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2010-08-30 10:42 PM

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Subject: Training stroke rate and stroke length at the same time
I know not everyone will be interested in this much detail, but the recent post of "swim slower to swim faster" makes this seem topical.

I wanted to share how I used a tempo trainer today to train my stroke length while still working on a higher stroke rate.

Why is it important? velocity = stroke rate x distance per stroke. e.g. 1 stroke/sec x 1 m/stroke = 1 m/sec (50 sec for a 50m length or 1:40/100m). There are 2 ways to get faster at swimming from a mathematical point of view. Stroke faster or go further per stroke. Here are the issues

1) stroke faster: most people shorten their stroke due to fatigue and worsening form when they try to stroke faster ("harder"). A smaller factor is that stroking faster allows less time for glide so the stroke length will almost always be shorter.

2) increase stroke length: Most people will slow down their stroke rate in order to get maximum glide & distance out of their stroke.

So focusing only on maximum length or maximum turnover will almost always make you a slower swimmer, or at least make your form go to pot. But how do you know the difference between just being tired because you are swimming fast and swimming with poor form?

Take the above example and suppose I add 5 cm, or about 2 inches of distnace to each of my strokes at the rate of 1 stroke / second. I'd complete that 100m length at a speed of 1 stroke/sec x 1.05 m/stroke or 1.05m/sec. that 100m length now takes 95 seconds, or 1:35. I've taken 5 seconds off my 100m time by adding 5cm to my stroke. 5cm doesn't sound like much but even a 1cm increase in stroke length will speed up your swim when extrapolated over 1000m or 1500m races.

Here's how I did this in practice today

After adequate warmup, I did a set to establish the theme of consistent stroke length in my neuromuscular memory. I swam the following set with the goal of maintaining the same SPL for each 50m throughout the set: (total set 500m)
50m
100m
150m
200m

At the end of the 200m, I matched my SPL within one of the original 50m (38-39 SPL/25m). So at that easy, self-selected stroke rate I was swimming consistently with no breakdown in my form. I could probably continue at that rate with no breakdown in form for quite a while and that would be a good way to get in some restorative recovery swimming.

But I want to get faster...

So my next step is to increase the stroke rate and again attempt to remain consistent in my stroke count. An increase in strokes indicates worsening form, and a 'breakpoint' for that stroke rate. Rather than try to continue swimming further with poor form and have bad habits reinforced, I was able to identify when I was simply working hard yet swimming well vs. working hard and swimming poorly.

here are my results from teh set with the tempo trainer set at 1.1 seconds / stroke:
(total set 500m)
** see below for why I chose 1.1 sec/stroke to work on

1st 50m: 44 strokes
1st 100m: 44 & 45 strokes
after the 100m at 1.1sec/stroke I was very tired and decided to try and repeat my 100m at teh same stroke count, rather than go longer
2nd 100m: 44 & 45 strokes
After this 100m, it was clear that fatigue at this faster stroke rate was setting in quickly. While my stroke count stayed the same, I felt taht I couldn't complete a 150 at that rate while maintaining good form. (I could have tried it but I didn't). Options at this point in order to regain good form were to: a) slow stroke rate b) increase rest or c) decrease repeat distance. Since my goal was to improve my form at a higher stroke rate than I'm used to, option a was out. Because the 2nd 100 was done after about a minutes rest from the 1st, option b did not seem reasonable. So I used option c and lowered my repeat back to 50m.

next 50m: 44 strokes.
I was again back to my previous baseline, so I incrased the distance
next 100m: 44 & 49 strokes. Suddenly it was clear that my form had gone to crap as I'd added 4 strokes (and 4.4 seconds) to my 2nd 50m. So I decreased back to 50m repeats:

next 50m: 43 strokes. In this repeat, I'd managed to take a stroke off from all my previous efforts, despite mounting fatigue. Focused concentrated effort after a short rest and a "primed" nervous system made this possible, and I swam that 50m 1.1 seconds faster than each of my previous 50m sets. Cool.

I decided to do one last 50m repeat and try to repeat the 43 strokes, and i hit 44 strokes...so my increased stroke length was short lived, but I've done it once. My next efforts at a tempo traner setting of 1.1 will includee similar sets but with the bar raised. My choices will be to go longer while keeping SPL around 44-45, or continue to imprint the form I had to hit 43 SPL as I'd done once in this short practice.

I share this not to try to stir up debate or controversy, but to demonstrate a way in which you can both increase your stroke rate, while still using the theme of stroke counting and maximizing distance per stroke to get faster.


** I chose 1.1 sec/stroke because most of my work int eh past 6 months has been at rates between 1.2 & 1.3 sec/stroke. YOu can review my logs since Jan to see detailed descriptions of these types of sets. I did an OWS in Lake Placid 2 weeks ago adn watched my "competition" stroke on video...and it was clear I was swimming in competitionat a much higher stroke rate, but I haven't been training at the higher rate. So some brief experimentation last week with the tempo trainer and timing my sets led me to believe taht 1.1 sec/stroke was a good poitn to begin training my form to try and maximize DPS for that stroke rate, before trying to increase stroke rate yet again. (the testing I did showed me that faster stroke rates did result in faster swim times, but buy a much smaller %age than the rate increase...so I thought this was my biggest bang for the buck)


2010-08-31 12:54 AM
in reply to: #3072643

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Subject: RE: Training stroke rate and stroke length at the same time
Very interesting numbers. I "relearned" how to swim when I started studying the Total Immersion method the focus has been on technique and developing stroke length rather than just going all out and trying to develop fitness. It really has made my swimming all the better by emphasizing stroke length first, then go for stroke rate. I usually use rounds of swim golf in order to help me improve in that area. I still have a long way to go though.
2010-08-31 4:39 AM
in reply to: #3072643

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Subject: RE: Training stroke rate and stroke length at the same time
Do you analyze your SPL and stroke rate after each 50/100 this much all the time or was this just because you were trying to establish a new training rate? 

Also, you say "the testing I did showed me that faster stroke rates did result in faster swim times, but buy a much smaller %age than the rate increase...so I thought this was my biggest bang for the buck".  I'm just curious why you wouldn't train at the stroke rate that your testing shows you are faster at, even if the %age was lower.  As you improve your speed, you are obviously going to hit a point where the improvements you see become smaller and smaller but require more and more effort and training.  If you can hit those higher speeds now with the combination of SPL and stroke rate, why not use it?  I admit I know very little about TI and/or tempo trainers and that I come from the old school of working hard sets to improve your speed but I did find your explanations very interesting and can see how it could be a valuable tool if used properly (as long as you aren't analyzing it that in-depth after each 50/100 in every practice - that seems like overkill to me).

Interesting reading. 
2010-09-02 8:57 AM
in reply to: #3072752

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Subject: RE: Training stroke rate and stroke length at the same time
axteraa - 2010-08-31 3:39 AM

Do you analyze your SPL and stroke rate after each 50/100 this much all the time or was this just because you were trying to establish a new training rate? 




A little of both. using stroke counting to plan and evaluate swim workouts is so second nature I don't think about it much anymore. It took far longer to write the original post than it did to process the thoughts as I was doing the workout.


Also, you say "the testing I did showed me that faster stroke rates did result in faster swim times, but buy a much smaller %age than the rate increase...so I thought this was my biggest bang for the buck".  I'm just curious why you wouldn't train at the stroke rate that your testing shows you are faster at, even if the %age was lower. 


I had done a series of intervals with tempo .1 sec/stroke faster, which is a pretty big jump, from 1.2 to .9 seconds. Each 9-10% increase in tempo resulted in a 2-3% improvement in speed. Ideally, up to a certain point I'd like to see closer to a 1:1 ratio for the improvement, indicating I'm not losing strokes as a result of increasing pace. For the set I described in this post, I started at the first point where my 10% increase in rate showed a 2% improvement in speed. Improvign my form & speed at that tempo will bring that ratio closer to 1:1, and then my NM system will be primed to go right into the faster rates as well. Jumping to a much faster rate won't allow me to fine tune and focus on form due to the amount of aerobic stress just to sustain the rate.

Sort of an issue of changing just one variable at a time to seek areas of improvement for practice focus.


I did find your explanations very interesting and can see how it could be a valuable tool if used properly (as long as you aren't analyzing it that in-depth after each 50/100 in every practice - that seems like overkill to me).

Interesting reading. 


Like i said, it's really second nature...hitting stroke counts is not any different than hitting intervals, but you gather more information about your stroke.

Edited by AdventureBear 2010-09-02 8:58 AM
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