kevin
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I agree with your points. Aside for this forum, I’m missing a way to communicate with other coaches and be able to evaluate their level or the level of their swimmers. It’s one thing to get advice from other coaches, but their level of expertise and level of swimmers adds weight to their advice.
I’ve been sending some questions to Peter and Tina (through USRPTIA) but never got any answers 🙁
I’m for example very interested how Michaels training evolved over the years. which lessons have they learned over the years? What do his current microcycles look like?
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Here some of the questions I sent:
Season planning / periodisation
In traditional training you typically control weekly volume and intensities throughout the season in macro, meso, micro cycles. With USRPT this is different. In essence sets are always Nx25 and Nx50, etc. at pace. However, I notice (as my swimmers get older) they have difficulties getting up and running in the beginning of the season. Making no or a very low number of reps at their pace.My question is: how do Peter and Michael manage this? Do you always prioritise speed/pace over numbers of reps made? Or do you start of on a slower pace, build volume and only then go back to actual race pace (pace variable, rest constant, build volume)? Or alternatively, do you take more rest in between reps to build volume and afterwards decrease rest (pace constant, rest variable, build volume).
See also this discussion on the USRPT forums: http://forum.usrpt.com/forums/topic/macro-planningperiodization/
Correlation
I think Peter records the results for each set of Michael. I’m interested in how this data correlates to his actual race results. Do you do anything with this? Can you see trends when comparing the training data with races? And can you see evolution in his sets over the years?Peaking
I’m still unsure on the best way to peak for a big meet. I’ve tried 2 weeks of unloading, 1 week, 3-4 days. I often find myself wondering wether we do too little in the week(s) building up to a big meet? How does Michael tackle this? Would it be possible to give a concrete example, for example, which sets and results did he do in the 2 weeks prior to the trials?Recently I bought “the non-traditional lore of swimming course”. Are there any updates on when the psychology and nutrition parts will follow? I’m looking forward to this!
Depends if you are looking for a speed exercise or a (speed-)endurance exercise.
In pure USRPT you would use 15s rest for 25’s and 20s rest for 50’s and more.
I usually do (SCM):
25’s on 35s
50’s 200 pace on 1:00
50’s 400 pace on 55/1:00
75’s 400 pace on 1:10/1:15
100’s 400 pace on 1:30training for a 50 is mostly technical, work on turns, break out, starts, under water kicks
Swimming exercises:
– 25’s MAX speed with start, on 3/4/5 mins
– 25’s split 50 / 2, on 2:00
– 6-7s max efforts on cord (with resistance)
– max sprints with fins and paddles
– running turns: take a few running steps on deck, dive in, take 3/4/5 strokes and do turn at overspeedThat’s not entirely in line with what @doc does, @agswimcoach
it’s:
50s
Nx25@2 – goal time / 2100s
Nx25@1 – front end: first 50 / 2
Nx50@2 – back end: second 50 (also 50 #1 of 200)200s
Nx50@2 – front end: first 50
Nx50@1 – back end: avg of 50 #2, #3 and #4
Nx100@2 – back end: last 100Thanks @ryanupper for the feedback. I agree completely on the elbow dropping. I’ve commented on that a lot last season, with little result I must say 🙁
W.r.t. the frontal view: what is your opinion about rotation and underwater hand placement w.r.t. to the middle of the body?
I find:
– both swimmers pull though with a high elbow (good)
– both swimmer’s hand is outside the zone between mid-body-line and shoulder, i.e. too far out => not enough power potential (not so good)
– not enough rotation, or to early?
– something wrong with catch?To me, this, together with the non-vertical forearm are the major flaws.
I find it difficult to correct, it’s taken far too long of me telling and showing them with no improvement…Maybe not so visible, but swimmer A also suffers from a very unsteady hand at entry. The entry is a bit in front of the head, then moves outwards before the catch.
Any other remarks or tips to correct these issues are welcome. Especially in combination with race pace training.
In comparison with their primary strokes these girls should be swimming at least 2–3s faster on a 100 free.
Ok, great, it’s kevin.pinte@telenet.be Thanks!
@distance_usrpt could you share that presentation on the forum as well?
The 3S website seems to have died, so no more info there.Edit: I was looking at the wrong website, it’s now: http://supersportsystems.comOn the correlation between training and competition: since you/we are asking a swimmer to swim at a certain pace, derived from competition times and make them stop if they cannot make it, isn’t it expected to have high correlation between training and competition times?
Also, % of total offered is a not a particularly interesting stat, no? I could ask them to do 50 reps each time and they would never make 50% of that. Not trying to be annoying, just asking 🙂
I get that there is a transition between energy systems in a set. Where do you think this transition is make for sets like nx25@1, nx50@1, nx25@30 etc?
@doc: care to answer your own questions there? 🙂
Also, I’d like to read more on the parametric system, but info is hard to find, could you help me with that?
In your case I would consider the nx100 set as the main set. Can you hold 30x your pace for 1650? If so I would consider adding in nx150 to make it more challenging, or lower the pace 🙂
Then I would mix in:
– nx50 / nx75 on 400 pace: thats a faster pace, no harm in working speed.
– nx50 on 200 pace: again, no harm in going faster, even if it’s only 8×50 or so.
– nx200 on 1650 pace: if you have difficulties completing many of them, I would add 2-3×200 at the end of a shorter nx100 set. For example, instead of 30×100, you do 12-15×100 just to settle in the pace, then add in 2-3×200 and really try to make them.I think nx50 for 1650 pace is too easy, but you can always mix it in when you’re having a difficult day. Say you usually make 20-25×100, but one day you immediately feel it’s difficult after 4-5. You can switch to 50’s so you have a “lighter” workout, but still maintain the specific pace.
One requirement I have for my (mid-)distance swimmers is to hold an even/negative split. I always tell them: the pace on your 2nd 50 of the 100 is what you will hold in a meet (or the second 25 in a 50, the last 50 in a 75, etc). So the back-end of the rep distance 50 HAS to be on pace, else you fail.
How many days/week do you swim?
Hey Alan,
I’d say this depends on the swimmer (principle of individuality). If you have no trouble making your reps with only 24h between sets, by all means, do it. If you notice you fail very quickly with only 24h between sets, i’d day that set has no benefit and you should switch it up and leave more time between identical sets.
With my swimmers I don’t necessarily leave 36-38h between sets for the same event. But I usually leave 48h between identical sets for the same event (or due to week planning issues only once a week the same set with 24h in between).
If you only focus on the 1650 Free you still have plenty opportunity to mix it up. Do nx100 one day, nx200 the next, then work on speed and do some 50’s at a faster pace (200/400). I wouldn’t be scared to include some all out sprints too (15m-25m) and 100m pace work as nx25 (it’s aerobic!).
If you body cannot handle that you’ll simply fail quickly and you’ll know it’s time to rest 🙂 Good luck!
Hi @doc,
Just so I understand: in the cycle “stk” means “a stroke”, not “best/main stroke”?
So for week 1 I read for “stk”:
mon: 100 (1 set long)
tue: 100 (2 sets long to short)
wed: 100 (2 sets short to long)
thu: 100 (1 set short)
fri: 100 (2 sets short to long)
sat: 100 (1 set short)That’s 9 sets non-free per week, so around 3 sets per stroke per week?
And there are no sets for 200 stk in w1 (week 2 only has 2 sets for 200 stk)?I currently organize micro cycles differently.
I start of with a swimmers’ main events and try to plan 3 sets/week for this event. However, this way, I never get 3 sets of all strokes in a week.In attachment is an excerpt from my planning.
In the remarks you can see how many sets per week per event I want to schedule.
And below that which sets per event. This is for a backstroker combined with free and secondary stroke fly.So to do all strokes, I would have to cut back on the amount of sets per event. That scares me a bit 🙂 Wouln’t I need at least three exposures of a set per week to produce adaptation?
n x 25 on 1:00 fly, divide 2IM fly split in 1/2 and that’s pace
n x 50 on 1:30/2:00 back, use 2IM split that’s pace
n x 50 on 1:00 breast, use 2IM split that’s pace
n x 100 on 1:30/2:00, use 2IM split for free x 2 for pace.
@doc: Is that one set? And how much rest do they get in between the stroke changes? Or are those 4 sets? In which case: do you do them sequentially in one session?Hey @KngLenny, good points, but indeed point 4 is the problematic one.
I know what she’s doing wrong. She’s not arching well enough which compromises a perfect entry. It’s a combination of lack of strength and acrobatic movement. However, telling her what’s wrong and how it should be is not solving anything. I’m looking for specific exercises/progression to make here “feel” the difference.@coachc: wow, 50’s at back-half speed on 1min. How many do they make? I do this on 2min and they don’t make many.
A “bad turn” doesn’t only impact turn time, but also how many speed is carried into the next length. Often they have to make up for this speed loss in the first strokes of a length. They pay this cash at the end of the race.
I’ve been doing “pure” (Rushall) USRPT for a few years now. This season I’ve started to incorporate some of the protocol sets as described by @doc. However, a set such as nx50 on 2min back half speed builds up more lactate. I feel that the day after, they are still fatigued. This often results in a “bad session”. @doc: do you see the same phenomenon? How do you deal with this or do they adapt over time?
Yes, yet people will say: but look at his last 50 in the 200 im, can’t swim anything longer than a 100… I say: wait until the day he brings that last 50 home.
Michael got a lot of stick at a very young age, year he dealt with it in a serene manner. I’m happy for him, world champ, well deserved. Hope to see more of this from him!
