6/28/2011

Warm-up 10 minutes

Xfit WOD;

Swim less drill more!

The path to swimming improvement is not to make more energy available through training; it’s to
waste less energy by improving your stroke.

Swim 1000M

Here’s a quick plan for learning to move like water in the pool:
1. Swim slowly – . Racing the clock—or other swimmers— will only cause you to thrash and splash. Swimming slowly is the best way to begin developing habits of efficiency and economy. And while swimming slowly, practice the following points.
2. Count your strokes – Your best measure of efficiency is how many strokes you take getting across the pool. Set an initial target 10% lower than your norm. If you usually take 22 strokes per length (SPL), make 20 your goal, using ease, not strain, to make it. After any length that exceeds your target, rest longer—try five or more deep slow breaths as a recovery interval—before starting again. Allow at least two to three hours of cumulative practice, over several 30-minute sessions, to adapt before trying to reduce your SPL further.
3. Look down – Forget the old rule about looking forward; a high head position is bad for your neck and back and creates extra drag. Look directly at the bottom and focus on a long “headspine- line.” Ask a friend to check that no more than a sliver of the back of your head is visible above the surface.
4. Swim silently – Noise and splash are the clearest evidence of wasted energy. Anything you do that results in a quieter stroke will also increase your efficiency, lower your SPL, and reduce fatigue.
5. Swim less, drill more – If you find yourself unable to reduce your SPL to a consistent 20 or fewer strokes
per 25 yards, your stroke inefficiencies are so stubborn that every lap you do simply makes them more
permanent. The quickest way to build new “fishlike” movement patterns is to practice skill drills rather than
conventional swimming. Try doing up to 80% of your laps in stroke drills for the next month or two and see
how your stroke reacts.

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