Hey folks, just a little background on this sub. My initial plan was to build workouts and deliver them via a newsletter but part of what makes race pace training unique can hinder new people transitioning to the system. The initial learning curve is fairly complex and I definitely forgot how much time I spent learning, reading, and practicing.
After working with some individuals as they transitioned to race pace I’ve seen where the major hiccups are occurring:
There is wayyyyy too much info in the official materials, even the Masters Guide is a novel. This is a good thing but can be an overload on day 1.
Most folks coming from “traditional” training focus on the conditioning elements and quickly get stuck or confused about how to progress. The guides are technique heavy and that is actually a tough mindset to get into. It took me 6 months to realize their value.
People overtrain. If you are swimming 5 days a week, jumping to race pace for 5 days can be crushing. I formerly swam in college and I think I got to 4 days at most. Right now 2-3 days a week is my threshold (I run, lift, and play water polo as well). And it still works and you can see improvements.
There are a lot of adjustments and nuances that Dr. Rushall was never able to explore because he didn’t really have the ability to fully test on diverse populations like masters swimmers.
The plan moving forward is to (finish) building some monthly workshops that can be delivered live and on-demand. Substack won’t be the platform but will be a notification newsletter. These will give me a chance to go over the material in a logical progression and let folks ask questions so everyone can learn faster. I have a colleague who uses this format for her nutrition business and it works well for learning complex things that take time to process and practice. Like swimming!
Dr. Brent Rushall died on August 11th of this year. His memorium is here. I emailed with him back in 2015 about some things and his work influences my business, and how I swim, run, play water polo, and strength train. His organization, USRPTIA, certified me as a coach in the system. I’ve downloaded most of his work from the SDSU website so that it doesn’t get lost in the internet.
Unfortunately, most of the big promoters of USRPT are gone or not active anymore. Without getting into other details about my understanding of the Rushall material I will say that I am probably the most knowledgeable “active” voice on the subject in the english speaking world. Hopefully, I can continue down this path in a more constructive and beneficial format for the greater swim community.
Please, share with your friends and teammates!
Ryan Upper
USRPT Gold Coach
MyoFit Master Instructor