Weekly Workout Training Plan for Jan 26th
We are in week three of a 16 week training cycle leading up to the April swim meet.
Welcome to this week’s workout plan. Subscribe to the site to speak with me! Coach Nadi, your real-time coaching agent! Time to jump into the pool!
Here's the training plan worksheet:
Here's the video walkthrough:
We are in week three of a 16 week training cycle leading up to the April swim meet. Let’s move on to the second instructional element: breathing. We will discuss some breathing exercises that aren’t typically strength training items but should help build a smother breathing pattern for surface swimming. There are two mechanical reinforcement drills we will program into our workout and the psychological sustainment segment will focus on building confidence in the water and during practice. As always, these four skills complete the quadruple reinforcement model for swimming.
Week three of the general conditioning cycle continues to focus on the items that reduce drag and improve efficiency. After 4 to 6 training sessions you should also feel smoother holding a known pace and your volume of work is increasing. For your VO2 max sets, lower your target pace by 1 to 1.5 seconds while maintaining the shorter rest from last week. You are purposefully trying to push a little harder. Speed gains come from a combination of factors that we have already worked on. The body streamline, the breathing skill, longer and smoother underwater pushes, and general aerobic conditioning should all be adding up to faster lap times. Be confident that you are putting in the work and making beneficial changes to your stroke technique!
Continue to perform the on deck exercises from the body streamline skill and make them a habitual warmup routine. For breathing, the easiest exercise to do before jumping in the water is a fast and strong inhalation exhalation sequence to simulate breathing timing during laps. Stand tall and exhale out of your mouth in a smooth 2-3 second breathe then immediately inhale as fast as possible and hold the air in the chest for five seconds. Breathe out and relax. Do this for 10 to 20 repetitions. As you feel more comfortable during the week try to do 2 to 5 breathes in a row before a short relaxation. If you feel lightheaded, stop and breathe normal and deep.
The breathing mechanical reinforcement drills that we will focus on this week integrate with the body streamline position. Continue to warmup and reinforce the body position with the last drills as needed. The breathing pattern in these drills will simulate the dryland breathing exercise.
Double breathing drill - during freestyle, rotate your body 45 degrees so that the extended arm and shoulder are in front of and underneath you and the recovering arm and hand are out of the water and near the hip. With the face in the water exhale for 2-3 seconds then rotate only the head to quickly inhale and return the head underwater. Do this again and rotate arms with the second repetition. Keep the mouth as close to the surface of the water as possible. This drill may require kicking with fins to create some forward momentum.
Front inhale breathing drill - While gliding during butterfly, exhale underwater for 2 to 3 seconds then take a powerful butterfly pull and lift the head and mouth the minimal vertical distance to quickly inhale. This drill may require fins with a butterfly kick to create some forward momentum. Find a comfortable position where the chin barely raises above the water and the head is still looking slightly down. Use the same pattern and motion for breaststroke breathing while using fins with a moderate flutter kick to maintain some momentum.
A number of videos have been included in this playlist and at myofit AI. Watch examples of elite athletes during their breathing phases to better understand proper head position.
The top image is Gretchen Walsh during her 100 meter butterfly short course world record. Her chin barely lifts above the waterline and her face is still angled downward instead of flat and forward. This takes a lot of practice as a natural reaction to breathing underwater is lifting your head up and high for a breath.
During the 200 meter backstroke short course world record, Regan Smith displays a smooth and balanced head position. She allows some water to flow over her forehead without allowing that sensation to impact her breathing. This position is similar to a submarine moving on the surface of the water. This takes practice but also a lot of confidence to know you can maintain a streamline position and not let water enter your mouth.
Psychological sustainment will work towards building confidence in the pool and before practice. Confidence is a critical ingredient in athletic performance, particularly in sports such as swimming where mental fortitude often makes the difference between a good swim and a great one. Cultivating self-belief is not just about being optimistic; it’s about developing a mindset that fosters resilience, focus, and determination.Athletic confidence is the belief in one's ability to perform well in a sport or activity. It involves self-assurance that you can execute the skills necessary to succeed, coupled with the mental resilience to overcome challenges. In swimming, this means trusting your technique, pacing, and preparation, especially during competitions.
Here’s the week 3 conditioning plan. The full training plan is linked in the description. The warmup will incorporate 2 breathing MRDs. You may use fins for the MRDs but only beginners should use fins for the underwater breakouts. In the breakouts, kick hard and fast as you push off the wall and angle towards the surface. Remember the new streamline positions from the last 2 weeks and work to get farther before hitting the surface. This week’s goal is to go faster during the VO2 max sets. Decrease your target pace by 1 to 1.5 seconds and maintain the rest period from last week. The second and third sets should be non-freestyle strokes to improve breathing so these will be the same sets, just work on the breathing skill for a favorite, or even not so favorite stroke!
Have a great swim this week, be confident that you are improving your abilities with all your hard work!