new pace is like throwing a monkey wrench into the gears. It obliterates everything and creates a level of adaptation that swimming to failure can’t match on its own.
