Fall 2024 Week 8 Technical & Conditioning Focus: October 21-26

Technical Focuses: Body Position, Breath Timing, & Recovery

Conditioning Focus: Anaerobic Threshold

Macrocycle: Fall 2024; Mesocycle: Anaerobic Preparation; Microcycle: IM & Stroke Endurance

Hello Swim Families!

Welcome to Fall 2024 week 8!

Sorry for this installment of our weekly training breakdown coming out so late, it’s been a doozy of a couple of weeks!

Though I’ve been rather long-winded in my previous Technical and Conditioning Focuses, this installment will be succinct.

Let’s cut to the point and define Anaerobic Threshold.

Krista Svedahl and Brian R. MacIntosh in “Anaerobic threshold: the concept and methods of measurement (Syendahl, and MacIntosh, 2003)” on PubMed, describe anaerobic threshold as:

“The anaerobic threshold (AnT) is defined as the highest sustained intensity of exercise for which measurement of oxygen uptake can account for the entire energy requirement. At the AnT, the rate at which lactate appears in the blood will be equal to the rate of its disappearance.”

For swimmers who specialize in 100s, 200s, and 400s/500s, this is their bread and butter. That said, it won’t exactly be a comfortable training session. Then again, what’s that one cheesy quote? Something to the effect of, “if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you,” right?

Not to say a distance practice wouldn’t be challenging… oh, golly, I’m about to launch into another aspect of my coaching philosophy. Two, relating to verbiage.

·      Percentages… I do not believe in a “percentage of effort” that is less than 100 percent. Regardless of whether a swimmer is warming up, racing, doing drills, kicking, or warming down, they should be giving 100 percent effort. This means quality, focus, and attention to detail. If I want a swimmer to swim at a certain speed, I will tell them to swim at, say, “75 percent top speed.”

o   In other words, 100 percent effort should always be given, whereas the speed at which a swimmer performs a given set or effort is variable depending on the necessities of the set.

·      Sprint vs. Middle-Distance vs. Long-Distance…

o   Here’s the thing, regardless of whether a race is 50 yards or a mile, a swimmer will be sprinting the entire time. Here’s how we break it down: I don’t believe in “Sprint,” “Middle-Distance,” and “Distance,” despite being brought up in that system; rather I believe in an alternative nomenclature: “Short-Sprint,” “Middle-Sprint,” and “Long-Sprint.” Each style has differing training strategies, to an extent (and depending which coach you ask), and each style’s mentality is the same—a swimmer in a race is sprinting, the question is, for how long? As I’m sure you’ve gleaned from the previous point, this relates back to the length of the race.

Don’t forget to register for the Legends Invitational in Wichita November 8, 9, and 10 (no pressure to come on Friday, there are only a few races).

Please let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll see you at the pool!

-Coach Reid

Citations

Syendahl, Krista, and MacIntosh, Brian R. (2003). Anaerobic threshold: the concept and methods of measurement. PubMed.