Five Classic Misconceptions About Freestyle Swimming

[Source: Swim Smooth, August 27/09]

Here are five commonly held misconceptions about the freestyle stroke. Don’t fall foul of these or you’ll seriously hold back your swimming:

• Misconception 1: "The freestyle stroke needs to be as long as possible – longer is always more efficient."
A long stroke is a good thing up to a point, but an *overly* long stroke leads to dead spots and pauses that ruin your rhythm and timing. This normally happens with swimmers who have done technique work focusing on gliding. These dead spots cause you to decelerate between strokes, which makes you less efficient because you need to accelerate your whole body again on the next stroke.
Our advice: To make yourself as efficient as possible you need to find the right stroke length and stroke rate (strokes per minute) for you as an individual. Find out more: www.swimsmooth.com/strokerate

• Misconception 2: "As a triathlete I don’t have to work on my kick."
As a triathlete you’re not looking for propulsion from your kick but you still need to work on it. This is because poor kicking technique causes lots of drag. Also, for advanced swimmers, the timing of your kick assists your arm stroke propulsive power.
Our advice: If you want to swim faster don’t neglect your kick, keep some structured kick technique work in your sessions. Find out more: www.swimsmooth.com/kick

• Misconception 3: "I can’t breathe bilaterally – it’s too long between strokes."
Swim Smooth believe anyone can breathe bilaterally. If you can’t there are three possibilities of what’s preventing you from doing so:
a) If you’re a novice swimmer, your stroke rate could be so slow it really is too long between breaths. To fix this, work on increasing your stroke rate a touch.
b) It could be that you’re not exhaling effectively into the water. This is critical because breathing out late builds up CO2 in your lungs and makes things feel very anaerobic (like a sprint activity).
c) If you struggle to breathe to one particular side it could be because you don't rotate well enough to that side.
For our advice on fixing these issues see: www.swimsmooth.com/bilateral

• Misconception 4: "My head position should be low, looking straight down at the bottom of the pool."
For some swimmers -- yes. For many swimmers -- no. Head position is a very individual thing and you can use it as a tuning knob to help your swimming. If you are very lean and have sinky legs then a lower head position will suit you. If you have an effective kick and excellent body position then a higher head position might suit you better – otherwise when swimming in a wetsuit you may feel so buoyant that you’re kicking air! A higher head position is always better in open water for sighting and viewing under the water – if you have the body position to cope with it.
Our advice: Experiment with different head positions and see what works best for you, you may be surprised!

• Misconception 5: "I don’t need to do fitness training for swimming – I’ll get it from bike and run training."
Unfortunately fitness doesn’t work like that. Much of our aerobic system lies in the specific muscles we are using and it needs training in those muscles. Neglect your fitness work and you’ll never get close to your swimming potential.

Our advice: When training for swimming you should think of it like bike or run training, you need long steady swims and mid-length harder swims. Vary this mix through the year and introduce harder race-pace swimming as the season approaches. That’s the Swim Smooth recipe for swimming fitness!

Simple Form Drills For Runners Can Clean up Your Running Form and Efficiency

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, August 20/09]

By Jeff Horowitz, Metro Sports Washington D.C.

I have always thought that running must be one of the easiest things in the world. After all, weve been doing it since we were 3 or 4 years old, so by now we should be pretty good at it, right?

After more than a decade of marathon racing, I had come to consider myself a pretty good runner. Then a respected track coach took a good look at my running form, and he told me about all of the things I was doing wrong.

Apparently my foot strike was off, I had too much lateral movement, and my arm swing was incorrect. By the time he was through with me, I began to think it was a miracle that I could even walk.

But there was hope for me yet. By breaking down the running motion into distinct movements, and practicing drills to improve those movements, my form and my speed — improved. You too can achieve the same results.

Here are five drills that will improve anyone’s form. Each of them strengthens a particular muscle group and improves the movement of the body through the running motion.

Before you start your next training run, pick a straight stretch of road about 50 meters long, or better still, go to a local track and do these after you’ve had a complete warm-up and stretch.

Plan to do each of these drills two to four times, taking only a short rest of 30 seconds between repeats of each drill.

1. Butt kicks
Just as the name implies, this drill involves trying to kick your own butt with each step. Taking short steps, kick your heel back and up as high as you can. This drill improves heel recovery, which is the part of the running motion where your leg rises up and coils for the next forward stride. This drill also strengthens the hamstrings, a primary muscle group used in running.

2. High steps
This drill involves taking short steps and picking your knees up as high as they can go. Think of the way those Clydesdale horses on the old Budweiser commercials used to prance. This drill strengthens the calves and hip flexors, and emphasizes proper running posture and the lift-off phase of running.

3. High skips
Everyone feels silly doing this at first, but believe me, it works. Swing your arms strongly and skip as high as you can. This drill helps build explosive power in your running stride, and it will help you climb hills and finish strong in your next race.

4. Stiff-legged running
Run keeping your knees as straight as possible. It helps to imagine that youre a Russian folk dancer. This drill will strengthen the hip flexors, which is the area where the bottom of your abdomen meets your leg a muscle group thats crucial to the running motion.

5. Strides
Think of these as slow-motion sprints. Dont run all-out; just run easily, but with the form you would use in sprinting. This drill gives you an opportunity to see how your body is moving during hard running, and gives you a chance to correct any problem areas you might have in your form. It also prepares you body for the next phase of your workout your actual distance run by lengthening the stride.

Do all of these drills at least once a week. They’ll only take a few minutes, but they work for elite runners, and they’ll work for you.

Abdominal workout for swimmers

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, August 11/09]

• Approx. 20 minutes
• 200 sit-ups
• 60 push-ups

Warm-up
Warm up with some light stretching, preferably on a cushioned yoga mat (common ones found in gyms are about an inch thick and made of styrofoam). To stretch out your stomach muscles, lie face down on the mat and prepare to do a push-up with your hands placed as close to your armpits as possible. Push your upper body up off the ground, leaving your hips and legs flat on the ground. This is known as a "seal press." Feel the stretch in your stomach, slowly tilting your head back towards the sky for added abdominal elongation.

50 'regular' sit-ups
Lying on your back, raise your knees off the ground about 12 inches so that the small of your back is flush with the ground and place your hands behind your head. Slowly raise your head toward your knees, making sure not to pull your head up with your hands (your hands and arms are there to add weight to the upper half of your body so that your abs have more mass to lift. They are not there for support). When you curl upward as far as you can go, ease back down to a resting position.

Take care not to relax your stomach on the down-side of the sit-up too quickly — the most effective part of the sit-up is actually this down-side, not the up-curl.

15 push-ups
After the first set of sit-ups, flip over on your stomach, execute a brief seal press to stretch out your abs, and go right into 15 push-ups, slowly and methodically. Picture your body as a rigid plank, making sure not to bounce your head or only "push up" the top half of your body rather, raise your entire body from toes to head. Keep your abs tight and controlled as you execute the push-ups they should burn even though this set serves as a break between sit-ups. Finish with another brief seal press.

50 'left/right sit-ups
These are just like "regular" sit-ups, only instead of bringing your head straight up with each repetition, you are alternating bringing your right elbow towards your left knee, and your left elbow towards your right knee.

15 push-ups

50 'chair-lift' sit-ups
These are great sit-ups for developing the oft-neglected upper abs. Most sit-ups tighten the lower four-pack of muscles, while this type of exercise places more emphasis on the upper four muscles in the abdominal region.

Lying on your back, lift your legs off the ground in a 90-degree angle as if you are sitting in a chair (only the chair is flat on its back). Again, placing your hands behind your head, slowly raise your head straight up toward the ceiling (unlike the previous sets, do not curl your head toward your knees, but rather reach your head up toward the sky, directly above you). If you do this correctly, it will feel different than the previous sit-ups, because you are working a different set of abdominal muscles.

15 push-ups

50 'bicycle' sit-ups
"Bicycles" are not exactly sit-ups, but they work the abdominals just as well, if not better, than traditional stomach curls. It is important to do these correctly, in a slow and controlled repetitive motion, to get the most out of the exercise.

Lying on your back, bring your feet up off the ground as if you are beginning a set of chair-lifts. With your hands behind your head, bring your left elbow toward your right knee and then your right elbow towards your left knee, while constantly moving your legs in a "cycling" motion.

Rather than a series of repetitive motions like the previous sets of sit-ups, "bicycles" are a smooth, continuous motion as you "cycle" your legs while twisting your spine left-to-right, alternating elbows-to-knees. Count 50 controlled rotations, then relax. Or you can time yourself for a minute, executing the motion slowly and methodically. This is the hardest abdominal drill, which is why it is last in the workout.

End with:

15 push-ups

Upon completion of this dry-land set, your stomach muscles should be burning and an overall tightness in your abdominals will be apparent. With the holidays looming and workout time scarce, this simple set of drills can be done anywhere, anytime. On a hotel room floor in the morning before your shower, or prior to a scheduled workout, for example.

It only takes 20 minutes, but consistently doing this short workout every other day is a great way to strengthen these oft-neglected stomach muscles.

The result will be better form in the pool and a leaner post-holiday waistline. Who wouldn't want that?