Another great question from an athlete I coach, about the relationship between swimming form and speed. Now I’m certainly no swimming expert, but I have learned a few things about swimming and the importance of good form in order to save energy for cycling and running in a triathlon. Any good swimmers want to chime in, feel free!

Cody,
Here is a question I forgot to ask before. At the pool. I swim during the same time as another guy that is pretty big and heavy set. He swims violently I guess you could say with lots of water disruption and a huge splash during his flip turns. He also swims very high in the water with almost his whole head and upper body out of the water. His strokes are also very awkward. My questions is that he is so much faster with what looks to be horrible form and water disruption. He was a swimmer but his form looks horrible yet he can swim forever with this awful form very fast. Any input???

Here is my response:

Perhaps he has swam for years and developed the strength to muscle through the water with at a high metabolic expense? READ MORE

Here is great question from one of my athletes I coach regarding training and when is it okay to take a day off or miss a workout and is it okay to go above my aerobic threshold HR during training.

Cody,

Training is going pretty good.  I have only missed one workout in the first 7 weeks.  One of the things people have said in the last few weeks is that I’m obsessed with working out.  That really isn’t true.  What I am obsessed with is making sure I get every workout done that is on the plan.  In the last seven weeks there have been times that I get very busy at work or I have to take a last minute business trip.  Sometimes I get fairly tired and mentally fatigued but I make sure I get the workouts done.  When I’ve read some of your blogs I see that you talk about listening to your body.  Is it better for me to power through and get all the workouts done or back off when I feel tired?  The other question I have is should there be a week that I do less training.  If you take the average I have worked out 11 hours a week.  I know to get better I need to get that up to 14-15 hours a week.  That being said is there anytime that you would back off a week to 6-7 hours as a recovery week.

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