Flip it over, and start again.

In my experiences with swimming in public pools, I have learned that the easiest way you can tell a "swim team raised swimmer" and a "non swim team raised swimmer" is whether or not they are doing flip-turns during their pool workouts. Now, let me give some context here so that you don't go closing this page because you are offended.  People have many different reasons for not doing flip-turns.  Whether it hurts their ears or their back, makes them dizzy, or they get water up their nose are all common (and reasonable!) excuses.  However, you would be hard pressed to find someone who competed on a swim team and did not do flip-turns. And it probably wasn't because it made them faster.  It was probably mostly because of threats from their coach! I know many swimmers that have been threatened by their coach about missing flip-turns.  As a coach myself, I am guilty of threatening my swimmers with extra lengths, massive amounts of butterfly, and longer practice times for missing flip-turns.  For those people who know how to do flip-turns, and are not physically hurt by doing them it should be common practice to do them at the end of each length. Kind of like washing your hands after going to the bathroom.  It is just a good habit.

There are many things to think about during a flip-turn that can make it confusing.

• Beginning the somersault at the right distance away from the wall
• Planting your feet firmly on the wall
• Pushing off straight
• Ending up on your stomach

All of these things can seem tricky (especially when you are first learning how to do flip-turns) but they all seem really simple once you have enough practice. Remember: muscle memory is very important in swimming.

Step 1: Beginning the somersault at the proper spot

No doubt, if you have swam in a pool you recognize the famous black "T" painted on the bottom of the pool.  How can you not notice something when it is all you stare at for hours on end? Back and forth. Back and forth. Anyway...back to the point. This "T" is on the bottom of the pool for a reason.  It is so that when you are looking at the floor of the pool, you have an idea of when the pool stops.  Comes in pretty handy when you want to avoid running head first into the wall! This is a good reference to use for your flip-turns.  If you flip a little too early and your feet barely make contact with the wall, remember where you were in relation to the black "T" and get a little closer when you flip.  Same thing goes if you flip too close to the wall.  How close do you want to be when you flip? Ideally, your knees and hips will be at about a 90 degree angle (below)

This will likely give you the most force on your push off.  More force=more distance=faster swimming.

Step 2: Planting your feet firmly on the wall
After you flip over, you want to get a nice solid base to push off of. This starts with the correct feet placement.  The best spot for your feet is about shoulder width apart and slightly above your core (like the picture above). This is anatomically the best base for your muscles to push off of.

Step 3: Pushing off
Now that your feet are planted on the wall, it is time to push off and start swimming the other way.  You want to push off facing the surface of the water (aka on your back).  This is because when you flip over, you naturally end up on your back. So why waste the time rolling over on to your stomach? You want to push off on your back and then roll like a torpedo on to your stomach.  As you are rolling, you can begin your dolphin/flutter kick.  The number of kicks and the type of kicks you do is solely based on the individual.  Personally, I do about 3 dolphin kicks and then flutter kick right before I take my break-out stroke.
 

Thanks for reading! 
It's no fun to get FAST, just fun to be FAST!
 

How do I breathe and keep swimming fast?

It is the first thing your body teaches itself to do.  You do it over 20,000 times each day.  You hardly ever think about it, but it is one of life's essential functions.  Of course we are talking about breathing.  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that none of you reading have gills, so breathing underwater without some sort of breathing device is a no-go.  That means that while you swim you have to find a way to snag some breaths while maintaining good technique and speed.  There are many ways to breathe and maintain your speed but there are some tips and tricks that can make what seems like a nuisance a little easier and efficient.


For now, we're just going to talk about freestyle breathing.  If done correctly, the neck should hardly turn.  You should breathe when your body rotates to the side.  That will help to ensure that you don't throw your body position out of whack by taking a breath.  Check out this short video of Bob Bowman (legendary coach of Michael Phelps and other Speedo swimmers) talk about breathing and some examples from the pros:

You can see that their heads barely come out of the water at all.  It is a quick breath and then it's back to swimming.


One thing Coach Bowman mentions is keeping your head low in the water.  The drill he mentions you can do to work on this is keeping one goggle in the water and one goggle out of the water.  You might think that you will inhale a lot of water with half of your mouth underwater, but when you are swimming freestyle your head creates a pocket which is conveniently located right where you are supposed to breathe.  As you watch Phelps breathe in this video you can hardly even tell he is breathing because his head stays so low.  


As you are swimming, make sure that you are exhaling while your face is in the water and inhaling when you take a breath.  This may seem like common sense, but think about if you hold your breath underwater instead of exhaling.  That means when you rotate your head to breathe you not only have to inhale, but exhale.  That will take twice as long. We don't want that now, do we?


Everything I have mentioned so far is pretty straightforward and generally not up for much debate.  But the question that could be debated for hours is: "How often should I breathe when I swim?"  There are all kinds of answers to this question and all kinds of theories as to why each one is correct.  Let's see how many times different swimmers breathe in different races:
Michael Phelps: 50m free=1 breath, 100m free=every 2 or 4 strokes
Cullen Jones: 50m free=0 breaths, 100m free=every 5 strokes
Ryan Lochte: 50m free=1 breath, 100m free=every 4 strokes
Gary Hall Jr.: 50m free=0 breaths, 100m free=every 5 or 7 strokes
As you can see there is a lot of variance between different swimmers and how often they breathe in these two sprint races.  One common thing is that they hardly breathe on the super-sprints (50m).  This is so that they can focus all of their energy on swimming and maintain perfect body position.  The more times a swimmer breathes the more chance they have of tossing their body out of position and slowing down.  Fewer breaths=fewer chance for error.  It is possible for many people to only take 1 or 2 breaths in a 50m freestyle sprint because it only takes between 25 and 30 seconds or so.


For younger and more inexperienced swimmers, I strongly think bilateral breathing helps keep a balanced stroke and more efficient technique.  What I mean by bilateral breathing is to breathe to both sides.  That means you would probably be breathing every 3 or 5 strokes.  When a swimmer breathes to just one side, they get a kind of bounce in their stroke that can sometimes lead to inefficient swimming.


Key points: 
1) don't rotate your head with your neck, rotate it in line with your body
2) keep your head low and breathe out of the natural pocket you create (1 goggle in, 1 goggle out)
3) exhale underwater, inhale above water
4) hold your breath more on short sprints
5) breathe bilaterally


Remember...breathing is important! It keeps you alive, it gets oxygen to your muscles, and it can be the key to beating the person in the lane next to you.

Swimming Nutrition

If there is one thing that I know for certain about swimming, it is that every workout leaves you unbelievably hungry.  I remember finishing swim practices and literally eating for an hour or more. Without fail when I step out of that pool after any sort of workout, my body craves food.  Usually I feel like eating A LOT of protein mixed with a little bit of carbs.  Something to get my body refueled whether it be for another practice the next day or just so I don't feel awful in the morning.

A little sports nutrition background about me.  I have a Bachelor's degree in Dietetics (Nutrition) from Iowa State University.  Along with this, I have spent the majority of my life facing real-life experiences in the sports nutrition area.  I have been a triathlete for 10 years completing my first Ironman in Louisville last August.  I grew up in an athletic home.  My dad is a premier ultra-distance cyclist often doing races of 24hrs or more and completing Paris-Brest-Paris twice (a 750mile ride across France in under 65hrs).  My mom has been a triathlete for 12 years and often competes in adventure races, running races, and recently took up CrossFit.  I have been part of a crew for many of my dad's longer races including his attempt at the Race Across the West - the first 1,000miles of the bicycle Race Across America.  I was also part of the crew for the full Race Across America.  During all of these experiences I provided nutritional and light medical support.

Along with all of this experience comes many failures.  But I think the best way to learn about what works best is to find out what does not work well.  Here are some things I have found out through experience:

• Eating a full meal <2hr before a workout is a bad idea
• High fat food immediately prior to a workout can lead to stomach issues
• High carb food immediately prior to a workout can lead to cramping
• Too much water (as well as too little water) can lead to cramping
• Completing a practice with no food in your stomach can cause no energy towards the end of the practice
• Not eating for >2hrs after a workout can lead to no energy/strength the next day
• Eating a good mix of carbs and protein before and after workouts can give you just the right amount of energy and strength you need to complete those really tough practices

Keep in mind, almost everything related to nutrition is very individual based. That means what works for me might not work for you.  With that in mind...let's dive in!

BASICS

Let's start with some basic nutrition information.  Energy in the body is like currency.  Your body is like a bank.  When you eat, you are depositing energy in the form of calories.  When you do anything at all, you are spending these calories, or spending your "money".  You expend calories when you walk, run, swim, even when you sleep!  If you sit around on the couch all day and don't get any physical activity, you obviously don't spend that many calories.  An average male (5'8" 180lbs) will expend about 1800 calories in a day (while getting no physical activity). An average female (5'4" 155lbs) will expend about 1450 calories per day (sedentary).  Any thing you do above and beyond being sedentary requires more calories or "money in the bank".  There are 3 types of food that give you the calories you need to perform daily activities. They are: carbohydrates, protein, and fat.  Bottom line here: the more activity you do, the more calories you need. You don't ever want to finish a day with less calories than you started with.  You won't feel too hot the next day and your workouts are bound to be less than stellar.

CARBS

Pasta, rice, bread, chips, crackers, potatoes, fruit, veggies, candy, sugar.  These are a few examples of carbohydrates.  Carbs provide your body 4 calories for every gram you consume.  So if you eat 10grams of carbs, you provide your body with 40 calories.  Carbs come in two basic forms:  simple (candy, sugar, fruit) and complex (pasta, grains, rice, potatoes).  Simple carbs provide you with more of an instant energy.  Complex carbs provide you with more of a long term energy.  Most individuals' bodies break down carbohydrates pretty easily.  This allows your body to create energy from these foods quickly and efficiently.

PROTEIN

Meat, dairy, legumes (beans).  Protein also gives you 4 calories for every gram you eat.  Much of the energy your body gets from protein goes toward repairing and rebuilding your muscles.  The best protein for your muscles to repair themselves is going to be lean meat, followed by dairy, and then legumes.

FAT

Oil, sweets, grease.  Unlike carbs and protein, fat gives you 9 calories of energy for each gram you consume.  So pound-for-pound fat packs more energy than protein and carbs combined.  Does this mean you should eat all kinds of fat to have more energy? Probably not...you can try it, but I'm sure you won't feel to great afterwards.

So exactly what should I eat before, during, and after my workouts?  I have come up with some pretty simple solutions to this question.  A big key to eating the right things, is not to change everything completely, but to substitute many food choices and alter minute details of your normal diet.

Before morning practice: You sleep in until the last possible moment and rush to morning practice.  On your way out the door try grabbing a small something to eat.  Don't grab something with too much flavor, fat, or sugar.  Something that works well for me in the morning is one or two slices of bread.  This will get something in your stomach without much effect on your stomach during a tough practice.  You could also try putting some jelly on it, but I would stay away from the peanut butter due to a high fat content.  If you still think you have no time, set your morning snack out the night before in a Ziploc bag so you can just grab it on the way out the door.

Lunch before afternoon practice:  You probably don't have much of a choice as to when you eat lunch during the day, but the best time to eat is somewhere between 3 and 4 hours before your afternoon practice.  This allows your food time to digest, but not too much time where you will use all of that energy for other activities.  Your lunch should consist of lighter food choices like fruits and veggies, carbs, and some protein and fat.  Go a little heavier on the carbs and take it easy on the protein and especially fat.  You definitely don't want to over-stuff yourself at lunch, but you need to get some form of energy.  A salad without any substance (like a little chicken) usually will not do the trick.  You will burn off the little amount of energy that it provides rather quickly and it won't last until practice.

During practice:  At the very minimum during practice you should be drinking water.  I would recommend 20 fluid ounces for every hour of practice.  Think about it.  You are working out in roughly an 80 degree pool and exerting more effort than your probably would during a run.  When you run in 80 degree weather for 2 hours, you sweat and get dehydrated.  The same thing happens in the water.  So DRINK WATER!  Another option is watered-down sports drink. I wouldn't recommend drinking sports drink without watering it down because the sugar content is pretty high.  However, if you buy the newer versions of Gatorade or Powerade, they contain less amounts of sugar and are fine without watering them down.  If your coach is nice enough, and if you plan ahead, a small snack in the middle of practice might help you in those hard sets at the end of practice.  This snack would need to be small and light without much flavor, fat, or protein (like a granola bar).

Immediately after practice: We're talking within a half-hour of practice being over.  The main thing you need to do is drink some fluids to replace all you lost during your workout.  Again, 20 fluid ounces would be a good start here.  The second thing you need to do is replace the energy your body lost during the workout.  Start out with some simple carbs.  This is where sports drink comes in handy.  It provides you with fluid and sugar at the same time and you don't have to worry about it having an effect on your stomach in the pool.  One last thing I would recommend immediately following practice is a shower.  I think your family and people around you will appreciate this.

A while after practice: Here we are talking about 1-2hrs after your workout.  Primary focus here is to resupply your body with energy.  A good rule of thumb would be a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein.  So if you eat 40grams of carbs, you should also eat about 10grams of protein.  Eat until you are full.  All three forms of energy are essential for your body to recover from a difficult workout (carbs, protein, fat).

Swimming makes you hungry.  That's all there is to it.  Just remember: fuel, hydrate, and refuel. This will help you get the most out of your swim workouts.

Here is where I want you to let me know what works well for you before, during, and after workouts.  Tell me about something you eat or a time you found out something that didn't work for you.  Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment!

SHOOT!

After the last few posts only vaguely relating to swimming, it's time to dive back in.  I know, I know.  Chris that was a lame pun.  Well, I'm a very punny guy.

In this post we're going to be specifically focusing on breaststroke.  When I started swimming in 6th grade, I couldn't do breaststroke to save my life.  My coach Judd would have referred to it as "not the breaststroke, but the stroke you would use to save your drowning grandma."  He definitely had a unique way of putting things.  Could be the fact that he's been coaching high school swimming for 47 years... Every race I entered - whether it be breaststroke or an IM - I would get DQ'd.  I would hope to be seeded in the middle of the pool so that the officials couldn't see my illegal kick, but it rarely helped.  I quickly learned in YMCA swimming that everyone and their dog swims the 50 free so I decided to stay away from the sprints if I ever wanted to place very well at state.  Now, there is nothing wrong with the 50.  It is probably the most exciting race in swimming.  BUT if you're not a very fast sprinter, why not try and find your niche right!?  So my second year swimming I switched to the "tough" events.  500 free, 100 fly, and 200 IM.  These were the events that not as many people swam so statistically I had the best chance of placing well at the state meet.  Only one thing.....swimming the IM meant I had to work for countless hours on my breaststroke.  It just didn't seem natural to me to point both feet out at the same time.  But finally, after a couple solid months of drills, dryland practicing (I would lay on my stomach with my toes pointed out while watching TV), and practicing some more I achieved a legal kick.  And now that I didn't have to worry about getting DQ'd, I could focus on my speed.  All of this work with breaststroke meant a couple of things that I wouldn't find out until late in my high school career.  1) Breaststroke had gone from my worst stroke, to my #2 strongest stroke (behind fly).  2) My IM's were seeing drastic improvements due to my willingness to work on my weakest stroke.  And 3) With all this emphasis on breaststroke, I had all but forgotten about backstroke.  Not a good thing for a state IM swimmer.  My senior year at state my 200 IM split ranks (out of 24) were: Fly-5th, Back-22nd, Breast-9th, Free-10th.  I finished 16th.  But enough about my breaststroke story.  Let's get to it!!!

Breaststroke may be the most complicated of the four strokes when it comes to mechanics.  There are so many things to remember.  Through the years, it has change drastically.  Below are some videos over the years.

1980

 

This is a video of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.  Here you will see Duncan Goodhew of Great Britain win the 100m breaststroke.  Take careful notice of his stroke:

• His head is pointed forward the entire time.  
• The underwater pullouts of the entire field seem rather short.  
• The timing of the stroke is a lot different than you would see today.
• He has more of a glide after the kick than everyone in the field, but it is still abbreviated.
• HIS HEAD IS SHAVED! Who shaves their head for the Olympics anymore? Are today's swimmers too cool? 
• He doesn't have a specialized $750 technical suit.
• His time of 1:03.34 would convert to 55.26 for 100 yards.  This would just barely be an Iowa High School record.

 1992

 

This is a video of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.  It shows Mike Barrowman claiming gold in the 200m breaststroke.  Here the stroke has definitely changed since 1980.  Mike Barrowman was one of the pioneers of the "wave-style" breaststroke that we see today.  He set 6 world records, won 3 consecutive NCAA titles, and had an NCAA record that lasted from 1990 all the way until 2001 when current Olympic standout and American favorite Brendan Hansen broke it.

• The wave breaststroke institutes more of an up-and-down movement in the water while moving forward. 
• He keeps his hips up nice and high so as not to drag them through the water.
• The underwater pullouts are longer and more "glide-oriented".
• Notice the "donkey kick" style starts. Swimmers would jump up in the air in a ball and kick their legs and arms out before hitting the water.  They would also start with both feet at the front of the block instead of a track start like you would see today.

2000

   This is a video of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.  This is the men's 400 medley relay.  USA takes the gold with a new world record by over a second.  Ed Moses swims the breaststroke leg (video time: 4:03-5:05).  Moses is one of the greatest breaststrokers of all time, setting world records in both the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke during his career.  Notice in his stroke:

• He is constantly moving forward.  This is something that up until this point was pretty rare to see.  If you compare Moses to the Australian swimmer (yellow cap), the Australian swimmer has a kind of stop-and-go motion.
• More of a wave motion in Moses' stroke leads to the constant forward movement.
• He has a pretty quick turnover and doesn't waste a ton of time gliding.
• Watch his underwater pullout off of the turn.  In 2000, it was illegal to take a dolphin kick.  The legs were to remain motionless during the full pull.  Moses' legs almost look like they make a dolphin-like motion....

2012

This is a video from the 2011 Dual in the Pool in Atlanta.  It is a unique competition of the US against Europe in a dual meet format.  This shows Brendan Hansen of the US beating the favorite Daniel Gyurta of Hungary in the 200m breaststroke. Notice:

• When Hansen comes up to breathe (the part of the stroke that creates the most drag during the stroke cycle) his legs are also coming up to start the kick.
• He waits to kick until after his arms "shoot" out to the front.  This makes it so that when he kicks forward his body is already in a streamline position.  This is one of the newest breaststroke techniques.  
• Listen to the interview after the race.  Brendan Hansen sets his personal best at age 30 swimming in Lane 8.  Most times people in outside lanes are hardly even looked at during a race.  But Hansen says, "When you have a lane, you have an opportunity." Great quote. All you need is a lane.

Breaststroke is all about timing.  To be a top breaststroker you have to have impeccable timing.  And I'm not just talking about getting to the meet in time.  When all of the little techniques are added together during this very complex stroke, it can look extremely elegant and efficient.  Here are some things to take away from this post:

• When your head is in the water, keep it down between your arms. Head pointing forward leads to more drag. You don't want that!
• Keep your hips up.  This creates that "wave motion" that leads to constant forward motion instead of up and down or stop-and-go. Why waste your energy going up and down in the water when you can go forward and closer to the finish?
• Distance off the wall.  Further pullouts lead to less swimming and more efficient racing.  But don't waste time underwater.  Do your pullout fast and powerful!  A little grunt underwater never hurt anyone...
• Wait to kick until a split second after your arms are extended on the "shoot" phase.  This will let you get the most distance out of your kick by being streamlined.

Head down. Hips up. Power pullouts. Timing.


Breaststroke workout:
Warmup: 100swim, 100kick, 100pull, 100IM
Drill set: 4x50 breaststroke w/ dolphin kick (works on keeping hips up)
Main set: 4x[75breast, 50 easy free, 25breast sprint] (works on breaststroke stamina - make sure to keep your hips up)
Drill set: 10x25 (on the odd ones try and make the whole length of the pool with as few underwater pullouts as possible, on the even ones do normal breaststroke w/ a long underwater pullout)
Main set: 4x50 breast w/ longer breaks (focus on 100% technique and making the stroke "look pretty")
Cooldown: 200 easy free
1850 yds total.

Coulda Woulda Shoulda

We have all had those moments.  Those moments when we wish we would've done something differently.  Those moments when we know we could have done better.  Those moments when we know we should have taken that opportunity when we had the chance. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.  One of the most overused excuses, but probably the most illegitimate.  You can throw around this phrase all you want, but it won't change anything. You're not Marty McFly. You can't hop in your Delorean and go back to any future.  The only time you can prevent that coulda-woulda-shoulda feeling is in the here and now. In the present.

Looking back on my competitive swimming career, there are definitely some things I wish I would have done different.  But I can't change anything about that now.

Going to more practices is often something looked back on that would have helped swimmers.  When a coach is putting in the time to provide two practices per day, or practices on weekends you should definitely take advantage of those times! Sleep is not a good excuse to skip morning practices.  Those are the practices that are going to lift you up and push your willpower until your potential is maximized.  Practicing twice a day also leads to better conditioning and as a result, a better taper.  It also gives you more experience in the water.  Getting familiar with the water, your stroke, your turns, and even your teammates are all ways to get the most out of your swimming season and going to more practices is something that will assure this.

Trying harder during tough sets is something people tend to shy away from.  I don't know if it is the fact that it looks daunting when the coach writes it down on the paper, or the fact that swimmers know that additional effort leads to additional pain.  But as the saying goes, "Pain is temporary, pride is for ever."  These are the sets that are meant to push you past your limits.  These are the sets that make or break you.  When you can push yourself through the toughest sets in practice, it will build your conditioning and better yet your character.  This is only something that can be done in the pool. You can't go to bed at night and wish you would have tried harder.  That won't help you to accomplish anything.

One of the most important things to remember when you are swimming is to have no regrets.  If you can swim with no fears and no regrets you will maximize your potential and achieve more than you could have imagined.  Take advantage of any practices and lessons your coach has to offer (even it is 6am optional practice and the it's 5 degrees outside!!!) and push yourself past your normal limitations during sets that would normally intimidate you.

Coulda-woulda-shoulda is not a good feeling.
Swim with no fear.
Swim with no regrets.
100% of the time.

You Buy Them Suits and Send Them To Practice...

...and what do they do? They don't learn a thing! Sure they might have gotten their butt kicked with a workout suitable for an Olympic swimmer, but how far is that going to get them? Not too many years ago, excelling in swimming (and sports in general for that matter) was all about getting big and strong and out-muscling your competition.  The best baseball players weighed a lot and could bash the ball around the park.  The best basketball players were seven feet tall.  The best swimmers were tall and broad.  Nowadays, if you want to be the best you have to out-study, out-smart, and out-technique the rest (and sometimes a little extra muscle doesn't hurt).

Why the change?  Why has almost every sport on the planet transitioned from a muscle-focused approach to one of technique and finesse? Personally, I like to credit slow-motion video replays and enhanced computer programming.  But the primary reason is likely that athletes finally realized that thousands of hours of hard workouts could only get them so far, while analyzing and altering technique slightly can take minimal amounts of time and lead to maximal improvements.

Today's world of swimming has brought science to the forefront.  To the untrained eye, it may be hard to notice.  But if you have any interest or involvement in the sport you know how much time (and $$$) is spent in developing new technology so world records can continue to drop like polar bears in a desert.  From extreme suits, goggles, and caps, to new stroke techniques swimming is a sport that depends on science more than most.  Have you ever seen the type of bikes that Tour de France riders use in time trials? Or their helmets and wheels? All of this is to save speed by being more aerodynamic and producing less drag.  Take a look below at World Champion Fabian Cancellara on his Specialized Time Trial bike:

 All of this attention is paid to aerodynamics in cycling, but it is even more important in swimming! I know you're wondering why so I'll go ahead and tell you.  Water is 784x more dense than air.  This means that being aerodynamic (or hydrodynamic as it is referred to in water) is 784x more important than being so on land.  Every movement you make in the water that creates drag is affecting you severely and slowing you down!


That is one reason that records keep getting broken.  Scientists, coaches, trainers, and swimmers continue to fine-tune their technique to reach these unimaginable times.  To get faster, Olympic swimmers spend hours analyzing their strokes, starts, turns, and finishes with their coaches to achieve maximum potential.


Now, Olympians aren't the only ones that can do this.  Anyone can use these types of techniques to improve their stroke technique.  Swimmers can feel the benefits and improvements to their stroke while they are swimming and therefore can somewhat analyze their own stroke.  By watching online videos (like on YouTube), young swimmers can pick up on certain things that can greatly increase their speed and efficiency.  One thing that is easy to do: take a simple video camera and video tape your stroke or the stroke of a friend. Then watch this and see what you are doing.  I can't count the number of times I tell a swimmer they are doing something and they don't believe me.  This is because it feels so natural to them that they don't think they are doing something wrong.  Then they watch it on video and can't believe it.  One example of this is I always harp on my swimmers to keep their heads back when they are swimming backstroke.  The natural tendency is to look towards their feet, and they swear to me over and over again that their head is way back in the water.  One of my high school girls found out she wasn't keeping her head back (even though she thought she was) when the newspaper had a big picture of her swimming backstroke...looking at her feet!  From then on, she believed me and kept her head back more.  Simple things like this can ensure excellent technique to provide maximum performance.


I urge you to take your swimming to the next level.  Take it beyond 10,000yd workouts and two-a-days.  Take the next step in your performance.  Study some video of other swimmers, study your own stroke, study the stroke of people in your lane.  It will help.  I promise.  But don't forget, you can't disregard hard workouts.  You have to have strength and conditioning (and those nasty two-a-days) and swim many tough yards before you will see amazing results.  Just make sure you incorporate that nerdy science stuff too!

What Muscles Do I Use When I Swim?

When it comes to an overall workout, there is nothing that compares to swimming.  Cardio, strength, and range of motion are all vital parts of swimming.  No one has ever done a full swim workout and got out of the pool feeling great.  It tears you down, wipes you out, and downright brings you to your deathbed.  But we keep coming back for more because the long term effects are incredible.  Increased lung capacity, endurance, flexibility, willpower, and strength. So exactly what muscles are you using during a swim workout? Well let's take a look!

Cardio Muscles:
                              

Two muscles that are VERY important to your body's general function (not to mention keeping you alive...I guess that's kind of important too) are the heart and lungs.  Yes these are muscles!  They are what are called "involuntary muscles" because you cannot control whether they are working or not.  Your heart pumps blood to all different parts of your body, including your lungs.  Your lungs take in all of that air your breathe and put oxygen in your blood.  This oxygen-rich blood helps your muscles perform to their maximum capabilities.  Ever had that sprint for the finish? You just put your head down, hold your breath, and swim like crazy for the wall.  The reason that holding your breath while trying to exert maximum effort hurts so bad is that your muscles are getting deprived of that oxygenated blood that they need to thrive. But you do it anyway right? Because holding your breath=faster swimming!

Freestyle Muscles:

All of the muscles that are circled in the picture above are muscles used when you swim freestyle.  There are 24 different muscles circled in this diagram. The ones that are circle in blue are more primary muscles that are worked and the muscles circled in black are the more secondary muscles exercised. Here they are in a list form: 

Arm: Thenars (hand muscle), brachioradialis (forearm flex muscle), flexor digitorum profundus (forearm extend muscle), biceps (sometimes referred to as GUNS), triceps, deltoids (shoulder muscle)

Neck: sternocleidomastoid (neck muscle)

Trunk: pectoralis, serratus anterior (side muscles), external oblique (outer ab muscles), rectus abdominus (abs), latissimus dorsi (back muscle), trapezius, spinus erectus (muscles that support your spine), teres major, teres minor, rhomboid major, rhomboid minor (all of these "major and minor" muscles help make up the shoulder muscles), gluteus maximus (rear-end muscles), abductor magnus (groin)

Leg: quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius (calf muscle), tibialis anterior (shin muscle), flexor digitorum brevis (foot muscles)

Funny how a lot of these sound like spells straight out of a Harry Potter book, huh?

Can you imagine trying to flex all of these muscles at one time?  Or trying to use weights to try and work out these muscles?  In the pool you use each of these 24 different muscles on each freestyle stroke! And if you think about it, since these muscles are on each side of your body, you have to double the amount and you are really using 48 MUSCLES!!! Some of the muscles are used when pulling, some when kicking, some when rotating your body, some when breathing, and some extra muscles you use when doing flipturns. Below is a really amazing video created by AnyBody that shows and highlights when the different muscles are used when you swim freestyle. This is unbelievable:

Backstroke Muscles:

The backstroke muscles are identical to the freestyle muscles except they are worked during different times of the stroke.  If you think about it, backstroke is kind of like freestyle on your back.  One thing about these two strokes that is helpful to remember is that - generally - backstroke stretches out your freestyle muscles and freestyle stretches out your backstroke muscles.  That is because they are both utilizing the same muscle groups, but in a different movement.

I would suggest trying out this easy way to stretch out during a cool down. You can really tell the difference! Below is another great video of what muscles are used when during backstroke:

Breaststroke Muscles:

The muscles used are about the same for breaststroke and butterfly as freestyle.  It is just a slightly different group of primary muscles used.  The primary muscles used in breaststroke are the hand, inner forearm, biceps, pecs, lats, groin, glutes, and calf.  One difference in muscle use during breaststroke is that there is a slight relaxation point of almost all muscles when the swimmer is gliding.  The only muscles used during the glide are the ones to old a streamline position.  This is one reason why sometimes breaststroke can be known as an easier stroke sometimes.  Below is another one of these awesome videos showing when different muscles are used during breaststroke:

Butterfly Muscles:

Once again, the butterfly muscles are roughly the same as the other strokes.  There are a lot of big muscle groups used in butterfly.  That is why it is commonly considered a very powerful stroke and can wear you down in a matter of 25 yards.  Pecs, lasts, quads, hamstrings, calves, shoulders, biceps, and triceps are all big-time power muscles.  Here is one more video of what muscles are used when during butterfly: 

Now you know what muscles are used, when they are used, and how some of them are used.  It should give you a better idea what exactly you are doing when you are swimming. Now you know why swimming is a harder and more all around workout than almost anything else you can think of!

And as a bonus, here is the video of all four strokes put together:

Take Your Pick

One thing I love about the sport of swimming is that it is constantly changing.  To keep up with new techniques can often take many hours of research, reading, and analyzing.  However, the easiest way to learn what new techniques work for you often come by testing them out in the pool.  Some tips and tricks are proven to be faster or more efficient, but some of them are personal preference and may improve Mason's swimming, but not Scott's swimming.

Something that has become increasingly more popular is the straight arm recovery.  It is used primarily in sprinters, while endurance swimmers are still hanging on to the traditional "bent-arm" recovery.

Bent Elbow Recovery

Generally, this is one of the first things that competitive swimmers learn. 

Benefits: keeping a high elbow during the recovery of the freestyle stroke prevents some strain on the shoulder.  It also makes for a very smooth and quiet stroke.

Drills: finger tip drag is a great drill to practice a high elbow recovery.  Every part of your arm from your elbow to your finger tips should be very relaxed while your arm is out of the water (hence the term recovery!) The only muscle that should really be working is your shoulder muscles to help rotate your arm forward.  To check if you are doing this correctly, when you breathe you should be able to see your hand pass right in front of your face.

Uses: any freestyle swim longer than 100yards, or if you have bad shoulders or struggle with shoulder issues

Straight-Arm Recovery

Benefits: keeping a straight arm during your recovery can lead to a quicker stroke.  It also means that your arm is going into the water fully extended so that you don't wast time extending your arm after it goes into the water as in the high-elbow recovery. 

Downfalls: using a straight arm instead of a bent arm can possibly lead to more shoulder troubles as it puts extra stress on the shoulder muscles.  These are mostly muscles that don't get used near as often as the muscles you use during a traditional bent-arm recovery so it is extra easy to feel the extra strain on your shoulders.  Another downfall of this technique is that it uses more energy and cannot be used effectively over longer distances.

Uses: sprints. Anything 100yards or less.

One thing to remember when using straight-arm recoveries is that you need to make sure you rotate your body quickly with each stroke.  You don't have as much time as normal to rotate your body to get a full reach because your strokes are faster and your arm is already entering fully extended.

Tips: if you think you're going to use this, you definitely need to test it out in the pool before a race.

If you watch the video below (NCAA Division 2 Men's 50 Free Championship) from about the 3:00 mark to the end you can see elite swimmers using the newly adopted straight-arm technique.  You have to look carefully, but you can definitely see them using it.  A couple of other things to note are the fact that they don't breathe, each pull takes them a long ways but at the same time their stroke rate is very high, and the fact that their starts and turns are phenomenal.  All of these things combine to make a great race and they all broke 20 seconds in this race.

Next time you get in the pool, go ahead and try these two recovery techniques out and see what you think.  Remember that the straight-arm technique should not be used for anything more than a sprint.  See if it makes you feel like you are pulling more water and increasing your stroke rate.  Let me know what you think!

POWER!

There are so many different parts to a swimming stroke.  It can generally be broken down to a kick and a pull, but those can also be broken down.

Today, I'm going to talk about the very last part of the pulling process.  It is sometimes referred to as the "finish" or the "follow-through".  It is the part of the stroke that entails the extension of the elbow and is dominated by the triceps.  It takes place between the bent elbow (underwater - half-way through the pull) and the finished stroke (fully extended arm towards the feet).  This movement is shown in the picture below.

Why is it important?  This part of your stroke - the extension of the elbow - provides you with a great amount of power and propulsion.  By now you know that propulsion-->more yards per stroke-->more efficient swimming-->faster swimming.  Many swimmers do not focus on this part of the stroke and their arm exits the water too soon. This wastes a lot of valuable water that needs to be pulled in order to get the most out of each stroke. Don't want to do that!

What strokes is it important for?  All of them!  This technique applies to all four strokes - butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.  We talked about how it is important on freestyle already.  The finish of the pull is used every stroke in butterfly for the same purpose: propulsion. Only in butterfly it occurs with both arms on each stroke.  For backstroke, the finish of the stroke is the same movement, but you are obviously on your back.  The finish in backstroke is important for propulsion as well as to help rotate the hips.  In breaststroke, the only time that your stroke finishes all the way to the full extension of the arm is during the underwater pullouts.  If you focus on putting the majority of your energy into this part of your pullout, you will get the maximum distance without having to sacrifice any speed.

How can you work on it?  Focusing on finishing to the end of the stroke is the only way to perfect this technique.  A very good and effective drill to work on this is to think about brushing your thumb to the outside of your thigh at the end of every stroke.  This will ensure that you are finishing your stroke to the very end and not wasting any part of your pull.  It is a drill that doesn't sacrifice much speed so you can go ahead and do it whenever you swim.  After a while, like any repeated movement it will become a habit.


Here is a short workout.  It is designed to work on maximizing the effectiveness of your stroke.
Warmup: 200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull
                4 x 50 build speed each 50 @ 15" rest
Drill set:  8 x 50 (2 of each stroke) @ 30" rest - focus on finishing to the end of your pull
                4 x 50 (1 of each stroke) @ 30" rest - maximum distance per stroke
Main set: 2 x 200 free @ 1' rest - count total amount of strokes; 2nd 200 take less strokes
Cooldown: 200 easy back/free
Total Yards: 2000
               

Leap Day Leaping

In honor of Leap Day, I figured it seems fitting to talk about leaping today. But before I get into that...why in the world to we have an extra day every four years? Well the earth actually takes 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes and 16 seconds. So someone decided to round that to 365 days and 6 hours giving us an extra 1/4 day each year. Instead of confusing everyone with an extra 57.4 seconds each day, we just wait until all of that "extra time" adds up giving us another day.  Did you know that on years divisible by 100 (i.e. 1900) the leap year does not occur? But if the year is divisible by 400 then the leap year does occur (i.e. 2000).

Enough history, let's talk swimming.

Why is leaping important in swimming? It plays a major role in two things. Starts would be the obvious scenario in which a swimmer performs a "leaping" motion, but the same motion can directly be applied to turns/push-offs.

Diving:
Diving off the starting blocks definitely requires a leap.  Generally, the further you jump off of the blocks, the better your start will be. However, this is only true to a certain extent. Check out the scenarios below:

The drawing is very rough but you get the point. The black thing is a starting block, the blue is the water, the brown spider-looking thing is the swimmer.  In this first scenario, the swimmer (let's call them Regan) falls into the water.  She dives head first but her angle of entry into the water takes her straight down to the bottom.  Once Regan realizes that she is too deep, she has the task of swimming all the way back to the surface before she can really begin her race.  All of this is the result of Regan not leaping.

In the second scenario, the swimmer (let's call them Maddie) leaps really far.  This gets Maddie out away from the wall and keeps her from going too deep, but the entry into the water is so shallow that it is almost a belly-flop. The first reason you don't want to do this is because a belly-flop will hurt! Then second reason is that your body hits at such a flat angle that your legs enter at a different spot than your head. This may not seem like to big of a deal but it is kind of like putting on the brakes when you hit the water and in a race you can't afford that.

The final scenario has the swimmer (let's call them Mitchell) leaps up and out off the block. Notice that the first movement isn't down and out, but a slightly upward movement along with the outward. Mitchell jumps far off of the block, but not too far like Maddie. This allows him to get out a ways before entering the water, but his entire body can still enter the water through the same small space allowing maximum speed forward and minimal time spent "putting on the brakes".  Mitchell doesn't go too deep in the water, but it is deep enough that he can use his underwater kicking to get him quickly to the surface.

I threw out a term in there that I want to explain.  When I talk about "entering the water through the same hole" it means that the entire body (fingertips, arms, head, shoulders, torso, hips, legs, and feet) is entering the water as if it was going through a hula hoop.  This creates less splash and maximum forward velocity.

Push-offs:

When you push off the wall after a turn, it is the same exact motion as jumping straight up into the air from the ground.  The harder you can push off (or in this case "leap") the further you will get on your push off and your performances will get substantially better.  Working on your push-off power outside of the water is simple.  You can do any number of jumping exercises.  Box jumps are a very good replication of the movement required to push off of the wall.  Performing any of the jumping exercises while in a streamline position definitely increases the likeness of the push-off movement.  

Since starts and push-offs are all about power and explosiveness, it helps to build up strength in the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves.  The explosiveness can be achieved by performing exercises at maximum effort. Jumping as high as possible on every jump and trying to use every single muscle in your legs will help to work on that explosiveness,

Leaping is very important in two primary aspects of swimming.  Starts and turns are easy places to save time in races without having to put in thousands and thousands of yards.  When it comes down to it, the more explosive you are off of the blocks and walls the better your starts and turns will be.

On a side note: swimming is very important to many people in the Boone community and is equally important  to millions of people around the world. Swimming is a lifelong sport and provides a sense of camaraderie that you will not find in any other sport.  Currently, the Boone school district is trying to come up with ways to save money on their new renovation project and one of their options is shutting down the pool for good.  This would more than likely eliminate the swimming program at Boone High School and would leave many kids wondering what they could have done.  We never want to leave kids wondering what could have been. As coaches, parents, swimmers, and friends are job is to give athletes a chance to evolve their talents and grow in the sport.  Hopefully this decision by the school board does not leave Boone without a swimming program.

What's the Catch?

Catch (kach) - verb/noun
   -v. - intercept and hold something
  -n. - the act of catching something

Always great when the word is used in its own definition, huh? These are some common definitions of the word  "catch", however when it comes to swimming the catch is something completely different. The catch is the part of your stroke at the beginning of the pull, one of the first movements after your hand enters the water.  Every stroke has a catch and it is equally important in all of them.

Why is the catch important? The catch sets up your pull and will help to determine the amount of water that is pulled with that stroke.  More water pulled = further propulsion forward = fewer strokes = more efficient stroke = faster swimming.

Freestyle

Freestyle catch

The catch in freestyle is made after the complete underwater extension of the arm.  You may have been taught to swim freestyle with a high elbow recovery.  Well high elbows are also a necessity when you are pulling the water. A good freestyle catch is set up with a high elbow.  When you're swimming, think about reaching over an imaginary barrel in front of you. In the picture to the right, you can see she has a high elbow and her arm is bent like she is reaching over a barrel. This will set up your arm to pull water effectively.  When you pull the water, you want to pull with as much surface area of your arm as possible.  This means the pull should utilize everything from pretty much your elbow to your fingertips. This will enable you to pull more water leading to a more efficient stroke.

Backstroke

Backstroke catch

The backstroke is almost the opposite of the freestyle catch in that in backstroke you want to have a low elbow in the water as seen in the picture here. This sets up the backstroke pull so that you can pull with as much surface area as possible. The fingers are pointed to the side of the lane, but slightly towards the surface of the water. The hand movement in the water is very shallow. This is so all of the water you pull is moving you forwards instead of up, and it also better utilizes the major muscle groups of the shoulder and arm.

Breaststroke

Breaststroke catch

In breaststroke, the catch is initiated after the arms are fully extended. At the full extension of the arms, the hands should be slightly apart. The initial movement of the arms is a lateral movement of the hands out to the side (as shown in the picture to the right). This movement doesn't do a whole lot in terms of moving you forward in the water.  This is the arm position that the catch begins. The wrists bend and the finger tips point towards the bottom of the pool and the elbows bend to about 90 degrees. This will set up the rest of the breaststroke pull. Remember: the goal is to move forward, not up.

Butterfly catch

Butterfly
The butterfly catch is very similar to the breaststroke catch. It is started with arms fully extended and the hands facing out.  First, the arms move laterally outward before sweeping back in toward the center of the body for the final pull.  At the end of the butterfly catch, the elbows should be in toward your ribs.







Every stroke's catch is extremely important.  It helps set up your arms to pull as much water as possible, making your stroke more efficient. This is an easy thing you can practice with every stroke in the pool. Soon your body will commit it to memory and it will become habit.

No matter how much I swim...I don't get faster.

This is a more common excuse than "my dog ate my homework." Many swimmers (typically beginners more so than experienced swimmers) constantly wonder how they can swim 10,000 to 40,000 yards a week and not get any faster.

First off, let me say that gaining endurance in your swim ability and going from barely being able to make it across the pool to swimming a 500, to swimming a 1000, to swimming a mile, and so on is an outstanding accomplishment. I know many people that entered the sport of triathlon without the slightest swim ability and now they can swim a mile without stopping. Watching these swimmers' progress is amazing because it is easy to track. It is very easy to tell the difference from when they first start and can't put their face in the water to when they swim their first mile.

But once you have the distance down, it is time to worry about speed. Like anything, to get better/faster you have to practice above and beyond what you would do in a competition.  This is how your body gets adapted to swimming fast. So to swim fast you have to...well...swim fast! What you do in practice directly correlates to how you will swim in a competition.

Here is a real-life example:
   I have a high school 500 swimmer who was consistently swimming around 5:05-5:15 in meets with a PR of 5:05.70. He really wanted to get under that 5:00 mark. This would pretty much guarantee him a spot in the state meet. So the two weeks leading up to districts, we started doing intervals in practice that would give him some experience swimming at this speed. One of the sets I had him do were 10 x 50yds on a 35 second interval. During this set he had to hold 30 seconds or better for each 50. Another set I had him do was 5 x 100yds on a 1:05 interval. During this set he had to hold 1:00 per 100yds. Doing these sets not only gave him some experience swimming at this pace, but also gave him a huge boost of confidence that he could go under 5:00. At the district meet he went 4:55.82 (and chased a guy down in the final 50 yards to be district champion).

Once you start over-exerting yourself in your practice sets, faster times in meets will come. Also, once you get that goal you have been after you will have a lot more confidence leading to more time drops in the future.  This 500 swimmer's confidence was definitely boosted as this week he swam a 500 in 5:14 in the middle of practice. That is a time he would have accepted in a meet earlier in the season.

Here are some sets I would highly recommend for getting faster:
    Broken 200s (4 x 50 w/ 10" rest after each) - subtract 30" from your final time for your adjusted 200 time
    4 x (75, 50, 25) - rest 20" after the 75, rest 10" after the 50. As the swim get shorter, increase your speed
    4 x 100 descend - this means to increase your speed each 100. Each 100 should be 2-4 seconds faster than the previous one

There are many, many sets you can do to increase your speed in the pool. Just remember to push yourself. If you want to get faster, your practices should NEVER feel like a walk in the park!

Why Swim?

Solitude (sol-i-tood) - noun
    1. The state of being or living alone
    2. Remoteness from habitations
    3. A lonely, unfrequented place

Back and forth in a 25 yard pool, staring at a black line, not able to hear anyone else, not able to talk, having to restrict your breathing...sounds like a blast huh?  These are a few of the many hangups people have about swimming.  So why do people swim? Why do they love the sport so much?

There are many reason why people dedicate much of their lives to counting tiles on the bottom of the pool. For me, swimming provides the alone time that is much needed in anyone's day. When I swim, I can think of whatever I want.  I can sing that annoying song that is stuck in my head (that I only know the chorus of) over and over again. I can daydream and no one can snap me out of it.  It provides solitude. When you swim, it is just you. You against the clock. No one can break your concentration. No one can slow you down.  Coming from one of the greatest high school swim coaches the state of Iowa has ever seen, Judd Anderson, "There is no defense in swimming."  No one can get in your way of achieving your goals besides you. Every time you get in that pool the only opponent you can control is the clock. You cannot control how fast the people around you swim. Just yourself.  That is why swimming is one of the most interesting sports on the planet.

I'll tell you right now, sometimes swimming gets extremely boring. Repeat 1-mile swims, 1 hour swims, 100x100. All of these can and will get repetitive and boring. I guarantee it. But the results are outstanding.  Once you can get over staring at a black line, swimming will do more for you than get you in shape. It will open doors and make way for new opportunities.

Welcome!

So I have started this blog to put my thoughts as a swim coach into one spot. Whether you are an elite swimmer, triathlete, age grouper, or just getting started, hopefully you can find some sort of useful tips, tricks, or advice to help you in the pool.