Dear all, I'm gonna just skip the last week's post because no one else send me timing other than wilson and lawrence and thus i couldn't formulate a proper time sheet.. Also, other than that, I find no significant stuff that I have not written before, that was also why the delay in the posting.
As for tonite, I can see that all of you are quite tired, I see its part of the weather making everyone's raging hormones changed from testosterones to estrogens and melatonin la huh.. :P
However, timing don't lie, and I can see that all of you are in great shape for the swim leg! :) Having a strong swim leg will definitely ensure a good ride and possible run after that!
Am very happy that Almost Everyone will be there this time round and I bet it's gonna be a BLAST! The only sad thing is no one will be there to take photo of us la.. hahaha..
Okay, chats aside, tonight's focus on this log will be the list of items to bring, not the training as you've all absorbed whatever I was teaching and have had enough practice to understand what I was trying to pass down.
Please click the below links to download the excel file.
For office 97~2003
For office 2007 and above
---------------------------------
Take note I've the list written for a Olympic Distance Race (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) and thus I've amended a nutrition list on the right hand side of the table. It is a rough guide.. There're some general rules to follow which i'll list down here.. but nutrition is really very very personal, just like your very own heart rate..
1) Start hydrating yourself 3 days before race. Taking in more than usual.. abt 2.5l/day or more ?
2) Drink some electrolytes the night before slp to race day
3) Breakfast must be FINISHED 2 hrs before race. you want to arrive there with food fully digested.
4) Eat NORMALLY.. don't do something different on race day... taking that super booster pills will 65% make you end up in hospital unless you take it everytime you train
5) 1 gel 10 minutes before start of race
6) 1 gel about 45(if you're sprinting all the time) to 55minutes into race
7) 1 gel every other 45minutes after the first gel taken in race
8) YOU NEED TO DRINK WATER/ELECTROLYTES EVERY 15MINUTES in the race to prevent cramp.. So if you're aiming a 30mins flat bike leg then don't bring a 700ml water bottle la.
9) Don't wait til you're thirsty to drink, as dehydration would already have set in and thus the signal from your body...
10) Eat when you feel strong.. once you bonk out, there's no turning back.
** I SET TIMER ON MY WATCH FOR EVERY 15MINS TO BEEP SO AS TO REMIND MYSELF TO DRINK. LOSING THAT FEW SECONDS COULD MEAN SAVING PRECIOUS MINUTES IN THE RACE LATER IF A CRAMP CAN BE PREVENTED.
It is very personal.. some like a banana before the race compared to a gel, some like potatoes.. some like their banana big, some like their potatoes baked... I know of an angmor who take in 2 bowls of oatmeal + 4 slices of bread + 2 cups of coffee + some power bar and carb drinks before race... so.. bottomline is whatever works best for you, works. :) Thus every training and practice, is a learning journey.. on what works and what don't. Of course, on race day, temperature may change.. etc.. :)
------------------------
Question to why gel is preferred in a race.. when you're in exertion mode, ie race pace, or working out.. its very difficult for the body to transport blood to the stomach to digest solid food.. and thus the lesser viscosity (let me know if i get this word wrong), i.e the less solid, more fluid a food is.. the easier it is for absorption..
Take the IV in hospital for example.. why IntraVenous? Why liquid glucose when the patient is weak and have low blood pressure/Heart rate during extreme fever/sick cases? Because that's the easiest way the body can absorb sugar for functioning.
It is NOT how much you eat.. it is how much your body can absorb. :)
Cheers
KK
PS---
WARM WELCOME TO EARNEST AND ANDY AND CALVIN.. :)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
An important post about coaching.
Team Sapphire,
As the founder of the Team, I have some words to say regarding people volunteering to do coaching for bike and run.
Firstly, I must say I am very very delighted to see your passion, drive and emotional inspiration that is filling all around the team. The small team of 5 have now doubled in size and even though the team is still quite young and in fact small in number, I take great responsibility in your safe-being and training adaptation. So please don't get me wrong, I am not discouraging anyone from doing anything beneficial for the team. I just need to voice this out as I felt strongly a sense of responsibility to do so, as a general concern of the team's safety in training. I sincerely hope gen will show this to Andre and there is no ill feelings for all of us (some may perceive this as a form of power struggle in my opinion).
Andy and Andre has volunteered themselves to be run coach for the team. As far as I am informed, they're doing sub 20minutes for 5km and sub 4:30 for 42km. As far as performance goes, they're astonishing to accomplish given that we're not full time athletes.
However, the point I hope to put through is these:
1) Being able to perform does not immediately grant rights to coaching
Explanation: Coaching and teaching is a completely different matter to self performance. When performing, you listen to your own body, you feel your own lungs and your legs movement.. you decide for yourself whether you should adjust your cadence and stride length and your rate of exertion according to how you feel at that very moment. And as long as you race often, with enough practice, you'll be able to come up with an optimum power output for the whole event and come up with a personal best with the best tactic for yourself.
Coaching and teaching requires, i repeat, REQUIRES the following:
- A coach to CONSTANTLY be able to try and feel what his students are feeling and adjust the training program (even when planned before hand) as the training goes on.
- He needs to ALWAYS ensure that the training is sufficient but not overkilling, is of great quality and not just of mediocre time chomping miles.
-He needs to have a love for ALWAYS reading up on the latest news and updates of running, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, find out the supporting research that will support the believe. Upon finding out the researches, he has to find out the sample distribution size and also the subject types used for research (and their characteristics), and then determine if the research is thoroughly believable or is it just a thought and theory from a sole group of persons? From there, he has to determine if the updates and news can be used upon training for his own group of people.
-Having said that, he has to totally understand the people he is training and also their movement characteristics and possible gains/loss of Range of motion and then adapt that training into every single individual on how the techniques should be performed.
2) You have to fully understand the movement physiology of a normal person, and how joint damage/possible genetic (lordosis, scoliosis, etc.) issues should be handled.
Explanation: Human physiology of movement is the BASIS OF ALL SPORTS. Without muscles, joints and its range of motion, NO SPORTS can be performed in ANY circumstances.
- Only upon knowing the specific movement of joints (including the understanding of those damaged or not), can he fully adapt his training program to be SAFE. Exercise is an act of catabolism to the body's muscle fibres and the body's survival instinct will anabolise MORE muscle fibres to adapt to the load that the body is receiving constantly (that is why consistent training is KEY, without consistency, the body will always treat the training as SHOCK and not be able to adapt properly with proper growth). Thus in a way, training for triathlons is very hurtful to the body given the multiple amount of stress the body is facing. That leads to increased risk of injuries.
-Anaerobic, aerobic, training effects and specific training adaptations of all training that are planned have to be taken into consideration before, during AND after training planning and execution. How much rest and what timing to give for a 6x400 for a person? Reading what magazines tell you just won't cut it because everyone's different. and at the end of the day, you still have to mesh those individualism of program into one that EVERYONE can do together and benefit from it!
e.g: try making Andy swim on the same pace with lawrence or try asking sam to bike at the same pace with me with same amount of rest. FYI, Anaerobic exercises rest to work ratio is 1:1 or 0.5:1.
- We have to reduce those risks of injury through several ways:
i) Knowing what we're doing for ourselves. Our own joint's range of motion and working within that range of motion and stretching consistently to improve ROM if need be. Without the full understanding of our joints movements and muscle fibres connection and start and end of fibre directions, there is no way you can do this.
ii) Not doing a wrong technique that is stressful to joints/unnecessarily used muscle parts.
iii) Training with a structured program that is periodized with hard training and easy days.
- Having said the above point (iii), as a coach, you have to be able to cope with that power of yours and make sure you don't get overcame by your ego and pride that the training should always be tough.
- Also, exactly how easy is easy? When I am swimming at 1 min per lap and maintaining for 30 laps, that is easy to me. That isn't to anyone of you and thus I never design any program that causes a complete breakdown in strokes.
-On tough days, how tough is tough? You must be able to sense a breakdown of techniques and give extra rest or take away rest from individual/groups when the tough days seem to easy or vice versa.
3) On days where your team feels down, We as coaches have to change the designated program to become interesting to the people participating. THIS IS A MUST. because without enjoyment and understanding of what is being practiced, there is LITTLE to NO growth and thus 10 people's time (10hrs) is wasted.
4) Last but not least, with or without a NROC coaching license, we have to take responsibility that training a team of people means WE are responsible for their well being and if anything ever happens, WE take BOTH the Glory AND the Blame.
----------------------------------------------------------
I hope I made it very clear of what to expect of a coach. Yes, I do all of the above, for a living and also for you guys, for free.
All in the name of passion.
The reason I felt strongly for this the founder and the coach is because I've seen TOO MANY COACHES who were ex national or whatever divisional champion basketballer teaching what they felt is good for them and assumed it is good for the rest.
If you are really keen to join me in the coaching (shitty) department, I'd like to recommend the following 2 options (+ a compulsory point below).
1) That you plan the training with me, and from there, learn about the body physiology (and read books: SWIMMING FASTEST(Swim physiology), Fitness Instructor's Hand book (basic physiology and body system handbook), NSCA personal training book (inner understanding of human body performance) and triathlete&cyclist's training bible.. etc.) OR
2) Go take up fitness instructor course, that's the bare minimum.. :)
Compulsory: That you run the training with the best of your ability to do all of the above that I stated about coaching, AND give details to every single person in the most beneficial way and in the way that the person can understand (your expression of your thoughts have to be constantly improving due to every individual's different perception of every sentences we put through as a coach).
e.g: I can tell you the correct way about swimming is to pitch your hand in the 30deg angle from the water's surface before entry and then you have to make sure that the catch occurs at the front quadrant of your body upon the entry, at the same time cocking of the body's core upon catch before applying the push. Can anyone understand this?
Compared to this:
"Collect the water at the front as far out as you can, then push the water you collected as far behind as you can with a strong finish in the push." :)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Having read the above, I'm sure some of you have doubts about who I am and whether I am really practicin what I preach here. So I'll declare the following.
I am a certified Swimming instructor, lifesaving instructor And a certified fitness instructor and has gone through the course of National Strength and Conditioning Personal Trainer. For those who are new, I picked up swimming from scratch(just 3 yrs back) and I remember the fear of swimming. I also picked up cycling late (last yr) and I remember how does it feel to be wobbly. Thus with those understanding, I am able to share with the beginners and understand their feeling thoroughly and from there give them confidence and teach a proper technique with minimal scientific expressions..:)
I sincerely hope this post does not portray an ill discouraging image of myself but an inspiration to what you can aim for if you are SERIOUSLY keen in picking up coaching. Especially gen who wants to pick up swim coaching license. I wrote this post 'cause I care about the Team's well being too.. hope you guys understand!
Love,
Coach KK
As the founder of the Team, I have some words to say regarding people volunteering to do coaching for bike and run.
Firstly, I must say I am very very delighted to see your passion, drive and emotional inspiration that is filling all around the team. The small team of 5 have now doubled in size and even though the team is still quite young and in fact small in number, I take great responsibility in your safe-being and training adaptation. So please don't get me wrong, I am not discouraging anyone from doing anything beneficial for the team. I just need to voice this out as I felt strongly a sense of responsibility to do so, as a general concern of the team's safety in training. I sincerely hope gen will show this to Andre and there is no ill feelings for all of us (some may perceive this as a form of power struggle in my opinion).
Andy and Andre has volunteered themselves to be run coach for the team. As far as I am informed, they're doing sub 20minutes for 5km and sub 4:30 for 42km. As far as performance goes, they're astonishing to accomplish given that we're not full time athletes.
However, the point I hope to put through is these:
1) Being able to perform does not immediately grant rights to coaching
Explanation: Coaching and teaching is a completely different matter to self performance. When performing, you listen to your own body, you feel your own lungs and your legs movement.. you decide for yourself whether you should adjust your cadence and stride length and your rate of exertion according to how you feel at that very moment. And as long as you race often, with enough practice, you'll be able to come up with an optimum power output for the whole event and come up with a personal best with the best tactic for yourself.
Coaching and teaching requires, i repeat, REQUIRES the following:
- A coach to CONSTANTLY be able to try and feel what his students are feeling and adjust the training program (even when planned before hand) as the training goes on.
- He needs to ALWAYS ensure that the training is sufficient but not overkilling, is of great quality and not just of mediocre time chomping miles.
-He needs to have a love for ALWAYS reading up on the latest news and updates of running, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, find out the supporting research that will support the believe. Upon finding out the researches, he has to find out the sample distribution size and also the subject types used for research (and their characteristics), and then determine if the research is thoroughly believable or is it just a thought and theory from a sole group of persons? From there, he has to determine if the updates and news can be used upon training for his own group of people.
-Having said that, he has to totally understand the people he is training and also their movement characteristics and possible gains/loss of Range of motion and then adapt that training into every single individual on how the techniques should be performed.
2) You have to fully understand the movement physiology of a normal person, and how joint damage/possible genetic (lordosis, scoliosis, etc.) issues should be handled.
Explanation: Human physiology of movement is the BASIS OF ALL SPORTS. Without muscles, joints and its range of motion, NO SPORTS can be performed in ANY circumstances.
- Only upon knowing the specific movement of joints (including the understanding of those damaged or not), can he fully adapt his training program to be SAFE. Exercise is an act of catabolism to the body's muscle fibres and the body's survival instinct will anabolise MORE muscle fibres to adapt to the load that the body is receiving constantly (that is why consistent training is KEY, without consistency, the body will always treat the training as SHOCK and not be able to adapt properly with proper growth). Thus in a way, training for triathlons is very hurtful to the body given the multiple amount of stress the body is facing. That leads to increased risk of injuries.
-Anaerobic, aerobic, training effects and specific training adaptations of all training that are planned have to be taken into consideration before, during AND after training planning and execution. How much rest and what timing to give for a 6x400 for a person? Reading what magazines tell you just won't cut it because everyone's different. and at the end of the day, you still have to mesh those individualism of program into one that EVERYONE can do together and benefit from it!
e.g: try making Andy swim on the same pace with lawrence or try asking sam to bike at the same pace with me with same amount of rest. FYI, Anaerobic exercises rest to work ratio is 1:1 or 0.5:1.
- We have to reduce those risks of injury through several ways:
i) Knowing what we're doing for ourselves. Our own joint's range of motion and working within that range of motion and stretching consistently to improve ROM if need be. Without the full understanding of our joints movements and muscle fibres connection and start and end of fibre directions, there is no way you can do this.
ii) Not doing a wrong technique that is stressful to joints/unnecessarily used muscle parts.
iii) Training with a structured program that is periodized with hard training and easy days.
- Having said the above point (iii), as a coach, you have to be able to cope with that power of yours and make sure you don't get overcame by your ego and pride that the training should always be tough.
- Also, exactly how easy is easy? When I am swimming at 1 min per lap and maintaining for 30 laps, that is easy to me. That isn't to anyone of you and thus I never design any program that causes a complete breakdown in strokes.
-On tough days, how tough is tough? You must be able to sense a breakdown of techniques and give extra rest or take away rest from individual/groups when the tough days seem to easy or vice versa.
3) On days where your team feels down, We as coaches have to change the designated program to become interesting to the people participating. THIS IS A MUST. because without enjoyment and understanding of what is being practiced, there is LITTLE to NO growth and thus 10 people's time (10hrs) is wasted.
4) Last but not least, with or without a NROC coaching license, we have to take responsibility that training a team of people means WE are responsible for their well being and if anything ever happens, WE take BOTH the Glory AND the Blame.
----------------------------------------------------------
I hope I made it very clear of what to expect of a coach. Yes, I do all of the above, for a living and also for you guys, for free.
All in the name of passion.
The reason I felt strongly for this the founder and the coach is because I've seen TOO MANY COACHES who were ex national or whatever divisional champion basketballer teaching what they felt is good for them and assumed it is good for the rest.
If you are really keen to join me in the coaching (shitty) department, I'd like to recommend the following 2 options (+ a compulsory point below).
1) That you plan the training with me, and from there, learn about the body physiology (and read books: SWIMMING FASTEST(Swim physiology), Fitness Instructor's Hand book (basic physiology and body system handbook), NSCA personal training book (inner understanding of human body performance) and triathlete&cyclist's training bible.. etc.) OR
2) Go take up fitness instructor course, that's the bare minimum.. :)
Compulsory: That you run the training with the best of your ability to do all of the above that I stated about coaching, AND give details to every single person in the most beneficial way and in the way that the person can understand (your expression of your thoughts have to be constantly improving due to every individual's different perception of every sentences we put through as a coach).
e.g: I can tell you the correct way about swimming is to pitch your hand in the 30deg angle from the water's surface before entry and then you have to make sure that the catch occurs at the front quadrant of your body upon the entry, at the same time cocking of the body's core upon catch before applying the push. Can anyone understand this?
Compared to this:
"Collect the water at the front as far out as you can, then push the water you collected as far behind as you can with a strong finish in the push." :)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Having read the above, I'm sure some of you have doubts about who I am and whether I am really practicin what I preach here. So I'll declare the following.
I am a certified Swimming instructor, lifesaving instructor And a certified fitness instructor and has gone through the course of National Strength and Conditioning Personal Trainer. For those who are new, I picked up swimming from scratch(just 3 yrs back) and I remember the fear of swimming. I also picked up cycling late (last yr) and I remember how does it feel to be wobbly. Thus with those understanding, I am able to share with the beginners and understand their feeling thoroughly and from there give them confidence and teach a proper technique with minimal scientific expressions..:)
I sincerely hope this post does not portray an ill discouraging image of myself but an inspiration to what you can aim for if you are SERIOUSLY keen in picking up coaching. Especially gen who wants to pick up swim coaching license. I wrote this post 'cause I care about the Team's well being too.. hope you guys understand!
Love,
Coach KK
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Swim Trg 07/04/10 PART 2.
This post is for Sam, Lawrence and Marianne.
All of you lack body rotation, thus resulted in the following errors in your swim:
1) Pulling with arms only --> Arm pull should start from core and lats muscles
2) kicking with legs only --> Kick should start from core and hip muscles
3) Shoulder risk injury because without rotation, the arm has to go into an awkward position (like a chicken wing towards your back) in the shoulder area just to clear the water high enough for recovery to the front
----------------------------
Individually:
Sam:
Good job on the fast/slow swim. That is the main set for you and you did really well. You could explode and recover within the same distance all the time means your fitness for swim is Race Ready. :)
Bad news is you gotta polish your finesse and stop being so lazy lo...
Good luck for your race baby! :D
Marianne:
Your three beat kick/continuous kicking is good on the left side when you're not breathing... I am guessing the need to breathe + pull + kick continuously is a tough job to coordinate and thus its more difficult to do for now on the breathing side. None the less, the last lap when I asked you to chiong with continuous kicking, you did pretty well. The kick generated quite a bit of power and that's the way it should be to swim Hard swims.
No more 1:05 Hard swim for you okay. Must all 0:59 and below! please go practice the 3 beat kick. It don't have to be fast swims.. 3 beat kicks can also be used for slow swim its just that the legs have to move continuously in small kicks as your arm pull on. Get the coordination right with minimal exertion first then think abt swimming harder with the new technique. Always never fail for picking up new techniques that way.
Lawrence:
Left arm pull is wreaking havoc in your swim stroke! Already told you what to do, now its up to you consciously change as you come for swim liao!
Your kicking also have a tendency to "store power" or prepare for kick then can do the 2 beat kick swim.. read the previous post for the wilson group for more info on this kick symptom.. Try to return both your legs to neutral position after kicking (i.e straightened and together)... They should be in this position all the time before and after kicking.. there is not preparation phase for kicks.. just kick from neutral feet tgt position.
Good job on feeling the power in your pull. Those power comes from your right rotation, the left side not much power. Need to work on the left side's rotation + pulling synchronization!
----------------------------------------
Last but not least, a little marketing for myself.
Firstly, who's training for Desaru and what distance ? I believe if I can guide you in your training, it'll make the race a very very successful one. Thus, I wanna offer discounted monthly online training program if got people wanna take up. Market rate is 175/mth.. I'm hoping to market it at $120 for you guys. It is a lot of work to plan.. especially now you know what kind of details I go into, I don't give genetic programs. So the personal training programs are for your own personal needs indeed (race/fitness/person specific). HELP ME ADVERT PLEASE~~~ :D
Cheers
KK
All of you lack body rotation, thus resulted in the following errors in your swim:
1) Pulling with arms only --> Arm pull should start from core and lats muscles
2) kicking with legs only --> Kick should start from core and hip muscles
3) Shoulder risk injury because without rotation, the arm has to go into an awkward position (like a chicken wing towards your back) in the shoulder area just to clear the water high enough for recovery to the front
----------------------------
Individually:
Sam:
Good job on the fast/slow swim. That is the main set for you and you did really well. You could explode and recover within the same distance all the time means your fitness for swim is Race Ready. :)
Bad news is you gotta polish your finesse and stop being so lazy lo...
Good luck for your race baby! :D
Marianne:
Your three beat kick/continuous kicking is good on the left side when you're not breathing... I am guessing the need to breathe + pull + kick continuously is a tough job to coordinate and thus its more difficult to do for now on the breathing side. None the less, the last lap when I asked you to chiong with continuous kicking, you did pretty well. The kick generated quite a bit of power and that's the way it should be to swim Hard swims.
No more 1:05 Hard swim for you okay. Must all 0:59 and below! please go practice the 3 beat kick. It don't have to be fast swims.. 3 beat kicks can also be used for slow swim its just that the legs have to move continuously in small kicks as your arm pull on. Get the coordination right with minimal exertion first then think abt swimming harder with the new technique. Always never fail for picking up new techniques that way.
Lawrence:
Left arm pull is wreaking havoc in your swim stroke! Already told you what to do, now its up to you consciously change as you come for swim liao!
Your kicking also have a tendency to "store power" or prepare for kick then can do the 2 beat kick swim.. read the previous post for the wilson group for more info on this kick symptom.. Try to return both your legs to neutral position after kicking (i.e straightened and together)... They should be in this position all the time before and after kicking.. there is not preparation phase for kicks.. just kick from neutral feet tgt position.
Good job on feeling the power in your pull. Those power comes from your right rotation, the left side not much power. Need to work on the left side's rotation + pulling synchronization!
----------------------------------------
Last but not least, a little marketing for myself.
Firstly, who's training for Desaru and what distance ? I believe if I can guide you in your training, it'll make the race a very very successful one. Thus, I wanna offer discounted monthly online training program if got people wanna take up. Market rate is 175/mth.. I'm hoping to market it at $120 for you guys. It is a lot of work to plan.. especially now you know what kind of details I go into, I don't give genetic programs. So the personal training programs are for your own personal needs indeed (race/fitness/person specific). HELP ME ADVERT PLEASE~~~ :D
Cheers
KK
Swim Trg 07/04/2010
I really ought to be sleeping at 4:30 right now since I have a race coming this weekend.. but reading Teck Beng's sms just gave me a boost in spirit to complete this better for you guys.
To TB:
With admiration comes inspiration (i hope),
With inspiration comes passion,
With passion, there's an impulsive ignition,
To swim harder and Try a Tri,
To experience the never-ending High,
Fall in Love with pain (with trg),
And laughter (at trg) all the same.
All those, in the name of passion,
That came from a spark of inspiration,
That came from someone's admiration. :)
Thank you for the motivation! =)
-----------------------------------------------
Above's the log with the stroke count and timing. Fill in the blanks and email me if you have more to put up. Seriously, this is for your own good and also for my reference when I'm planning the training. As a matter of fact, I DO plan every single thing in the training so that I achieve the following:
1) Everyone benefits in both fitness and finesse (pacing, technique, stroke, endurance, etc.)
2) Trg can run as parallel as possible in two groups
3) I can observe/train tgt effectively
4) Everybody can do it.
--------------------
One thing I didn't understand is why Andy and Calvin didn't send me your stroke count and timing? Couldn't remember? Or you didn't thought that I will really put this up? haha.. whichever, fill me in if you have the time. (If don't have, go create time.. :P)
----------------------
GENERALLY...
Everyone in Wilson's group have a straight arm pull (Except TB). That causes drag and when you're fatigue (power output decreases), the drag ratio will be much higher than the power you're putting out with your pull. I.e you'll slow down A LOT.
Everyone also have the tendency to "store power" in your legs or prepare your legs by opening up before kicking. This action will WORSEN (I.e gets opened wider and wider) as you fatigue because your body will automatically ask you to open wider so you can kick as hard as before you fatigue. When you open your legs up in a free style swim, it breaks the streamline position that is optimum for piercing through the water. That again SLOWS YOU DOWN.
You can see that the above syndromes are Very Very bad because the case worsen when you tire out.. that is you'll do fine and can live with them for 10 laps perhaps.. then on the 11t laps onwards you'll find your strokes increasing and SO are your timing! Very very inefficient in my opinion.
Last but not least everyone's not very good at activating your core and swimming from your hips... there's a lack of body rotation and thus also the lack of latissimus dorsi (your wing muscles at the side of your back) activation in your pull. This take some conscious thinking to flex that muscle as you extend your shoulder(go google arm extension is what movement.. it means moving your arm from front to the back.).. Remember, always use big muscles in sports, the limbs are but just rotors from the motor.
--------------------------
Individually......
From this training, we can compare the result of previous training and see that my brother KH has SIGNIFICANT improvement of stroke length. His timing wasn't properly taken but it was around 10% to 25% slower than wilson only. Given a strength comparison, its not too bad. And this time, KH's strokes didn't collapse completely and is able to complete 200m swim after all those before the 200s.. Pretty impressive I will say.
Wilson's swim has improved a lot, partially from the cross training from run and bike.. consistency is key, not just intensity/volume per session. Straight arm pulling is causing a lot of trouble. No pushups/pullups or any form of strength training for now for you as you got REALLY TIGHT SHOULDER muscles and pecs at your chest. Do more stretching, hold them, don't bounce.
If die die have to work out at gym, find out how to do a full range of motion and muscular activation for every movement of arms and legs from me first.
If you train with a bad range of motion then your muscle's range of motion will shorten due to incomplete contraction. I.E Stiffness and bad performance in sports + injury risks ++.
Look below at the end for a e.g of such case of bad range of motion training.
Teck Beng's swim is DEADLY CONSISTENT.. albeit the lack of sync from body and limbs causes a significant loss in potential power output. Nice catch you have, but how come the right hand fingers always open up wherelse the left hand's fingers are nicely closed ALL THE TIME? Yep, it happened through all the laps when I was sitting under the water watching all of you.
Calvin
Your swim is pretty strong I will say. It's nowhere near bad. The timing of 28 minutes per 20 laps comes from the falter of technique.
Check the below points:
1) Your entry is shallow, i.e the whole arm is JUST underneathe the surface (so are your head and chest).
2) You over-reached in your recovery (Straighten arm before entry into water). This indirectly leads to that arm on the surface syndrome.
Add the above 2 points to those stated in the "Generally..." section above and you'll roughly know why you get a 28minutes 20laps and those girls on the other side of the pool despite being weaker in terms of strength are doing 22 to 24minutes 20laps. TECHNIQUE IS THE FOCAL POINT FROM NOW ON!!!! DON'T EVER CLOCK BLIND MILEAGE AGAIN!!!!!:)
Andy
Sadly, there's quite a bit to change in your strokes but they're very common mistakes.
1) Never fully extend arm backwards when pulling. Shortened pull = shortened distance travelled per pull. Read previous post about Swim Velocity.
2) Breathing is bad. Holding breathe, using chest to breathe all tires you out very quickly.
3) No concept of using your lung to float as you swim, your hips are sinking very badly.
4) Body are not stretched out and thus streamlining position is not that good yet.
5) Lack of body rotation, especially on the left side.
6) Bad catch position.
7) Head is too high out of water, i.e point 3.
8) No gliding.
My advice: Ask Wilson over MSN what I meant on those 8 points. If he can't answer, ask me and I will gladly answer. :)
--------------------------
A word of caution for gym/weight training, also a sharing of what proper training did for me..
When training at gym, please use light weight and learn to zone in on muscular activation. When you can consciously activate and zone in on one muscle to contract fully, you won't be able to carry That much amount of weight. E.g: bicep curl, how heavy do you think that tiny ball on your arm can carry? 20? Doesn't make sense does it?
When you learn the activation of muscular contraction, make sure you ALWAYS work to the FULL RANGE OF MOTION. When you don't work to the full range of motion by contracting your muscle, (i.e instead of flexing that muscle fully, you use momentum to pull the weight down and towards you or heave the weight up and away)... your muscle will not learn the correct movement pattern and thus the range of motion will be lost through the improper forms in training.
E.g of such case is big guys in the gym that throws the weight around. How many times have you seen them pulling the lat pull down machine(the one with a bar on top that you hold shoulder width or wider to pull down to under your chin.) with loads of weight plates and all you see is they're jerking their body back and forth just to pull that damn thing down with momentum?
Since they're not contracting their lats as they should be doing, guess what?
It resulted in that "arms-cannot-close-to-body-side" symptom lor.. forever walk like gorilla cos the lats cannot be fully contracted. A normal human should be able to keep their arms by the side completely relaxed and now their arms have to flare out at all times! HOW MACHO? :S.. isn't trg suppose to help us become better and stronger persons? Now without that range of motion, they're worse than an untrained person!
If A fully contracted piece of lats muscle can give you 100% potential of its power, then those who can only contract half way would only give them 50%.. I learnt this through a very embarassing tug of war game (one on one with my shi fu).. he's 55kg, 55 yrs old.. i was 24 and 78 kg at that time.. I couldn't even make him move forward a single inch.
After training with the full range of motion + conscious contraction of muscles + light weight theory... I was able to squat 120kg 5 times with good form (compared to previous 95kg 5 reps) and I could do pull ups without swinging or much contraction from my arm muscles... Oh, stabilizer muscles improved too and I could stand sam(60++ kg) jumping right on my torso without budging a step back to balance myself.
Gym training, if done properly can give you an iron body.. But it can also destroy you if you choose ego and pride over wisdom. Stay wise. :)
Cheers
KK
ps: thank you Lawlaw for being so incredibly kind to send me and my cervie right to my "door step". And Wilson for sacrificing your rest because of the sending...
To TB:
With admiration comes inspiration (i hope),
With inspiration comes passion,
With passion, there's an impulsive ignition,
To swim harder and Try a Tri,
To experience the never-ending High,
Fall in Love with pain (with trg),
And laughter (at trg) all the same.
All those, in the name of passion,
That came from a spark of inspiration,
That came from someone's admiration. :)
Thank you for the motivation! =)
-----------------------------------------------
Above's the log with the stroke count and timing. Fill in the blanks and email me if you have more to put up. Seriously, this is for your own good and also for my reference when I'm planning the training. As a matter of fact, I DO plan every single thing in the training so that I achieve the following:
1) Everyone benefits in both fitness and finesse (pacing, technique, stroke, endurance, etc.)
2) Trg can run as parallel as possible in two groups
3) I can observe/train tgt effectively
4) Everybody can do it.
--------------------
One thing I didn't understand is why Andy and Calvin didn't send me your stroke count and timing? Couldn't remember? Or you didn't thought that I will really put this up? haha.. whichever, fill me in if you have the time. (If don't have, go create time.. :P)
----------------------
GENERALLY...
Everyone in Wilson's group have a straight arm pull (Except TB). That causes drag and when you're fatigue (power output decreases), the drag ratio will be much higher than the power you're putting out with your pull. I.e you'll slow down A LOT.
Everyone also have the tendency to "store power" in your legs or prepare your legs by opening up before kicking. This action will WORSEN (I.e gets opened wider and wider) as you fatigue because your body will automatically ask you to open wider so you can kick as hard as before you fatigue. When you open your legs up in a free style swim, it breaks the streamline position that is optimum for piercing through the water. That again SLOWS YOU DOWN.
You can see that the above syndromes are Very Very bad because the case worsen when you tire out.. that is you'll do fine and can live with them for 10 laps perhaps.. then on the 11t laps onwards you'll find your strokes increasing and SO are your timing! Very very inefficient in my opinion.
Last but not least everyone's not very good at activating your core and swimming from your hips... there's a lack of body rotation and thus also the lack of latissimus dorsi (your wing muscles at the side of your back) activation in your pull. This take some conscious thinking to flex that muscle as you extend your shoulder(go google arm extension is what movement.. it means moving your arm from front to the back.).. Remember, always use big muscles in sports, the limbs are but just rotors from the motor.
--------------------------
Individually......
From this training, we can compare the result of previous training and see that my brother KH has SIGNIFICANT improvement of stroke length. His timing wasn't properly taken but it was around 10% to 25% slower than wilson only. Given a strength comparison, its not too bad. And this time, KH's strokes didn't collapse completely and is able to complete 200m swim after all those before the 200s.. Pretty impressive I will say.
Wilson's swim has improved a lot, partially from the cross training from run and bike.. consistency is key, not just intensity/volume per session. Straight arm pulling is causing a lot of trouble. No pushups/pullups or any form of strength training for now for you as you got REALLY TIGHT SHOULDER muscles and pecs at your chest. Do more stretching, hold them, don't bounce.
If die die have to work out at gym, find out how to do a full range of motion and muscular activation for every movement of arms and legs from me first.
If you train with a bad range of motion then your muscle's range of motion will shorten due to incomplete contraction. I.E Stiffness and bad performance in sports + injury risks ++.
Look below at the end for a e.g of such case of bad range of motion training.
Teck Beng's swim is DEADLY CONSISTENT.. albeit the lack of sync from body and limbs causes a significant loss in potential power output. Nice catch you have, but how come the right hand fingers always open up wherelse the left hand's fingers are nicely closed ALL THE TIME? Yep, it happened through all the laps when I was sitting under the water watching all of you.
Calvin
Your swim is pretty strong I will say. It's nowhere near bad. The timing of 28 minutes per 20 laps comes from the falter of technique.
Check the below points:
1) Your entry is shallow, i.e the whole arm is JUST underneathe the surface (so are your head and chest).
2) You over-reached in your recovery (Straighten arm before entry into water). This indirectly leads to that arm on the surface syndrome.
Add the above 2 points to those stated in the "Generally..." section above and you'll roughly know why you get a 28minutes 20laps and those girls on the other side of the pool despite being weaker in terms of strength are doing 22 to 24minutes 20laps. TECHNIQUE IS THE FOCAL POINT FROM NOW ON!!!! DON'T EVER CLOCK BLIND MILEAGE AGAIN!!!!!:)
Andy
Sadly, there's quite a bit to change in your strokes but they're very common mistakes.
1) Never fully extend arm backwards when pulling. Shortened pull = shortened distance travelled per pull. Read previous post about Swim Velocity.
2) Breathing is bad. Holding breathe, using chest to breathe all tires you out very quickly.
3) No concept of using your lung to float as you swim, your hips are sinking very badly.
4) Body are not stretched out and thus streamlining position is not that good yet.
5) Lack of body rotation, especially on the left side.
6) Bad catch position.
7) Head is too high out of water, i.e point 3.
8) No gliding.
My advice: Ask Wilson over MSN what I meant on those 8 points. If he can't answer, ask me and I will gladly answer. :)
--------------------------
A word of caution for gym/weight training, also a sharing of what proper training did for me..
When training at gym, please use light weight and learn to zone in on muscular activation. When you can consciously activate and zone in on one muscle to contract fully, you won't be able to carry That much amount of weight. E.g: bicep curl, how heavy do you think that tiny ball on your arm can carry? 20? Doesn't make sense does it?
When you learn the activation of muscular contraction, make sure you ALWAYS work to the FULL RANGE OF MOTION. When you don't work to the full range of motion by contracting your muscle, (i.e instead of flexing that muscle fully, you use momentum to pull the weight down and towards you or heave the weight up and away)... your muscle will not learn the correct movement pattern and thus the range of motion will be lost through the improper forms in training.
E.g of such case is big guys in the gym that throws the weight around. How many times have you seen them pulling the lat pull down machine(the one with a bar on top that you hold shoulder width or wider to pull down to under your chin.) with loads of weight plates and all you see is they're jerking their body back and forth just to pull that damn thing down with momentum?
Since they're not contracting their lats as they should be doing, guess what?
It resulted in that "arms-cannot-close-to-body-side" symptom lor.. forever walk like gorilla cos the lats cannot be fully contracted. A normal human should be able to keep their arms by the side completely relaxed and now their arms have to flare out at all times! HOW MACHO? :S.. isn't trg suppose to help us become better and stronger persons? Now without that range of motion, they're worse than an untrained person!
If A fully contracted piece of lats muscle can give you 100% potential of its power, then those who can only contract half way would only give them 50%.. I learnt this through a very embarassing tug of war game (one on one with my shi fu).. he's 55kg, 55 yrs old.. i was 24 and 78 kg at that time.. I couldn't even make him move forward a single inch.
After training with the full range of motion + conscious contraction of muscles + light weight theory... I was able to squat 120kg 5 times with good form (compared to previous 95kg 5 reps) and I could do pull ups without swinging or much contraction from my arm muscles... Oh, stabilizer muscles improved too and I could stand sam(60++ kg) jumping right on my torso without budging a step back to balance myself.
Gym training, if done properly can give you an iron body.. But it can also destroy you if you choose ego and pride over wisdom. Stay wise. :)
Cheers
KK
ps: thank you Lawlaw for being so incredibly kind to send me and my cervie right to my "door step". And Wilson for sacrificing your rest because of the sending...
Friday, April 2, 2010
A memory.. My maiden triathlon log
Well well well, shit have been happening at home, in my life and everywhere else as well! I always take pride in my very own readiness to take on whatever is coming, expected or unexpected..
Quote Police Academy Mentor "DOM" - "Expect the Unexpected!"
However, things get quite irritating and frustrating when it steps into the training that i need to do.
Anyway, lets put that far behind.. this post is about my FIRST OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRIATHLON! =D
---------------------------------------
So, it has to be trifactor, couldn't be OSIM. I just needed that extra 2 to 3 weeks to get myself mentally ready for my very own Maiden OD Tri. :)
Went to bed at 11pm the night before and found myself tossing and turning til about 3.30AM.
GREAT! i have 2 hrs left to slp.. and then i close my eyes..
and then.. "RINNNNGGGG"...
Hey.. I thought I just closed my eyes?
Anxiety overridden me and I thought 2.5 Hrs of sleep didn't feel too bad. I prepped everything and packed everything 6 times or more the day before and thus I just need to get changed, body marked, grab my food, call the cab and off i can leave with my transition Box and bike. :)
On the cab, I listened to soothing music, I felt OK, to be honest, I know that the music's gonna boost me up and I was NEVER so confident about my swim BEFORE. I knew I can make it sub 30 this time!
"The sleep's not going to get me!" or so, I thought.
So I reached there on time, 1hr before everything... Chatted with my transition area neighbours a little and went on to do my warmup swim. It still felt good. Wave condition checked, HR up, i'm ready to go.
So, I was at the starting line, at the front row waiting for the gun shot/horn... The swim start was a 3meters wide entry i think? haha.. really small and the groups are like in 100s only. So it really eases off the anxiety quite abit.
I looked ahead at the first buoy, and then the other and then the way back.. I told myself i'm gonna go at it 2x. Race pace. I can do it.
And then The Horn sounded and I did the entry just like practice. I porpoised just like how Evan taught me. Goggles was abit loose but it is ok... for the first 50 strokes, I felt strong.
But half way to the buoy... I FELT MY ENERGY SLIPPING AWAY! my arms are churning at a shockingly turnover rate.. and I FELT SLEEPY.
WTF?
still, the 2.5 hrs of sleep got me in the swim.. I relaxed and jsut tried to focus on gliding and getting the techniques right. One lap down, 16minutes. As I ran along the shore to the second lap entry, I told myself "its ok. Second lap WILL BE BETTER.".. So I went in, and suddenly, I was so alone.. I don't know why. haha.. and my morale dropped. I asked myself "I really don't feel good at all... I fucked up this race.. shit.. fuck it.." I turned around and look at the shore, its just 100m away..
And then I shaked myself up with a few more hard strokes. I asked myself these..
Why did you come?
What the fuck was those 4km of swim per week for?
You trained under Evan til you almost vomited but you still pulled through the last 6x50s and now you're giving up because you don't feel good in the 16th lap?
All your lovely boys and girls who're supporting you.. your own students in their first freshman distance and sprint distance.. Do I want them to see me telling me I gave up?
HELL NO.
I will myself up once I passed the first buoy and I finally went into race pace condition.
I build my kick in the last couple of hundreds as per practice. I ran up the shore line telling myself "Coach Nicole will be proud of this. So will Sam. AND EVERYBODY ELSE. I'M HERE TO RACE!!!! And my opponent? MYSELF."
I went into the transition knowing I'm beaten myself once in the swim.
Took my time in the transition to wear my shoes and helmet and get my bike out. I started the bike in a moderate spin gear... and then build into an average 95cad race pace that I held on for the whole of the bike leg.
I went into the run feeling great! Looking at the time, I did some math and figured I averaged abt 30kph.. goal achieved! :)
Once into the run, the searing heat was almost unbearable. A lot of people overheated.. I told myself I just have to continue going. Nic advised I may not be able to hold my race pace for 5km so I just have to BE PATIENT and do it just below threshold RPE until the last 1/3.
My goal time is below 1hr.
On the way, I met this guy named Kenny. And we striked a conversation and actually found that he's aiming for 1hr too and so I thought why not we pace each other.
We did just that and at times he pushed the pace harder, at times, I did that and dropped him a little but I looked back and cheered him on, he caught up again.
Judging from the first lap's heat condition, I doubt I could hold 3.5km of race pace as planned before hand so I decided to do it on the last lap back. When I'm there, I told myself "this is it. Race pace baby."
We let loose and I dropped him for a bit.. I carried on and pass the finishing line strong with him following closely in about couple of minutes behind.
It was Kenny's first too! :)
-------------------------------------------
It was a very very remarkable first time for me albeit a shorter bike lap but anyway, I felt like I finished the 6 laps feeling I could have gone maybe 1to 2kph faster so I think the pace is good.
Swim was disappointing but it was where I beat myself in the main struggle to continue and have a good race. That was what it was supposed to be all about isn't it?
Run was OK.. 56mins is acceptable.. Met coach after the race and since she said it was good timing for me then I shall accept it as a good timing for now! hehe.. ambitious me! :D
She had a "Training race" according to her and her timing is 2hr 33minutes..
(-_-")...
haha..
So my swim was actually 32minutes+, bike avg 30kph, and ran 56 minutes.. Plus transition of 7 minutes (time really flies here! gotta make it faster!).. 2 hr 48mins!
If bike is 4 km more, i'd be doing 2hr 56mins! hehe.. still under 3!
YAY YAY YAY
HIP HIP HURRAY FOR MY FIRST TRI!
NEXT UP: AVIVA HALF IRON MAN!!!!!! 21ST MARCH 2010!
--------------------------
Unfortunately the HIM didn't realize itself but that's fine.. Always live to race another day!
Cheers,
KK
Quote Police Academy Mentor "DOM" - "Expect the Unexpected!"
However, things get quite irritating and frustrating when it steps into the training that i need to do.
Anyway, lets put that far behind.. this post is about my FIRST OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRIATHLON! =D
---------------------------------------
So, it has to be trifactor, couldn't be OSIM. I just needed that extra 2 to 3 weeks to get myself mentally ready for my very own Maiden OD Tri. :)
Went to bed at 11pm the night before and found myself tossing and turning til about 3.30AM.
GREAT! i have 2 hrs left to slp.. and then i close my eyes..
and then.. "RINNNNGGGG"...
Hey.. I thought I just closed my eyes?
Anxiety overridden me and I thought 2.5 Hrs of sleep didn't feel too bad. I prepped everything and packed everything 6 times or more the day before and thus I just need to get changed, body marked, grab my food, call the cab and off i can leave with my transition Box and bike. :)
On the cab, I listened to soothing music, I felt OK, to be honest, I know that the music's gonna boost me up and I was NEVER so confident about my swim BEFORE. I knew I can make it sub 30 this time!
"The sleep's not going to get me!" or so, I thought.
So I reached there on time, 1hr before everything... Chatted with my transition area neighbours a little and went on to do my warmup swim. It still felt good. Wave condition checked, HR up, i'm ready to go.
So, I was at the starting line, at the front row waiting for the gun shot/horn... The swim start was a 3meters wide entry i think? haha.. really small and the groups are like in 100s only. So it really eases off the anxiety quite abit.
I looked ahead at the first buoy, and then the other and then the way back.. I told myself i'm gonna go at it 2x. Race pace. I can do it.
And then The Horn sounded and I did the entry just like practice. I porpoised just like how Evan taught me. Goggles was abit loose but it is ok... for the first 50 strokes, I felt strong.
But half way to the buoy... I FELT MY ENERGY SLIPPING AWAY! my arms are churning at a shockingly turnover rate.. and I FELT SLEEPY.
WTF?
still, the 2.5 hrs of sleep got me in the swim.. I relaxed and jsut tried to focus on gliding and getting the techniques right. One lap down, 16minutes. As I ran along the shore to the second lap entry, I told myself "its ok. Second lap WILL BE BETTER.".. So I went in, and suddenly, I was so alone.. I don't know why. haha.. and my morale dropped. I asked myself "I really don't feel good at all... I fucked up this race.. shit.. fuck it.." I turned around and look at the shore, its just 100m away..
And then I shaked myself up with a few more hard strokes. I asked myself these..
Why did you come?
What the fuck was those 4km of swim per week for?
You trained under Evan til you almost vomited but you still pulled through the last 6x50s and now you're giving up because you don't feel good in the 16th lap?
All your lovely boys and girls who're supporting you.. your own students in their first freshman distance and sprint distance.. Do I want them to see me telling me I gave up?
HELL NO.
I will myself up once I passed the first buoy and I finally went into race pace condition.
I build my kick in the last couple of hundreds as per practice. I ran up the shore line telling myself "Coach Nicole will be proud of this. So will Sam. AND EVERYBODY ELSE. I'M HERE TO RACE!!!! And my opponent? MYSELF."
I went into the transition knowing I'm beaten myself once in the swim.
Took my time in the transition to wear my shoes and helmet and get my bike out. I started the bike in a moderate spin gear... and then build into an average 95cad race pace that I held on for the whole of the bike leg.
I went into the run feeling great! Looking at the time, I did some math and figured I averaged abt 30kph.. goal achieved! :)
Once into the run, the searing heat was almost unbearable. A lot of people overheated.. I told myself I just have to continue going. Nic advised I may not be able to hold my race pace for 5km so I just have to BE PATIENT and do it just below threshold RPE until the last 1/3.
My goal time is below 1hr.
On the way, I met this guy named Kenny. And we striked a conversation and actually found that he's aiming for 1hr too and so I thought why not we pace each other.
We did just that and at times he pushed the pace harder, at times, I did that and dropped him a little but I looked back and cheered him on, he caught up again.
Judging from the first lap's heat condition, I doubt I could hold 3.5km of race pace as planned before hand so I decided to do it on the last lap back. When I'm there, I told myself "this is it. Race pace baby."
We let loose and I dropped him for a bit.. I carried on and pass the finishing line strong with him following closely in about couple of minutes behind.
It was Kenny's first too! :)
-------------------------------------------
It was a very very remarkable first time for me albeit a shorter bike lap but anyway, I felt like I finished the 6 laps feeling I could have gone maybe 1to 2kph faster so I think the pace is good.
Swim was disappointing but it was where I beat myself in the main struggle to continue and have a good race. That was what it was supposed to be all about isn't it?
Run was OK.. 56mins is acceptable.. Met coach after the race and since she said it was good timing for me then I shall accept it as a good timing for now! hehe.. ambitious me! :D
She had a "Training race" according to her and her timing is 2hr 33minutes..
(-_-")...
haha..
So my swim was actually 32minutes+, bike avg 30kph, and ran 56 minutes.. Plus transition of 7 minutes (time really flies here! gotta make it faster!).. 2 hr 48mins!
If bike is 4 km more, i'd be doing 2hr 56mins! hehe.. still under 3!
YAY YAY YAY
HIP HIP HURRAY FOR MY FIRST TRI!
NEXT UP: AVIVA HALF IRON MAN!!!!!! 21ST MARCH 2010!
--------------------------
Unfortunately the HIM didn't realize itself but that's fine.. Always live to race another day!
Cheers,
KK
31/03/10 Swim Squad Timing/Stroke Counts
Dear all,
As much as I wish to recollect ALL data available, sometimes there is a limit to what my brain can do especially whilst managing different sets with different timing starting at a different time.. Thus, this training time table recorded will be pretty incomplete for those who could not recollect your own timing and stroke counts. I guess sometimes, we have to take responsibility of our own work and try to remember your own timing yes?
People have been telling me that probably the training is taken for granted because its free.. they said that I train hard when I train with BPM because I paid for their program and thus have a sense of urgency to follow.
I ALWAYS told these people off and beg to defer regarding their ideas of my training being taken for granted. And that's because I know all of you guys close enough despite such a short time and I believe the trust is there when tangible results have shown in the recent training and races (maiden and not). I guess sometimes we tend to forget that a training is done by oneself and your logs will only be valuable to you and be of significance in managing your own progress if you do the thinking and calculation yourself even when shagged out.
Taking myself as example, you see, no matter how tired I am, I'll make sure I know what is happening and what my pace is.. because I always make sure I think and remember, even when I train with BPM athletes, what my timing are and why did my coach tell me soemthing abt my strokes and all the stuff that is happening. And yes even though I'm the faster one in this group here, do know that I was doing the memory work when I was pushing as hard (if not harder than) as you guys last night and definitely almost always the last one person to come back in the squad (yup, they're That fast.). All those training helped me to realize what kind of swimmer I am and how my body tend to form habits in pacing for swim and how to make/break those habits to help myself improve.
Having said that, rest assured I will still try my best to help you out with the memory work while you do the hard brawnie work yup. The above are NOT a rant.. but reminder that we all have to work hard to get what we want.. nothing comes easy!
------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~
From the above timing, we can see 3 things.
1) All of you still doesn't have that individuality awareness in group swim. Jiawei pushed it, and all of you blindly followed. It's the CLOCK you're pacing with. Not somebody else unless its a Race Pace set/trg.
2) Sam has gotten a very good grasp of her own pace. Look at how her hard swims timing drop after every set. Guaranteed strong finish in races.
3) Cross training (Running and cycling) helps in swim timing improvement. Look at Marianne's timing (she's been running and biking even though not often) and Sam's timing (She's been running and biking quite a lot) is almost like mine. --> Made me think about so much for being able to flex a 15cm long Tricep compared to her lean arm.
----------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General Review for stroke count and swim timing relationship.
Facts:
Velocity of Swim = Stroke Rate (Stroke counts/min) * Stroke Length (Distance travelled per pull)
So to swim faster, its either one of the below:
1) Up stroke rate, stroke length remain the same -=OR=-
2) Up stroke length, stroke rate remain the same -=OR=-
3) Up both stroke rate and stroke length.
Obviously we know that when up stroke rate, it is a very physical affair and it is tough to keep the stroke length due to the distortion of streamline position (weak core to hold body position whilst rotating side to side and increasing the kick rate) whilst turning the arm over and over again at a fast rate.
So to up the stroke length which is more technique/finesse based, is more economical to the energy consumption.. plus, we kind of get some rest during the glide period.
For all of us, we've been able to do the increase of stroke length pretty well... but we haven't been able to maintain the INCREASED stroke length AND the stroke rate (number of pulls per minute) yet.
Those who got lost here.. I meant:
e.g Case study of Marianne's 50m swims (but this applies to everyone in the group).
LAP 1 of 50m
Stroke count = 50 pulls
Timing = 1 min
Stroke rate = 50 pulls/1 min
Stroke length = 1m / pull
---After my advice to glide more..---
LAP 2 of 50m
Stroke count = 40 pulls
Timing = 1 min (NO CHANGE)
Stroke rate = 40 pulls/1 min(Stroke Rate decreased)
Stroke Length = 1.25m / pull (Stroke Length increased)
---------------------------
What the above case study means is that, in order for us to get a faster timing, she has to maintain the stroke rate (not pull slower) but still try to get more out of each stroke she pull (I.E harder pull and/or harder&faster kicks).
------------------------------------------------
Having information like the stroke counts versus timing we have helps A LOT in training especially at the beginning. You can see the "lap-limit" of your stroke efficiency.
E.G Teck Beng's 100m swim in the table above...
His first 100 was fairly efficient doing at 84 strokes for 2:15.
But after 30 secs rest, his stroke count increased to 90, and despite an increased stroke count, the stroke length decreased as he got a 2:22 timing for 100m!
So from that case we know that Teck Beng need to be MORE conscious in gliding and pulling slightly harder than what he perceived to be the "moderate effort" at the beginning in order to maintain the stroke length And the timing (Note: Only maintain.).
To let you have a visual of how a more efficient stroke will be like, below is a rough gauge of what I'm doing:
I'm 1.66m tall with a slightly longer arm than normal ppl.
My hard 100m swim:
Stroke count is 110.
Timing is 1:42
My moderate 100m swim:
Stroke count is 102.
Timing is 1:58
My easy 100m swim:
Stroke count is 90.
Timing is 2:10
-----------------
Before I end, for benefits of lawrence, ryan and whoever is not here... I also shared this with the rest.
QN: How to know how many strokes to aim for to have a consistent stroke count?
ANS: Consistency is Key.
i) Take stroke count for 50m and rest 10 secs, do another, the stroke count should not be more than 5 to 10% increase.
ii) Take stroke count for 50m with 10secs rest TWICE. Add those stroke counts together and that's the number of strokes you should be aiming for a 100m swim without rest.
iii) Timing wise should be the same theory but probably an increment of 10 over secs or more if your arm muscular endurance (ability to repeatedly apply force) is not good yet.
iv) You can also do the same calculation and add 2 to 5% for every 100m increment. I find that roughly accurate for my swim trials. So far, I've only done the test until 500m.. and I'm fairly consistent throughout for all 10laps at a same effort.
That'll be all for now. Hope you guys enjoy your training!
Cheers
KK
ps: Wilson joined us for ride on thursday.. ryan can join us too if you don't mind! Its a fairly fast ride for beginner bikers at about 28 to 34 avg with surges and also consistent TT effort depending on the terrain.
As much as I wish to recollect ALL data available, sometimes there is a limit to what my brain can do especially whilst managing different sets with different timing starting at a different time.. Thus, this training time table recorded will be pretty incomplete for those who could not recollect your own timing and stroke counts. I guess sometimes, we have to take responsibility of our own work and try to remember your own timing yes?
People have been telling me that probably the training is taken for granted because its free.. they said that I train hard when I train with BPM because I paid for their program and thus have a sense of urgency to follow.
I ALWAYS told these people off and beg to defer regarding their ideas of my training being taken for granted. And that's because I know all of you guys close enough despite such a short time and I believe the trust is there when tangible results have shown in the recent training and races (maiden and not). I guess sometimes we tend to forget that a training is done by oneself and your logs will only be valuable to you and be of significance in managing your own progress if you do the thinking and calculation yourself even when shagged out.
Taking myself as example, you see, no matter how tired I am, I'll make sure I know what is happening and what my pace is.. because I always make sure I think and remember, even when I train with BPM athletes, what my timing are and why did my coach tell me soemthing abt my strokes and all the stuff that is happening. And yes even though I'm the faster one in this group here, do know that I was doing the memory work when I was pushing as hard (if not harder than) as you guys last night and definitely almost always the last one person to come back in the squad (yup, they're That fast.). All those training helped me to realize what kind of swimmer I am and how my body tend to form habits in pacing for swim and how to make/break those habits to help myself improve.
Having said that, rest assured I will still try my best to help you out with the memory work while you do the hard brawnie work yup. The above are NOT a rant.. but reminder that we all have to work hard to get what we want.. nothing comes easy!
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From the above timing, we can see 3 things.
1) All of you still doesn't have that individuality awareness in group swim. Jiawei pushed it, and all of you blindly followed. It's the CLOCK you're pacing with. Not somebody else unless its a Race Pace set/trg.
2) Sam has gotten a very good grasp of her own pace. Look at how her hard swims timing drop after every set. Guaranteed strong finish in races.
3) Cross training (Running and cycling) helps in swim timing improvement. Look at Marianne's timing (she's been running and biking even though not often) and Sam's timing (She's been running and biking quite a lot) is almost like mine. --> Made me think about so much for being able to flex a 15cm long Tricep compared to her lean arm.
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General Review for stroke count and swim timing relationship.
Facts:
Velocity of Swim = Stroke Rate (Stroke counts/min) * Stroke Length (Distance travelled per pull)
So to swim faster, its either one of the below:
1) Up stroke rate, stroke length remain the same -=OR=-
2) Up stroke length, stroke rate remain the same -=OR=-
3) Up both stroke rate and stroke length.
Obviously we know that when up stroke rate, it is a very physical affair and it is tough to keep the stroke length due to the distortion of streamline position (weak core to hold body position whilst rotating side to side and increasing the kick rate) whilst turning the arm over and over again at a fast rate.
So to up the stroke length which is more technique/finesse based, is more economical to the energy consumption.. plus, we kind of get some rest during the glide period.
For all of us, we've been able to do the increase of stroke length pretty well... but we haven't been able to maintain the INCREASED stroke length AND the stroke rate (number of pulls per minute) yet.
Those who got lost here.. I meant:
e.g Case study of Marianne's 50m swims (but this applies to everyone in the group).
LAP 1 of 50m
Stroke count = 50 pulls
Timing = 1 min
Stroke rate = 50 pulls/1 min
Stroke length = 1m / pull
---After my advice to glide more..---
LAP 2 of 50m
Stroke count = 40 pulls
Timing = 1 min (NO CHANGE)
Stroke rate = 40 pulls/1 min(Stroke Rate decreased)
Stroke Length = 1.25m / pull (Stroke Length increased)
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What the above case study means is that, in order for us to get a faster timing, she has to maintain the stroke rate (not pull slower) but still try to get more out of each stroke she pull (I.E harder pull and/or harder&faster kicks).
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Having information like the stroke counts versus timing we have helps A LOT in training especially at the beginning. You can see the "lap-limit" of your stroke efficiency.
E.G Teck Beng's 100m swim in the table above...
His first 100 was fairly efficient doing at 84 strokes for 2:15.
But after 30 secs rest, his stroke count increased to 90, and despite an increased stroke count, the stroke length decreased as he got a 2:22 timing for 100m!
So from that case we know that Teck Beng need to be MORE conscious in gliding and pulling slightly harder than what he perceived to be the "moderate effort" at the beginning in order to maintain the stroke length And the timing (Note: Only maintain.).
To let you have a visual of how a more efficient stroke will be like, below is a rough gauge of what I'm doing:
I'm 1.66m tall with a slightly longer arm than normal ppl.
My hard 100m swim:
Stroke count is 110.
Timing is 1:42
My moderate 100m swim:
Stroke count is 102.
Timing is 1:58
My easy 100m swim:
Stroke count is 90.
Timing is 2:10
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Before I end, for benefits of lawrence, ryan and whoever is not here... I also shared this with the rest.
QN: How to know how many strokes to aim for to have a consistent stroke count?
ANS: Consistency is Key.
i) Take stroke count for 50m and rest 10 secs, do another, the stroke count should not be more than 5 to 10% increase.
ii) Take stroke count for 50m with 10secs rest TWICE. Add those stroke counts together and that's the number of strokes you should be aiming for a 100m swim without rest.
iii) Timing wise should be the same theory but probably an increment of 10 over secs or more if your arm muscular endurance (ability to repeatedly apply
iv) You can also do the same calculation and add 2 to 5% for every 100m increment. I find that roughly accurate for my swim trials. So far, I've only done the test until 500m.. and I'm fairly consistent throughout for all 10laps at a same effort.
That'll be all for now. Hope you guys enjoy your training!
Cheers
KK
ps: Wilson joined us for ride on thursday.. ryan can join us too if you don't mind! Its a fairly fast ride for beginner bikers at about 28 to 34 avg with surges and also consistent TT effort depending on the terrain.
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