Getting gains from your Swim Training

I have been in the business of giving private swimming sessions and dealing in particularly with triathletes for a number of years now, and one of the most common reasons people ask for private sessions is to find some quick fix technique to get faster.

Often there are points of technique that can be changed to get increases in speed, but changing technique for swimming, is not always the answer to swimming faster times and certainly just because you swim with nice technique and with a great looking stroke doesn’t guarantee that you will also be a faster swimmer.

I live by the philosophy when it comes to training: If you do what you have always done you will get what you have always got.

This passage is going to help you understand how to change your trainings and manage your training so that you can make the most out of your time and get those gains that every athlete should aspire to and desire.

The first thing to address is training intensity.

The intensity that you train at is going to directly link to the benefits you get from that training, this goes for every sport but is very important in swimming.

Train easy, get used to that degree of intensity then wonder why you can’t lift it on race day.

Sound familiar? When training you must consider the distances you are swimming and the set that you are swimming and apply appropriate effort and intensity to increase fitness and ultimately speed.

As an example, I have seen swimmers, and this is very common, who swim 3000m straight and 10 x 100m at the same pace.

A 100m interval is designed to be swum with intensity with a short rest period to get the body used to doing more work.

Multiple 100's if swum correctly should increase your top level speed and strength which will correlate to a faster swimming stroke which will improve your distance speed as well.

Remember that when it comes to swimming, the only benefits in your swim fitness come from your swimming, when you run hard you will not be able to swim faster, so make sure you are training at the 82 appropriate level of intensity in order to get the gains you desire.

also keep in mind that maintaining a level of fitness in the water is easy and does not take a lot of work, it is making gains and improving fitness and power that requires a lot of intensity.

Now talking about what intensity is and that we need to train correctly to get gains is all well and good but it doesn’t help with the "how can I make this easier to achieve", so now I will give some examples on how you can train in a way that will encourage you and hopefully also make it easier for you to lift that intensity and train hard and well.

First of all, the sets that you swim, or your swimming programme is hugely important in motivating an athlete to go hard.

Monotonous swimming sets and repetitious programmes are a swimmers worst enemy.

If you get bored swimming or don’t enjoy what you are doing in the water it will be hard to swim hard.

the same thing applies to sets and programmes that you find easy, if you are doing drill after drill and set after set that you know doesn’t extend you (be it drills that aren’t mentally stimulating or sets that you don’t find physically extending) you will also find it hard to train well.

My first tip is to get a coach or devise a way in which you have access to a programme that extends you and most importantly you enjoy.

A good programme also shouldn’t be too repetitious.

The next piece of advice is to hook up with a squad or a swim partner.

Training by yourself is never as demanding as training with others, unless you have iron will, which I certainly do not have!!

Having somebody to push you along and encourage you to turn up will be advantageous in getting into a routine of training hard and getting those gains.

squad has the added benefit of giving you access to both training partners and a coach who will hopefully be a valuable pool of swimming information that you can tap into (the future dreams coaches certainly are! ).

And my final piece of advice in beating the trap of doing what you have always done is to take advantage of our beautiful country!

Here in New Zealand we are surrounded by thousands of beaches that are fantastic for swimming in, as triathletes we swim in open water and one of the best ways to make training fun is to explore our coastline and take the plunge in some new, beautiful and exciting places to swim.

To recap on my advice on beating the trap of doing what you have always done and getting what you have always got; Remember the intensity, train to your distance, swim so you feel fatigue, both through exhaustion and muscular fatigue.

Remember to keep training fresh and fun! The more you enjoy and are interested in your training the more you will be motivated to do it.

Get training with somebody else! Whether it is a partner or a squad surround yourself with people that motivate you to swim, friends are always the best because they will make you feel guilty if you don’t show.

Squads are also great because you will have access to a great source of swimming and training info in your squad coach.

Finally, get out and enjoy the open water! Not only is it hugely important as a triathlete to practise swimming in the open water as it is significantly different to pool swimming, but open water swimming is fun!

Go out and make a day of your swimming, explore new destinations and enjoy the water!

Go hard or go home!!

Cheers,
Mark Mathieson
swim coach