Work Done:
500m warm up with every 6th stroke sighting.
KH (Suppose to do with Alvin):
Before main set, 300m of mixed strokes (sides and breast and free).
Main Set:
2x 500m with 2 mins rest.
Emphasis on stroke techniques and continuous swimming.
Cool Down:
200m Breast Stroke
The Rest:
Main Set:
4x100 Mixed pace with 10 secs R
200 Breast cool/down
3x200 (1.5K RP, Moderate, All out)
Cool Down:
200m Breast Stroke
---------------------------------------------------------------
Some points to note...
KH:
- Breathing still rolling towards the shoulder (i.e up and back). Should roll up and slightly forward instead.
- Sometimes arm comes out too high, out of water. Have to find a balance between keeping the arms up near the surface and not letting the hip sink by using your back to pull it. Rmb the reverse back extension exercise we did.
- Sighting still using too much force and coming up too high. It should be slow and calm.
- Your arm pull still have some dropped elbow and timing is not right at times. Leave your arm in front when breathing/sighting. Right arm pull too late, Left arm pull too early (before finish breathing)
- Pull from shoulder width out and down Gently to hold first, then push yourself forward by pushing the whole forearm and palm (MAINTAIN perpendicular to the floor throughout the whole push) BACKWARDS.
Just remember that every movement that is about bringing your head out of water has to be done GENTLY. Any forceful jerking or lifting will cause a significant drop in your hips and disruption in your overall body position in water. I.E Not streamline.
Being calm and relaxed is the hardest thing to do during race because of the adrenaline rush and also your slight fear of open water. Lets do open water swim next week. :)
Grace Under Pressure is Key.
Samsam
I noticed significant improvement in swim timing. I got a feeling its a by product from your consistent training that you've been doing. The functional resistance training is helping your core quite a bit and thus the better streamlining and a stronger pull.
The only grudge I bear right now is that your arms are STILL not straight and sometimes going too deep especially after you breathe. Wilson and KH please take note of this too.
Ken, Teck Beng and Hong Jun
Three of you have the Most natural swimmer body. Long arms, big palms and long bodies, Biggie foot too. Intriguingly, there is a number of same problems between you guys.
- There is a lack of body rotation towards the non breathing side.
- There is a dropped elbow during catch on the non breathing side.
- There is a dropped elbow after the pull passes chest (inability to see after passing chest.)
- Hip sinks. Weak Lower back, glutes and hamstrings.
Lawrence
Sam and I both noticed there is an increased tendency from you in using a straight arm pull. The start of the catch should be a flexed elbow.
The pull timing also tend to be more continuous than gliding now. Will be a whole lot better if you do just 1.5seconds more of gliding each stroke in hard effort. :)
Vincent
Your physical prowess is really admirable. However, I've personally told you about self control over your physical execution versus stroke integrity.
Also, the control over your exertion, hopefully the heart rate counting helps you. You have to count fast and not lose count. because your fitness is high, the hr drop is QUICK. You could recover in 10secs without moving anything just to count your hr. so in order to be accurate, you need to count 6secs then multiply by 10 to see what effort you've done and justify your timing achieved against your effort put in.
Heart rate, Stroke count and also your breathing (relax? or short and rapid all the time?) are ways to control and be aware of what you are doing in your swim. If your bilateral breathing is causing you to take shorter breathes and feel congested/breatheless in your swims then I rather you not do them because right now your focus to improve on should be the relaxation part. When you practice with such breathelessness, you'd just further force yourself to pull faster in an attempt to take in more oxygen (rapid breathing). Take deep breathes. Breathe out long. That feels much better. :)
You've proven to yourself during the 3x200 that you have incredible endurance in your upper body. But what I felt in your swim is you're getting a little frustrated from your own timing because despite an attempt to do bilateral breathing, the timing isn't improving. This is all due to a very choppy stroke and also shortened pull (only up to slightly pass your RIBS, when the correct one should end past your HIPS and mid thigh!).
Please see Teck Beng's quote below and discuss with him if you feel like you need another perception of stroke than mine. :)
Wilson
Bro, after so long never swim, there is a drop in endurance I believe you felt that. Not stopping to drink in between sets is a sign of nerves in getting your fitness back. Work consistently, sort out your work stuffs and timing. Fitness will come back in no time. I will help you. :)
Lastly, for now, the arms are going too deep, there is a lack of relaxation in your swim despite your exaggeration to TRY and relax. I can see you're relaxing and gliding more in your pull but the over-control in your strokes caused a backfire. Just let things flow and breathe deeper when you need more air. Don't try to hide in the water too long to glide because at the end of the day if you hyperventilate or don't get enuff oxygen, things are gonna fall apart anyway. The pull isn't gonna be strong because of lack of oxygen, the turning of body will suffer because of the rush to gasp for another mouth of air so as to go back and glide longer and prolong the suffering eh? Get my drift...
Just go do some 30mins practice on your own if you can, you know what to do, just need the time to do them. Jiayou. :)
MariMari (& her little lamb)
I see POWER in your BIKE! How come no POWER in your SwImmmm???
It doesn't make sense because they all come from the same muscle group. I see an improved effort to continuously kick but the kicks are all from the ankles instead of from the thighs. LAZY!
I see a high elbow catch at the beginning but right after the catch everything gets SLOPPY. Immediately after the catch, you have to push the arm straight back.. cannot let the arm become soft for a split second before pushing!
Is your breathing impaired in swims? Please let me know by next session, because I really don't see a reason why aren't you pulling HARDER because you proved that you can push harder than that in your cycling!!! The only reason I can guess is that you find swimming to be very breatheless and that is caused by your controlled exhalation in the water. Try exhaling slightly more forcefully completely and see if it helps you in your exertion!
You're a strong girl like samsam! Jiayou!!!
Calvin!
Always telling me you can't, but you're outdoing everyone else! haha.. I got nothing to say this time round except the kick can be a little more rapid and continuous if you want to go faster. Overall, I am very proud of your swim despite a cough. Keep up the good work! :)
---------------------------------------------------------
Teck Beng pointed out a very key phrase that everyone should take a look and learn from.
"First, do Not create drag. Even in exhaustion, lost in form created drag which is much much worse than lost in positive propulsion."
TB.
It cannot be more true. Even for myself, when I get tired in swim, the first thing that I think of to shave timing is NOT how to Pull FASTER/HARDER/MORE. At those chaotic situation of race pace lung busting swims of 100s and 200s, I am always, ALWAYS thinking about keeping my body's streamlining and visualizing how my body is moving through the water and finding ways to keep my hip higher on the surface and also doing a proper holding the water with the gentle catch despite feeling my guts are gonna puke at those high intense efforts.
Of course the very first requisite for you to be able to do that, is that you need to do ALOT of thinking in your slow/moderate swim. Until your breathing, pulling and basically just about every single basic things are so automatic that you can just Execute without much thoughts. When you can do that, then you can blast your efforts like a bull and still think about the more minor details that can enhance your swims. Keep thinking guys. :)
Cheers
KK
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Training 290710
Training Debrief:
It was a really short debrief because it was just a normal night of swim with a tweak in rest time. Some of you finding it hard to adapt to and some of you are showing the impatience of waiting for another team mate to get to a comfortable distance before starting... I can completely understand how you feel because I felt the same way initially too.
However, it all turned out to be fine after everyone gets warmed up and focused on the swim set itself and also the rest time available. Am glad it turned out to be good too.
Let me just share that this is actually the way how EVERY team out there train as there is a limited amount of space. As the number of people in the team are increasing, there is also an increasing concern from the lifeguards taking us as a nuisance and chasing all the people out of the sheltered "learning/teaching" pool since we already know how to swim. As your coach/representative, I've been trying my best to maintain a good r/s with the lifeguards but trust me there is only so much I can do and if some people were to sabotage me as your coach then we may not be allowed to train in such a huge group too. I don't know how but then it definitely can result in a pretty ugly situation unless we book the lanes and let the money do the talking.
So tonight was just a pre-empt that in the event of a crowded wednesday night, we can still employ such lane usage tactics to have a good swim. All it takes is a little bit of patience and also initiative to improvise the rest time in the situation where the leading person is not fast enough or another person behind is playing punk trying to go hard all the time.. We're all humans with good brains and thus we should be able to come up with something to make the swim go smoothly like we did tonight right? :)
Generally the idea is that this counter-clockwise swim allows a staggered launching of each individual giving the space needed and also equal time rest for each of you if the groups are segregated into equally fast people. Which, in reality is really hard to find.
In the most perfect situation, when everyone's the same speed in a group, if I start the leader then stagger every 5 seconds to start another.. ideally, the leader comes back to have 5 seconds rest and when he goes, the following one will reach to take his 5 seconds of rest. I hope this is easily digested.
--------------------------------------
Warmup
300m
Main set:
6x100 Easy 20-5-5 secs rest
2mins rest
4x100 Medium 20-5-5 secs rest
2mins rest
2x100 Race 2mins rest in between
Cooldown
200m Breast stroke
Well done guys!
Til next week!
Cheers
KK
It was a really short debrief because it was just a normal night of swim with a tweak in rest time. Some of you finding it hard to adapt to and some of you are showing the impatience of waiting for another team mate to get to a comfortable distance before starting... I can completely understand how you feel because I felt the same way initially too.
However, it all turned out to be fine after everyone gets warmed up and focused on the swim set itself and also the rest time available. Am glad it turned out to be good too.
Let me just share that this is actually the way how EVERY team out there train as there is a limited amount of space. As the number of people in the team are increasing, there is also an increasing concern from the lifeguards taking us as a nuisance and chasing all the people out of the sheltered "learning/teaching" pool since we already know how to swim. As your coach/representative, I've been trying my best to maintain a good r/s with the lifeguards but trust me there is only so much I can do and if some people were to sabotage me as your coach then we may not be allowed to train in such a huge group too. I don't know how but then it definitely can result in a pretty ugly situation unless we book the lanes and let the money do the talking.
So tonight was just a pre-empt that in the event of a crowded wednesday night, we can still employ such lane usage tactics to have a good swim. All it takes is a little bit of patience and also initiative to improvise the rest time in the situation where the leading person is not fast enough or another person behind is playing punk trying to go hard all the time.. We're all humans with good brains and thus we should be able to come up with something to make the swim go smoothly like we did tonight right? :)
Generally the idea is that this counter-clockwise swim allows a staggered launching of each individual giving the space needed and also equal time rest for each of you if the groups are segregated into equally fast people. Which, in reality is really hard to find.
In the most perfect situation, when everyone's the same speed in a group, if I start the leader then stagger every 5 seconds to start another.. ideally, the leader comes back to have 5 seconds rest and when he goes, the following one will reach to take his 5 seconds of rest. I hope this is easily digested.
--------------------------------------
Warmup
300m
Main set:
6x100 Easy 20-5-5 secs rest
2mins rest
4x100 Medium 20-5-5 secs rest
2mins rest
2x100 Race 2mins rest in between
Cooldown
200m Breast stroke
Well done guys!
Til next week!
Cheers
KK
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Swim Video, 21 July 2010
To be reviewed by Coach KK.
not in any particular order....
KK
I look HORRENDOUS On the lap coming back, the head was too high out of water as I attempt my left side breathing. The inability to synchronize the left side breathing properly into my whole stroke caused the continuity observed in the first lap to falter and thus lost speed (almost completely) at certain strokes in the middle of the lap coming back.
Needless to say the highly raised head caused the hip to drop really badly (abt 2inches into the water) and it is very visible for my kick to be getting harder to try and compensate the dropping hips subconsciously.
Sometimes when I breathe left side, my left arm catch will lose its proper anchor position on the left side.. as in it'll cross slightly to the center, causing the elbow to drop in the catch.... somewhere around 1:30.
This is a very fatal mistake as the effort I was trying to do was pretty high (750m race pace) and the breaking of the forward momentum caused a dramatic drop in speed when i breathe left side. I need to smoothen out the stroke transition as I breathe left and then go into my right arm stroke to make sure that the continuity of my body moving through the water is maintained instead of lost. No good, need to work harder for Desaru.
Vincent
1) I find that the stroke is very very focused on the neck and downwards. There is no momentum in the throw of the arm recovery forward at all and thus the lack of stretching in front with the lead arm and thus resulted in the hips sinking a little without the aid from the pressing of the chest.
2) The drop of hip is not very evidence because you compensated with a REALLY HARD kick.
3) body rotation no evident on non breathing side <-- Teck Beng's comment
3i) I find there is NO ROTATION AT ALL on both side from the HIPS.. The rotation that you're displaying comes all from the shoulder and the hips are totally flat throughout the swim!!!!! This shows a lot of arms in use! "Chuan" and damn "Snng" rite??? <-- KK's comment
4) Pull before catch, vertical forarm too late <-- Teck Beng's comment
4i) Very obvious straight arm pulling (u sure never think again rite...).. NO CATCH PHASE! <-- KK's comment
5) Right after you turn around, the left arm recovery and entry into water becomes forearm smashing into the water instead of the fingertip entry with high elbow already. It shows even less body rotation on the left side.
6) Right armentry tend to go to center then snake out to the side. Why don't go to the side right from the entry and straightening?
7) From 1:12 onwards the body breaks into 2 halves and the top and bottom is not in streamlined position already. The torso twist with the shoulder rotation (instead of hips) and the legs are not able to keep up with the shoulder rotation. Caused the body to snake left and right and even veering to the right instead of swimming straight despite having the lane!!! jialat already!!!!
8) Gotta start thinking when you whack hard swim liao vince vince.... Got mistakes means got place to improve! Don't be demoralized! I'm trying very hard to squeeze mistake out of my swim but I'm really hoping some very good coach can tell me something new that I haven't see.. I'm sure there are some more stuffs I can improve! But for now, and for you.. You have a lot of potential! You did a sub 1:30 swim despite the several mistakes I listed above.. You're got LOADS of brute strength man.. I hope we can work it out for you to become a successful athlete..:)
SamSam
1) There is a significant improvement in the control of the kicks becoming very narrow and small compared to the big splashes that she did last time... However, the kick still didn't really originate from the hips but it more or less all comes from the knees. The concern is that this kind of kick is done using a knee flexion and when fatigue sets in, the knee flexion will definitely go beyond 30 degrees (the maximum before it exits water and make a huge splash) and thus back to square one again. Please try to use hip oki.
2) There is NO hip rotation on the non breathing side. Check that her hip is flat when she pull the left arm and recover. And she's complaining about shoulder pain... no wonder la.
3) The pull still ends with a push that straighten the arm. As per mentioned before, the pull is now improved and changed liao.. it should end with the push ending at just pass hip with the forearm and palm still facing the back and fingertips still pointing down at the floor... NOT until the arm straight and the finger tips point to the back. A.K.A - don't need to straighten all the way.
4) In the breathing, there is a lifting the head up kind of motion just when she is breathing in and before she recover. That slows her down a lot as you can see the velocity drops to near zero when she takes a breathe each time.. The accelerate - decelerate cycle is inefficient. Keep the head low, and do the "shorter" pulls mentioned in point (3) and you'll be flying in no time!
5) The recovery can have the elbow stretched forward a little more before the entry occurs. Right now the entry is at beside the forehead or slightly rearwards for the left arm. Reason is because the elbow is not high enough to have a far enough reach before it drops back into the water.And the thing that caused the elbow to be not high enough is because of the lack of hip rotation, thus causing the elbow to be low-lying on the surface.
5) Last but not least, why do you have to look at the front each time after you breathe? Why cannot look to the side, breathe, then immediately look back down? Each time you breathe -- look to the front, YOU SINK and slow down!... :(
6) 1:55 is a good moderate swim timing but not impressive given you've been swimming for so long dear.. need to improve liao! The above if all done properly will fetch you a 1:50 moderate hard swim timing easily without increasing effort! JIAYOU TO ACHIEVE THAT BEFORE DESARU!!!! love you!
Ryan
Teck Beng:
1) Left arm recovery phase, elbow not leading, forearm not relax
2) Right arm anchor points seems to be lower than right arm.
KK:
1) both arm recovery phase is not elbow leading, Left arm is a straight arm wind mill recovery. That caused the displacement of the weight from the left arm in the air to cause the body to veer to the right. Right arm recovery is not a straight arm windmill but like teck beng observed the forearm is not relaxed as it is leading the recovery. If it is not relaxed, then how can it be called a recovery phase?
2) I remember that during the first 300m free style swim, you started half a lap before me and we were doing about the same effort and you were behind me by half a lap when we both ended. Given your arm's lactic acid threshold from the DB training + your arm and torso length, you should be able to maintain that lead that you gained on me... but the reason that you slowed down is because of 3 things.
2i) Streamlining Broke down as the swim continues longer, look at how snaky you body is when you turn around and do the second lap back.. the arms are always crossing the center and then coming back to the side in a snaky manner, thus leading your body to do the same!
2ii) your head gets higher when you breathe as you become more breatheless in the swim, again easily seen from the second lap back
2iii) that caused you hip to drop and thus your long legs to drop even more, causing a huge amount of drag
3) we can see from the video that you're trying to compensate the sinking by putting your arms deeper and deeper (look at near the end of the video).. but it wasn't working because your chest (your lungs) is the one thing that needs to be pressed in and not your arm. The raised head is really the number mistake that you made in the swim that caused the sinking hips and wasting all the effort and strength you put in!
4) The compensation of putting your arm deeper also caused the symptom of straight arm pulling... bad bad thing for your shoulder.. please read the previous post abt the catch position...
5) As a gentle reminder, please press your shoulder down and NOT shrug when you need to do rowing/pulling/swimming catch positions and actions! When shrugging, the shoulder becomes very unstabilized and thus injury is easily incurred as you apply force in that shrugged up position! Moreover, the lats isn't activated! Arms are small, lats are HUGE piece of muscles.. Make use of the big guns baby!!!!!
Teck Beng:
1) Arm entry position crosses center line. Leading hand not anchored, floating about.
2) Not swimming in straight line.
3)Form deteriorates on return lap.
KK:
1) I really have to agree with Teck beng that your SWIMMING IN A SLANTED MANNER! Are you looking at the floor when you're swimming???? there's a blue line my dear HJ... I bet you're not looking because...
2) You always complain of giddiness... That is caused by your eyes always following where your body turns! Thus you can't swim in a straight line because the eyes are looking from side to side as your body rotate!
3) You have to look straight at the floor when you're not breathing! When you're breathing you look to the side but that's it, when you finish breathing, you rotate down and look at the floor as you do the left arm pull!
4) The body rotation are fantastic, the high elbow recovery is good. But when you recover, you have to recovery at where your shoulder is pointing, not to the center!
5)It is a good swim other wise, just need to work on where to look :)
Teck Beng:
1) left arm pull crosses center line
KK:
1) When you breathe, you left leg opens behind really wide.
2) You did a good catch, but the forearm and palm did NOT face back when you are pushing backwards, you simply let the elbow drop after the catch!
3) The left arm pull crossing center line is already a mistake I've shared before... Ken is not thinking when you're swimming ar........... Make sure you pull like you have a surfboard under you so you can't cross the shoulder line else you'll hit the surf board! Look at sam's swim. :)
4) Same recovery problem as Ryan and Vincent... the arm cross the centerline when they enter the water! It caused you body to snake from side to side too... in the lap coming back. The correct entry point is at when you shoulder is pointing, not your head.
Mari
1) Mari, you did the exact same mistakes as SAMSAM (minus the kicking from knee part)... Please scroll up and read PLUS...
2) Why when you finish the catch, your palm and your forearm broke into 2 pieces one? They should be one big paddle! Please make sure you maintain that paddle and not break at the wrist!
3) Not enough rotation from the hip... the hips are relatively flat especially on the lap back...
LAWLAW
1) You can see the hip is FLAT all the way. No rotation at all. From 1:25 onwards the breathing side rotation starts to occur, BECAUSE YOU'RE OUT OF BREATHE ALREADY!!!! so need to turn more to catch more air.. haiyoyoyoyo.... Cannot like that la.. all the time the hips must turn from side to side...
2) The arm pulls (both sides) are crossing the center line completely to the opposite side after the pull past the chest. I believe you didn't notice because you couldn't see..... Very very obvious once you turn around and come back. Especially the left arm.
3) There should be a mini glide phase when you swim fast, it is not present in the swim video shown here... thus it means when your arms enter into the water, you didn't stretch in front with an extended arm before you start the next catch!
4) The kick opens up to be very wide... check 1:03 to 1:05 onwards and 1:10 is quite obvious. It breaks the streamline position.
5) Impressive timing despite the terrible streamlining lawlaw... need to work harder on the finesse for the desaru HIM ar..... 1.9km when you tired and the energy wasted from these kind of small mistakes are no joke man.
Teck Beng:
1) Right arm is more 'patient' than left arm; one side is gliding more than the other side.
2) Form deteriorates on return lap.
KK:
1) Elaborating on Teck Beng's "patient" arm comment... Your non breathing side's (left arm) recovery like to come all the way until the hands meet together before you start the right arm pull..
2) This causes the stroke to slow down a lot because when the left arm is recovering and the right arm is straight, there is no propulsion at all. And thus the speed is left to decelerate due to the resistance in the water.
3) Not enough hip rotation on the non breathing side, causing elbow to be low in recovery and thus premature entry (beside the forehead). Same like Samsam. Non breathing side must turn equally much as the breathing side, the face facing down.
4) On the returning lap, the body streamlining breaks down into 2 pieces, like vincent... the top is shoulder rotating only and the legs couldn't keep up with the rotation and thus the body snakes from side to side.
5) I find that you can try to do the catch a little more to the outside... now your pull starts almost directly underneath your chest and thus its easy to lose balance and also cross centerline. Starting the catch on the outside of your shoulder (not too much) can open your chest up a bit more for more stability and thus better strength application. It also aids in scapula elevation for the catch position.
CALvin
Teck Beng:
1) hand entry too far in-front, lacks the "finger-tip first" entry.
KK:
1) A slight digress from Teckbeng's comment.That movement of hand entry too far in front causing the lack of fingertip entry is a side effect of you trying to stretch and throw your forearm in front. And it only happen on your RIGHT ARM. Your left arm isn't reaching leh.. it enters at the forehead instead of reaching further in front a little bit more..
So, THE TRUE MISTAKE HERE IS THAT YOU'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING BUT YOU'RE DOING IT TOO MUCH on the right hand side, I.E OVER REACHING. :) Just keep the reach a little bit closer.
2) The pressing of the chest down is getting more significant and thus your legs are breaking the surface more. However I can still see that you're not hundred percent comfortable with keeping your face (because of your chest's deeper position in the water) so deep when you're getting breatheless and thus the mistake of the chest coming up higher and higher came back when you're on the second lap coming back. Again, the solution to this is WEI DA JU ZUO XIANG (look at the macro picture of your whole body's balance and position and not just your head).
2i) If your head is slightly deeper and that increases your speed by alot, then you'd finish the lap in FASTER time with the same or lesser(because of the lack of drag when you legs are floating better) effort and thus you will actually feel more comfortable at the end of it than to keep your head so high to grasp for easier air inhalation right? Don't worry too much abt it as I can see that you're thinking throughout the whole swim.. at the end of the second lap, the body position was back to an excellent one again. :)
3) Straight arm pulling with no catch is evidence in both lap of swim.. can cause shoulder problem oh... please take note.
4) Good try on the bilateral breathing... You tried to keep your head low after breathing but you really should try to think about driving your chest back down and not your face!
5) Your legs still open up quite a bit in the kick oh...
6) Recovery towards the center instead of the side! It cause body to snake a little bit also but its not as bad as KH and Ryan. But who knows when you get really tired?
7) Like I mentioned in point (2i), I like the way it ended, you're perfectly floating on the surface. The only thing is you're flat and your legs opened up too wide. :)
JIAYOU!
Oh yes, join us for desaru la. you got a bike too what! Sprint D onli!
-------------------------------------------------
Feel free to add on your own comments and discussion in the COMMENTS!
Ah.. finally done!
Cheers
KK
not in any particular order....
KK
I look HORRENDOUS On the lap coming back, the head was too high out of water as I attempt my left side breathing. The inability to synchronize the left side breathing properly into my whole stroke caused the continuity observed in the first lap to falter and thus lost speed (almost completely) at certain strokes in the middle of the lap coming back.
Needless to say the highly raised head caused the hip to drop really badly (abt 2inches into the water) and it is very visible for my kick to be getting harder to try and compensate the dropping hips subconsciously.
Sometimes when I breathe left side, my left arm catch will lose its proper anchor position on the left side.. as in it'll cross slightly to the center, causing the elbow to drop in the catch.... somewhere around 1:30.
This is a very fatal mistake as the effort I was trying to do was pretty high (750m race pace) and the breaking of the forward momentum caused a dramatic drop in speed when i breathe left side. I need to smoothen out the stroke transition as I breathe left and then go into my right arm stroke to make sure that the continuity of my body moving through the water is maintained instead of lost. No good, need to work harder for Desaru.
Vincent
1) I find that the stroke is very very focused on the neck and downwards. There is no momentum in the throw of the arm recovery forward at all and thus the lack of stretching in front with the lead arm and thus resulted in the hips sinking a little without the aid from the pressing of the chest.
2) The drop of hip is not very evidence because you compensated with a REALLY HARD kick.
3) body rotation no evident on non breathing side <-- Teck Beng's comment
3i) I find there is NO ROTATION AT ALL on both side from the HIPS.. The rotation that you're displaying comes all from the shoulder and the hips are totally flat throughout the swim!!!!! This shows a lot of arms in use! "Chuan" and damn "Snng" rite??? <-- KK's comment
4) Pull before catch, vertical forarm too late <-- Teck Beng's comment
4i) Very obvious straight arm pulling (u sure never think again rite...).. NO CATCH PHASE! <-- KK's comment
5) Right after you turn around, the left arm recovery and entry into water becomes forearm smashing into the water instead of the fingertip entry with high elbow already. It shows even less body rotation on the left side.
6) Right armentry tend to go to center then snake out to the side. Why don't go to the side right from the entry and straightening?
7) From 1:12 onwards the body breaks into 2 halves and the top and bottom is not in streamlined position already. The torso twist with the shoulder rotation (instead of hips) and the legs are not able to keep up with the shoulder rotation. Caused the body to snake left and right and even veering to the right instead of swimming straight despite having the lane!!! jialat already!!!!
8) Gotta start thinking when you whack hard swim liao vince vince.... Got mistakes means got place to improve! Don't be demoralized! I'm trying very hard to squeeze mistake out of my swim but I'm really hoping some very good coach can tell me something new that I haven't see.. I'm sure there are some more stuffs I can improve! But for now, and for you.. You have a lot of potential! You did a sub 1:30 swim despite the several mistakes I listed above.. You're got LOADS of brute strength man.. I hope we can work it out for you to become a successful athlete..:)
SamSam
1) There is a significant improvement in the control of the kicks becoming very narrow and small compared to the big splashes that she did last time... However, the kick still didn't really originate from the hips but it more or less all comes from the knees. The concern is that this kind of kick is done using a knee flexion and when fatigue sets in, the knee flexion will definitely go beyond 30 degrees (the maximum before it exits water and make a huge splash) and thus back to square one again. Please try to use hip oki.
2) There is NO hip rotation on the non breathing side. Check that her hip is flat when she pull the left arm and recover. And she's complaining about shoulder pain... no wonder la.
3) The pull still ends with a push that straighten the arm. As per mentioned before, the pull is now improved and changed liao.. it should end with the push ending at just pass hip with the forearm and palm still facing the back and fingertips still pointing down at the floor... NOT until the arm straight and the finger tips point to the back. A.K.A - don't need to straighten all the way.
4) In the breathing, there is a lifting the head up kind of motion just when she is breathing in and before she recover. That slows her down a lot as you can see the velocity drops to near zero when she takes a breathe each time.. The accelerate - decelerate cycle is inefficient. Keep the head low, and do the "shorter" pulls mentioned in point (3) and you'll be flying in no time!
5) The recovery can have the elbow stretched forward a little more before the entry occurs. Right now the entry is at beside the forehead or slightly rearwards for the left arm. Reason is because the elbow is not high enough to have a far enough reach before it drops back into the water.And the thing that caused the elbow to be not high enough is because of the lack of hip rotation, thus causing the elbow to be low-lying on the surface.
5) Last but not least, why do you have to look at the front each time after you breathe? Why cannot look to the side, breathe, then immediately look back down? Each time you breathe -- look to the front, YOU SINK and slow down!... :(
6) 1:55 is a good moderate swim timing but not impressive given you've been swimming for so long dear.. need to improve liao! The above if all done properly will fetch you a 1:50 moderate hard swim timing easily without increasing effort! JIAYOU TO ACHIEVE THAT BEFORE DESARU!!!! love you!
Ryan
Teck Beng:
1) Left arm recovery phase, elbow not leading, forearm not relax
2) Right arm anchor points seems to be lower than right arm.
KK:
1) both arm recovery phase is not elbow leading, Left arm is a straight arm wind mill recovery. That caused the displacement of the weight from the left arm in the air to cause the body to veer to the right. Right arm recovery is not a straight arm windmill but like teck beng observed the forearm is not relaxed as it is leading the recovery. If it is not relaxed, then how can it be called a recovery phase?
2) I remember that during the first 300m free style swim, you started half a lap before me and we were doing about the same effort and you were behind me by half a lap when we both ended. Given your arm's lactic acid threshold from the DB training + your arm and torso length, you should be able to maintain that lead that you gained on me... but the reason that you slowed down is because of 3 things.
2i) Streamlining Broke down as the swim continues longer, look at how snaky you body is when you turn around and do the second lap back.. the arms are always crossing the center and then coming back to the side in a snaky manner, thus leading your body to do the same!
2ii) your head gets higher when you breathe as you become more breatheless in the swim, again easily seen from the second lap back
2iii) that caused you hip to drop and thus your long legs to drop even more, causing a huge amount of drag
3) we can see from the video that you're trying to compensate the sinking by putting your arms deeper and deeper (look at near the end of the video).. but it wasn't working because your chest (your lungs) is the one thing that needs to be pressed in and not your arm. The raised head is really the number mistake that you made in the swim that caused the sinking hips and wasting all the effort and strength you put in!
4) The compensation of putting your arm deeper also caused the symptom of straight arm pulling... bad bad thing for your shoulder.. please read the previous post abt the catch position...
5) As a gentle reminder, please press your shoulder down and NOT shrug when you need to do rowing/pulling/swimming catch positions and actions! When shrugging, the shoulder becomes very unstabilized and thus injury is easily incurred as you apply force in that shrugged up position! Moreover, the lats isn't activated! Arms are small, lats are HUGE piece of muscles.. Make use of the big guns baby!!!!!
Teck Beng:
1) Arm entry position crosses center line. Leading hand not anchored, floating about.
2) Not swimming in straight line.
3)Form deteriorates on return lap.
KK:
1) I really have to agree with Teck beng that your SWIMMING IN A SLANTED MANNER! Are you looking at the floor when you're swimming???? there's a blue line my dear HJ... I bet you're not looking because...
2) You always complain of giddiness... That is caused by your eyes always following where your body turns! Thus you can't swim in a straight line because the eyes are looking from side to side as your body rotate!
3) You have to look straight at the floor when you're not breathing! When you're breathing you look to the side but that's it, when you finish breathing, you rotate down and look at the floor as you do the left arm pull!
4) The body rotation are fantastic, the high elbow recovery is good. But when you recover, you have to recovery at where your shoulder is pointing, not to the center!
5)It is a good swim other wise, just need to work on where to look :)
Teck Beng:
1) left arm pull crosses center line
KK:
1) When you breathe, you left leg opens behind really wide.
2) You did a good catch, but the forearm and palm did NOT face back when you are pushing backwards, you simply let the elbow drop after the catch!
3) The left arm pull crossing center line is already a mistake I've shared before... Ken is not thinking when you're swimming ar........... Make sure you pull like you have a surfboard under you so you can't cross the shoulder line else you'll hit the surf board! Look at sam's swim. :)
4) Same recovery problem as Ryan and Vincent... the arm cross the centerline when they enter the water! It caused you body to snake from side to side too... in the lap coming back. The correct entry point is at when you shoulder is pointing, not your head.
Mari
1) Mari, you did the exact same mistakes as SAMSAM (minus the kicking from knee part)... Please scroll up and read PLUS...
2) Why when you finish the catch, your palm and your forearm broke into 2 pieces one? They should be one big paddle! Please make sure you maintain that paddle and not break at the wrist!
3) Not enough rotation from the hip... the hips are relatively flat especially on the lap back...
LAWLAW
1) You can see the hip is FLAT all the way. No rotation at all. From 1:25 onwards the breathing side rotation starts to occur, BECAUSE YOU'RE OUT OF BREATHE ALREADY!!!! so need to turn more to catch more air.. haiyoyoyoyo.... Cannot like that la.. all the time the hips must turn from side to side...
2) The arm pulls (both sides) are crossing the center line completely to the opposite side after the pull past the chest. I believe you didn't notice because you couldn't see..... Very very obvious once you turn around and come back. Especially the left arm.
3) There should be a mini glide phase when you swim fast, it is not present in the swim video shown here... thus it means when your arms enter into the water, you didn't stretch in front with an extended arm before you start the next catch!
4) The kick opens up to be very wide... check 1:03 to 1:05 onwards and 1:10 is quite obvious. It breaks the streamline position.
5) Impressive timing despite the terrible streamlining lawlaw... need to work harder on the finesse for the desaru HIM ar..... 1.9km when you tired and the energy wasted from these kind of small mistakes are no joke man.
Teck Beng:
1) Right arm is more 'patient' than left arm; one side is gliding more than the other side.
2) Form deteriorates on return lap.
KK:
1) Elaborating on Teck Beng's "patient" arm comment... Your non breathing side's (left arm) recovery like to come all the way until the hands meet together before you start the right arm pull..
2) This causes the stroke to slow down a lot because when the left arm is recovering and the right arm is straight, there is no propulsion at all. And thus the speed is left to decelerate due to the resistance in the water.
3) Not enough hip rotation on the non breathing side, causing elbow to be low in recovery and thus premature entry (beside the forehead). Same like Samsam. Non breathing side must turn equally much as the breathing side, the face facing down.
4) On the returning lap, the body streamlining breaks down into 2 pieces, like vincent... the top is shoulder rotating only and the legs couldn't keep up with the rotation and thus the body snakes from side to side.
5) I find that you can try to do the catch a little more to the outside... now your pull starts almost directly underneath your chest and thus its easy to lose balance and also cross centerline. Starting the catch on the outside of your shoulder (not too much) can open your chest up a bit more for more stability and thus better strength application. It also aids in scapula elevation for the catch position.
CALvin
Teck Beng:
1) hand entry too far in-front, lacks the "finger-tip first" entry.
KK:
1) A slight digress from Teckbeng's comment.That movement of hand entry too far in front causing the lack of fingertip entry is a side effect of you trying to stretch and throw your forearm in front. And it only happen on your RIGHT ARM. Your left arm isn't reaching leh.. it enters at the forehead instead of reaching further in front a little bit more..
So, THE TRUE MISTAKE HERE IS THAT YOU'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING BUT YOU'RE DOING IT TOO MUCH on the right hand side, I.E OVER REACHING. :) Just keep the reach a little bit closer.
2) The pressing of the chest down is getting more significant and thus your legs are breaking the surface more. However I can still see that you're not hundred percent comfortable with keeping your face (because of your chest's deeper position in the water) so deep when you're getting breatheless and thus the mistake of the chest coming up higher and higher came back when you're on the second lap coming back. Again, the solution to this is WEI DA JU ZUO XIANG (look at the macro picture of your whole body's balance and position and not just your head).
2i) If your head is slightly deeper and that increases your speed by alot, then you'd finish the lap in FASTER time with the same or lesser(because of the lack of drag when you legs are floating better) effort and thus you will actually feel more comfortable at the end of it than to keep your head so high to grasp for easier air inhalation right? Don't worry too much abt it as I can see that you're thinking throughout the whole swim.. at the end of the second lap, the body position was back to an excellent one again. :)
3) Straight arm pulling with no catch is evidence in both lap of swim.. can cause shoulder problem oh... please take note.
4) Good try on the bilateral breathing... You tried to keep your head low after breathing but you really should try to think about driving your chest back down and not your face!
5) Your legs still open up quite a bit in the kick oh...
6) Recovery towards the center instead of the side! It cause body to snake a little bit also but its not as bad as KH and Ryan. But who knows when you get really tired?
7) Like I mentioned in point (2i), I like the way it ended, you're perfectly floating on the surface. The only thing is you're flat and your legs opened up too wide. :)
JIAYOU!
Oh yes, join us for desaru la. you got a bike too what! Sprint D onli!
-------------------------------------------------
Feel free to add on your own comments and discussion in the COMMENTS!
Ah.. finally done!
Cheers
KK
210710 Swim Training
First of all, THANK YOU TECKBENG!!!!! For helping us take video even though you are sick!!!! Thank you on behalf of the whole team! :)
-----------------------------
Training:
Warmup:
1 x FS-Swim, FS- Kick, FS-Swim (100 each)
Main set:
100 Fly Kick (3 kick, 1 bs pull)
200 Breast Stroke Swim
300 Free Style Swim
100m Hard FS swim for video purpose
100 Fly Kick (3 kick, 1 bs pull)
200 Breast Stroke Swim
300 Free Style Swim
100m Cool down
---------------------- 1.7KM
Basically the idea of today's training is a generic extract of a true swimmer's training. A true swimmer's training as per mentioned before, are very diversified and not ALWAYS specific to his/her event stroke style.
Some of you complained of feeling "chuiz" or exhausted after butterfly kick sets... Some of you complained of feeling damn tired after breast stroke swim...
Some of you complained of feeling devastated or "te-kan-ed" by me because I ask you to do kicks... (Before you complain, look(below) at how much kicks I did before joining you guys.. :P).
So as you see, we're all weak at a certain part of our body and swimming is a wholistic sport. In fact, everything in life is wholistic. You can't stand straight if your back muscles can't pull your back together. You can't lift your leg and move it forward for a step if the other leg doesn't have strength to support your weight while you move. You can't carry a box of equipments or even you bike with your arms if you lower back screams pain and ache when you use your arm to shift such heavy items.
These supporting muscle groups are what we call stabilizer muscles or in actual scientific terms, Synergy muscles. Basically it supports your other part of body as you focus on doing one thing with one other part.
In swim, keeping your body straight while you pull your body through the water is a helluva tiring business. You're literally moving through a space filled with water in a hovering position with your arm as an anchorage. And you have to keep that 60 to 80kg body of yours in a straight line as you move through the water (sometimes with turbulence).
Thus it pays to train up all supporting muscles as at the end of the day, it makes you stronger and you'll eventually find it more effortless to hold a streamlined position while moving through the water with a strong pull or kick.
Below is an illustration of my own swim tonight... as boastful as it seems, please take the below with a pinch of salt and see through what I'm really trying to say behind the colorful description of my own swim program. That's the anchoring of arm and swimming with your core.
----------------------------------------------------------
I did:
Warmup:
100m FS- Swim
100m FS- Kick
100m FS- Pull
100m FS- Kick
100m FS- Swim
100m FS- Swim
100m FS- Kick
100m FS- Pull
100m FS- Kick
100m FS- Swim
+ Warmup with you guys..
100m FS- Swim
100m FS- Kick
100m FS-Swim
NO Rest, all near Race Pace except first 100m.
Main set:
100m Fly Kick (3-6 kick, 1 bs pull)
200m Breast Stroke Swim
300m Free Style Swim
100m Hard FS swim for video purpose
100 Fly Kick (3 kick, 1 bs pull)
200 Breast Stroke Swim
300 Free Style Swim
100 FS Cool down
---------------- 2.7KM,
About 85% of it in Race Pace, Kick laps all in Race Pace.
Also to note, I did them with minor tear in my both arms' biceps. This morning I couldn't straighten my arm past 90 degrees and I had to go for a doctor's massage then pop 6 pain killers to help the inflammation go down. I wasn't able to bend my arm or straighten without any pain right now as I type too.
The point I'm trying to prove?
I am able to swim without much use of my arms.
I use my arms only as anchor and then I use my core and body rotation to help me move through the water.
Lawrence made a comment about swimming at my pace (Easy to moderate) felt like I was pulling really hard with my arms as he had to pull pretty hard to be able to catch up. The matter of fact is I can't even use my arms much tonight because of the pain I felt later in the swim after the video taking... So it goes to show that a strong core goes a long way... lasts longer than what arms can do (sorry to mention this but Vincent is swimming with a lot of arms, and so is Lawrence and Sam and those of you who feels a lot of strain in the arms when you go through the swim training.).
Of course I have to admit the flipper swims I did last few weeks did make my kick pretty consistent and I felt pretty strong throughout the swim.. but the very important point I've proven (surprising even to myself) is that I finally realize what I had always been preaching about swimming with your core.
As you can see, from few weeks back, I've started a very strong emphasis on anchoring your arm in the water and then using your core to pull your body forward with rotation... I'm really expecting everyone to at least grasp and understand the concepts before we move forward to clocking some serious mileage in preparation for the next season of races.
I hope everyone is on the same page as I am as it is critical we move forward as A TEAM and leave nobody behind!
Cheers
KK
-----------------------------
Training:
Warmup:
1 x FS-Swim, FS- Kick, FS-Swim (100 each)
Main set:
100 Fly Kick (3 kick, 1 bs pull)
200 Breast Stroke Swim
300 Free Style Swim
100m Hard FS swim for video purpose
100 Fly Kick (3 kick, 1 bs pull)
200 Breast Stroke Swim
300 Free Style Swim
100m Cool down
---------------------- 1.7KM
Basically the idea of today's training is a generic extract of a true swimmer's training. A true swimmer's training as per mentioned before, are very diversified and not ALWAYS specific to his/her event stroke style.
Some of you complained of feeling "chuiz" or exhausted after butterfly kick sets... Some of you complained of feeling damn tired after breast stroke swim...
Some of you complained of feeling devastated or "te-kan-ed" by me because I ask you to do kicks... (Before you complain, look(below) at how much kicks I did before joining you guys.. :P).
So as you see, we're all weak at a certain part of our body and swimming is a wholistic sport. In fact, everything in life is wholistic. You can't stand straight if your back muscles can't pull your back together. You can't lift your leg and move it forward for a step if the other leg doesn't have strength to support your weight while you move. You can't carry a box of equipments or even you bike with your arms if you lower back screams pain and ache when you use your arm to shift such heavy items.
These supporting muscle groups are what we call stabilizer muscles or in actual scientific terms, Synergy muscles. Basically it supports your other part of body as you focus on doing one thing with one other part.
In swim, keeping your body straight while you pull your body through the water is a helluva tiring business. You're literally moving through a space filled with water in a hovering position with your arm as an anchorage. And you have to keep that 60 to 80kg body of yours in a straight line as you move through the water (sometimes with turbulence).
Thus it pays to train up all supporting muscles as at the end of the day, it makes you stronger and you'll eventually find it more effortless to hold a streamlined position while moving through the water with a strong pull or kick.
Below is an illustration of my own swim tonight... as boastful as it seems, please take the below with a pinch of salt and see through what I'm really trying to say behind the colorful description of my own swim program. That's the anchoring of arm and swimming with your core.
----------------------------------------------------------
I did:
Warmup:
100m FS- Swim
100m FS- Kick
100m FS- Pull
100m FS- Kick
100m FS- Swim
100m FS- Swim
100m FS- Kick
100m FS- Pull
100m FS- Kick
100m FS- Swim
+ Warmup with you guys..
100m FS- Swim
100m FS- Kick
100m FS-Swim
NO Rest, all near Race Pace except first 100m.
Main set:
100m Fly Kick (3-6 kick, 1 bs pull)
200m Breast Stroke Swim
300m Free Style Swim
100m Hard FS swim for video purpose
100 Fly Kick (3 kick, 1 bs pull)
200 Breast Stroke Swim
300 Free Style Swim
100 FS Cool down
---------------- 2.7KM,
About 85% of it in Race Pace, Kick laps all in Race Pace.
Also to note, I did them with minor tear in my both arms' biceps. This morning I couldn't straighten my arm past 90 degrees and I had to go for a doctor's massage then pop 6 pain killers to help the inflammation go down. I wasn't able to bend my arm or straighten without any pain right now as I type too.
The point I'm trying to prove?
I am able to swim without much use of my arms.
I use my arms only as anchor and then I use my core and body rotation to help me move through the water.
Lawrence made a comment about swimming at my pace (Easy to moderate) felt like I was pulling really hard with my arms as he had to pull pretty hard to be able to catch up. The matter of fact is I can't even use my arms much tonight because of the pain I felt later in the swim after the video taking... So it goes to show that a strong core goes a long way... lasts longer than what arms can do (sorry to mention this but Vincent is swimming with a lot of arms, and so is Lawrence and Sam and those of you who feels a lot of strain in the arms when you go through the swim training.).
Of course I have to admit the flipper swims I did last few weeks did make my kick pretty consistent and I felt pretty strong throughout the swim.. but the very important point I've proven (surprising even to myself) is that I finally realize what I had always been preaching about swimming with your core.
As you can see, from few weeks back, I've started a very strong emphasis on anchoring your arm in the water and then using your core to pull your body forward with rotation... I'm really expecting everyone to at least grasp and understand the concepts before we move forward to clocking some serious mileage in preparation for the next season of races.
I hope everyone is on the same page as I am as it is critical we move forward as A TEAM and leave nobody behind!
Cheers
KK
Ernest Training Program!
Very very simple stuffs. 30mins of swim only.
Warm up:
4 laps of freestyle swim.
Focus on stretching from finger tips to toes on 1st and 2nd lap.
Focus on Body rotation from side to side (belly button and chest face one wall to another) on 3rd and 4th lap.
2 laps of fs kick only.
Focus on keeping the body stretched out from fingertip to toes at ALL TIMES.
Main set:
10 x Alternate laps of Right arm pull only & Left arm pull only.
Breathing on every 3rd stroke.
I.E: Go on right arm only, come back on left arm only pulls. Every 1st and 2nd pull don't breathe, 3rd then breathe.
When you are not breathing, look at the arm and make sure the following:
1) Early catch in front of forehead
2) Pulling all the way til your palm and forearm is past your hips before you start exiting the water.
If you can't breathe on the left hand side, it means you're not rotating your body enough. Focus on turning the belly button to face the wall, not your head out of water to catch a breathe.
6 x Normal FS Swim
3 strokes 1 breathe, focus on the same thing as the one arm pull above, except this time you put it into a whole stroke swim.
Cool down:
2 laps of Breast stroke swim.
Timing:
1) Pull & Breathe fast,
2) Head Down FIRST,
3) Kick hard while straightening arms,
4) Glide for 3 seconds with arms out stretched
5) Start the next pull at (1) again.
Take note I used the word Lap, not meters. So find any pool with any length and just do those repeats without concern for the distance swam (unless you're doing at the Marina Sands' Endless pool la.)... Main thing is you're thinking about some parts to improve on whenever you do a lap.
Be safe bro! See you the week after!
Enjoy,
KK
Warm up:
4 laps of freestyle swim.
Focus on stretching from finger tips to toes on 1st and 2nd lap.
Focus on Body rotation from side to side (belly button and chest face one wall to another) on 3rd and 4th lap.
2 laps of fs kick only.
Focus on keeping the body stretched out from fingertip to toes at ALL TIMES.
Main set:
10 x Alternate laps of Right arm pull only & Left arm pull only.
Breathing on every 3rd stroke.
I.E: Go on right arm only, come back on left arm only pulls. Every 1st and 2nd pull don't breathe, 3rd then breathe.
When you are not breathing, look at the arm and make sure the following:
1) Early catch in front of forehead
2) Pulling all the way til your palm and forearm is past your hips before you start exiting the water.
If you can't breathe on the left hand side, it means you're not rotating your body enough. Focus on turning the belly button to face the wall, not your head out of water to catch a breathe.
6 x Normal FS Swim
3 strokes 1 breathe, focus on the same thing as the one arm pull above, except this time you put it into a whole stroke swim.
Cool down:
2 laps of Breast stroke swim.
Timing:
1) Pull & Breathe fast,
2) Head Down FIRST,
3) Kick hard while straightening arms,
4) Glide for 3 seconds with arms out stretched
5) Start the next pull at (1) again.
Take note I used the word Lap, not meters. So find any pool with any length and just do those repeats without concern for the distance swam (unless you're doing at the Marina Sands' Endless pool la.)... Main thing is you're thinking about some parts to improve on whenever you do a lap.
Be safe bro! See you the week after!
Enjoy,
KK
Heart Rate Monitor Recommendation
After the post that shares about fitness and training with a HR monitor, I've received requests from several friends and team mates of mine to recommend some that works.
I'll recommend some below, from the cheapest to the most expensive. I sorted it this way because the functions are all tried and tested by myself or by some of my close fiends and the main concern raised to me regarding which one to buy is the cost. It is still a misconception that people still think HR monitors are rich men's toys... There're some really affordable and reliable ones.
I think reliability is of very huge concern here because its numbers we're dealing with as guidance to our training.. why spend on something cheaper but doesn't give you anything correctly in return?
Also, the below are just SOME very few recommendations... there're a whole world of other products out there... as mentioned above, they're some i've tried and my friends have tried... so do some research if you find this post not convincing (its not supposed to feel convincing in the first place...:P)! :)
-------------------------
Polar F series (Fitness Series)
Model: Polar FT1
Price: $89
Features Worth Mentioning:
- Basic HR monitor that displays your HR! Simple!
-Zone lock alarm to keep you in zone!
Model: Polar F4M/F4F
Price: $103
Features Worth Mentioning:
- Basic HR Monitor that displays your HR.
- F4F is female (red) version and the F4M is Male (black) version. Good for husband and wife~ :P
-Zone lock alarm to keep you in zone!
Polar RS series (Runner Series)
Model: RS100
Price: $130.94
Features Worth Mentioning:
- Zone lock alarm. Meaning if you set it to be at Zone 2 (70%-80% MHR), it'll beep when you're slacking (below of zone) or working too hard (over the zone)
- This is also the cheapest Polar model that has a lap function.
- You can also buy the uplink tool at $82.90 to store your workout data into a website provided by polar.
Model: RS300
Price: $187.05
Features Worth Mentioning:
- It is about the same as RS100, except it is compatible with a few other gadgets such as a GPS receiver and Foot Pod.
- You can search for the RS300SD which comes with the foot pod or RS300X that comes with the GPS as it is priced differently but cheaper to buy that way.
- Can plan interval training
Model: RS800
Price: $617 (without GPS/ bike stuffs)
Features Worth Mentioning:
- It is the highest end of Polar HR Monitor.
- All of RS300 features + it can be used as a bike speedometer with cadence sensor and speed sensor. It also is compatible with a GPS. Have Built in altimeter, thermometer.
Garmin
Model: Garmin Forerunner 205 / 305 / 310XT
Price: $252.52 / $336.68 / $505.04
Features:
- They are about the same watches and the features are Crazy Lots. It is better if you visit the links above by clicking on the model and read it yourself.
- All with Built in GPS sensor. Highly reliable, tried and tested in trail running in SG and Desaru and other malaysia rides by my friends.
- A course feature, meaning if you track one race or workout and store it in the watch, the next time you do the same course/race again, you can "race" with yourself with the watch telling you your pace compared to the previous time done!
Note: GPS sensors are good for cross training or multi sports training such as kayaking or even mountain running to track your distance travelled. You can also map out the details in google map. :)
If you're looking for a basic HR monitor to improve your lifestyle, get FT1 for just below 90 bucks. Seriously, the payback to your health can be thousand times more than its cost (underestimating if you think about the injuries that can plague you if you over train).
If you have the money to splurge, I believe Garmin Forerunner 310XT is the best buy thus far given it has a really strong and reliable GPS BUILT-IN the watch. For the polar ones you have to carry a small piece of GPS receiver, some say its bulky and heavy but I find it is okay as it weighs only 300g?... If you can do a triathlon or walk up the stairs with your body of over 60kg then what is 300grams? Choose as you deem fit.:)
If you're keen on RS800CX with GPS feature, get it from me for $550. I am not using it anymore and it is kind of collecting dust. Buy it in SG and it'll cost more than $800.
There are other HR monitors available, brands are namely Timex, Sigma... Not very sure about the rest but Sigma products I've tried before and find them rather unreliable and the builds are not sturdy enough (Maybe I'm too rough).
The above are just basic review, go to the links and read up, they have extensive reviews and product feature listing. Go google the product review too... they're very well used and well reviewed in the internet already. :)
Disclaimer: I am not paid to do this. Merely providing information for you guys.
Cheers
KK
I'll recommend some below, from the cheapest to the most expensive. I sorted it this way because the functions are all tried and tested by myself or by some of my close fiends and the main concern raised to me regarding which one to buy is the cost. It is still a misconception that people still think HR monitors are rich men's toys... There're some really affordable and reliable ones.
I think reliability is of very huge concern here because its numbers we're dealing with as guidance to our training.. why spend on something cheaper but doesn't give you anything correctly in return?
Also, the below are just SOME very few recommendations... there're a whole world of other products out there... as mentioned above, they're some i've tried and my friends have tried... so do some research if you find this post not convincing (its not supposed to feel convincing in the first place...:P)! :)
-------------------------
Polar F series (Fitness Series)
Model: Polar FT1
Price: $89
Features Worth Mentioning:
- Basic HR monitor that displays your HR! Simple!
-Zone lock alarm to keep you in zone!
Model: Polar F4M/F4F
Price: $103
Features Worth Mentioning:
- Basic HR Monitor that displays your HR.
- F4F is female (red) version and the F4M is Male (black) version. Good for husband and wife~ :P
-Zone lock alarm to keep you in zone!
Polar RS series (Runner Series)
Model: RS100
Price: $130.94
Features Worth Mentioning:
- Zone lock alarm. Meaning if you set it to be at Zone 2 (70%-80% MHR), it'll beep when you're slacking (below of zone) or working too hard (over the zone)
- This is also the cheapest Polar model that has a lap function.
- You can also buy the uplink tool at $82.90 to store your workout data into a website provided by polar.
Model: RS300
Price: $187.05
Features Worth Mentioning:
- It is about the same as RS100, except it is compatible with a few other gadgets such as a GPS receiver and Foot Pod.
- You can search for the RS300SD which comes with the foot pod or RS300X that comes with the GPS as it is priced differently but cheaper to buy that way.
- Can plan interval training
Model: RS800
Price: $617 (without GPS/ bike stuffs)
Features Worth Mentioning:
- It is the highest end of Polar HR Monitor.
- All of RS300 features + it can be used as a bike speedometer with cadence sensor and speed sensor. It also is compatible with a GPS. Have Built in altimeter, thermometer.
Garmin
Model: Garmin Forerunner 205 / 305 / 310XT
Price: $252.52 / $336.68 / $505.04
Features:
- They are about the same watches and the features are Crazy Lots. It is better if you visit the links above by clicking on the model and read it yourself.
- All with Built in GPS sensor. Highly reliable, tried and tested in trail running in SG and Desaru and other malaysia rides by my friends.
- A course feature, meaning if you track one race or workout and store it in the watch, the next time you do the same course/race again, you can "race" with yourself with the watch telling you your pace compared to the previous time done!
Note: GPS sensors are good for cross training or multi sports training such as kayaking or even mountain running to track your distance travelled. You can also map out the details in google map. :)
If you're looking for a basic HR monitor to improve your lifestyle, get FT1 for just below 90 bucks. Seriously, the payback to your health can be thousand times more than its cost (underestimating if you think about the injuries that can plague you if you over train).
If you have the money to splurge, I believe Garmin Forerunner 310XT is the best buy thus far given it has a really strong and reliable GPS BUILT-IN the watch. For the polar ones you have to carry a small piece of GPS receiver, some say its bulky and heavy but I find it is okay as it weighs only 300g?... If you can do a triathlon or walk up the stairs with your body of over 60kg then what is 300grams? Choose as you deem fit.:)
If you're keen on RS800CX with GPS feature, get it from me for $550. I am not using it anymore and it is kind of collecting dust. Buy it in SG and it'll cost more than $800.
There are other HR monitors available, brands are namely Timex, Sigma... Not very sure about the rest but Sigma products I've tried before and find them rather unreliable and the builds are not sturdy enough (Maybe I'm too rough).
The above are just basic review, go to the links and read up, they have extensive reviews and product feature listing. Go google the product review too... they're very well used and well reviewed in the internet already. :)
Disclaimer: I am not paid to do this. Merely providing information for you guys.
Cheers
KK
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
More than just pitching the palm...
Last week's session was a serious headache for myself to teach and I bet a bigger headache for most of you to absorb except perhaps for TeckBeng (cos of his active discussion and involvement in digesting the info and also simplifying my ideas..) and perhaps Sam(a coach herself) and KH who has been the victims of my neverending nags and vomitus of informationzzzz...
Nonetheless, isn't it good to know that what we're doing every wednesday night isn't mindless laps but something much more than the movement of your arms and legs to move one's body through the water?
Training:
300m warm up (focus on 3 beat kick per pull)
50m L arm pull only (focus on belly button and chest rotating to face wall then back to the floor)
50m R arm pull only (same as above)
50m Normal FS swim (bilateral breathing)
50m L arm pull only (focus on an early catch and rotating body to move forward in water instead of using the arm to pull)
50m R arm pull only (same as above)
50m Normal FS swim (bilateral breathing)
2 x 50m Breast Stroke pull only, without kick
(Focus: to learn how momentum affects our body movements in swimming)
2 x 50m fs with an accelerating (upon exit of hands) to throw recovery.
----------------------------
A very simple idea of the swim we performed is the following:
1) An early catch (way out at the front before the forehead)
2) Establishing the anchorage in the water with the catch
3) Rotating your body forward while holding the anchorage
The key is not to use your arm to swim but just an anchor to hold onto a point in the water and then moving your body past that point with a body roll.
It seems easy to understand but it is an entirely different matter to feel it and let alone perform it.
One will have a better chance to doing it well on the master hand being the anchor while feeling almost zero relevance in the off hand.
Nonetheless, practicing it with a conscious state of mind is a must... consistency is key and persistence can never be discounted. I read that same theory from a huge book of swimming that I still keep dearly right now since 3 yrs back in my mad mad research of swimming information... and its only until now that I kind of got it right.
Frankly speaking, before the start of this triathlon swim training, my 100s was hovering around 1:55 to 2:00... nowhere near now where I'm hitting 1:45 and below... It goes to show that swimming isn't just abt moving your limbs and body... we have to feel the way water move and how our body is acting and reacting to the water that we've moved through our own movements.
I will continue to teach tomorrow. Expect slightly more swim though.
Participants of Port dickson may excuse yourself in this week's swim (Arvind, Andy and Ernest and YY, etc..) to better rest for the race.
See you guys tomorrow!
Cheers
KK
Nonetheless, isn't it good to know that what we're doing every wednesday night isn't mindless laps but something much more than the movement of your arms and legs to move one's body through the water?
Training:
300m warm up (focus on 3 beat kick per pull)
50m L arm pull only (focus on belly button and chest rotating to face wall then back to the floor)
50m R arm pull only (same as above)
50m Normal FS swim (bilateral breathing)
50m L arm pull only (focus on an early catch and rotating body to move forward in water instead of using the arm to pull)
50m R arm pull only (same as above)
50m Normal FS swim (bilateral breathing)
2 x 50m Breast Stroke pull only, without kick
(Focus: to learn how momentum affects our body movements in swimming)
2 x 50m fs with an accelerating (upon exit of hands) to throw recovery.
----------------------------
A very simple idea of the swim we performed is the following:
1) An early catch (way out at the front before the forehead)
2) Establishing the anchorage in the water with the catch
3) Rotating your body forward while holding the anchorage
The key is not to use your arm to swim but just an anchor to hold onto a point in the water and then moving your body past that point with a body roll.
It seems easy to understand but it is an entirely different matter to feel it and let alone perform it.
One will have a better chance to doing it well on the master hand being the anchor while feeling almost zero relevance in the off hand.
Nonetheless, practicing it with a conscious state of mind is a must... consistency is key and persistence can never be discounted. I read that same theory from a huge book of swimming that I still keep dearly right now since 3 yrs back in my mad mad research of swimming information... and its only until now that I kind of got it right.
Frankly speaking, before the start of this triathlon swim training, my 100s was hovering around 1:55 to 2:00... nowhere near now where I'm hitting 1:45 and below... It goes to show that swimming isn't just abt moving your limbs and body... we have to feel the way water move and how our body is acting and reacting to the water that we've moved through our own movements.
I will continue to teach tomorrow. Expect slightly more swim though.
Participants of Port dickson may excuse yourself in this week's swim (Arvind, Andy and Ernest and YY, etc..) to better rest for the race.
See you guys tomorrow!
Cheers
KK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)