Swim Doctors, how about a diagnosis?

I’m on a 300 metre interval training jag.

Found some (to me) interesting things while doing them.

All done at an Olympic/Standard level of intensity. I usually do about a 32 min swim (with wetsuit)

2 minutes rest between the sets

300 M : no toys = 6:00

300M: pull buoy = 5:48

paddles = 5:56

fins = 5:47

Ideas/advices?

How are your 50, 100 and 200 times doing since Nov? What’s the swim volume like and kick percentage?

Aren’t you using the baggy old jammer that made you faster last year?
To go faster: going faster in the water boils down to propulsion and reduction of drag. Reduce drag by doing exercises which engage your core, not just your abs but your back and glutes and hip flexors. Be consistent. Do it daily. You should feel your heels leaving the water when you kick.

Don’t do your kick sets with fins. Keep yourself honest. It sucks, it feels slow, it is slow, but it will get better. This will help build a stronger kick which will stabilize you in the water and make you faster.

Actually kick when you swim freestyle. It’s really tempting to just let your legs trail behind you, they create drag. Kick.

Swim times are the same across the distances.
Swimming usually 3 x / week.
Usually do about 600/800 metres of kick.
3/4 of that with fins.

Must have been a different guy.
No baggy shorts here.
Im on a core/strength program that my chiropractor gave me. Do that 3/week.
As for kick without fins.
I lost mine. Went without for three weeks.
Still did the 400 metres as suggested by ex coach.
Boy that chewed up a lot of time.
Bought some Arena Powerfins. And wow. Much faster.
Maybe do half with. Half without.

There was definitely a guy who was crowing about how his old jammer was faster than a Speedo. That thread probably got lost in the Great Shift

Being brutally honest, fins are a crutch at your level. Don’t take that the wrong way. Develop your kick. I mean look at your times, pull buoy is your best w/o fins. You’re going to have to learn how to kick and integrate it into your stroke. Find a coach who’s willing to help you do that.

Eta: and body position… pull buoy is probably masking some body position issues but now I’m entering the realm of assumption and without video I don’t want to do that.

Cruched some numbers here. Yes 50 seconds per 25 metres.

If it takes me 50 seconds to kick 25 metres in a pool workout, and I have to kick for 600 metres, what percentage of my workout would be kicking if my total workout time is 45 minutes

Alright, let’s break this down:

  1. Total kicking time:
  • You kick 25 meters in 50 seconds.
  • For 600 meters, that would be 60025=24\frac{600}{25} = 24 lengths.
  • Total kicking time = 24×5024 \times 50 seconds = 12001200 seconds.
  1. Total workout time:
  • 45 minutes = 45×60=270045 \times 60 = 2700 seconds.
  1. Percentage of workout spent kicking:
  • 12002700×100≈44.44%\frac{1200}{2700} \times 100 \approx 44.44%.

So, kicking would make up approximately 44.44% of your workout time. Quite a significant portion! :man_swimming:

I guess the question would be, how is that kicking time structured? If you’re kicking 25m/50s, you could probably focus on strong 25m at a time. How’s your ankle flexibility? How is your form? Are you driving your kick with the thighs, keeping knee relaxed, and letting the foot/ankle whip? If you have low/no ankle flexibility some targeted 25s w fins can help (not fix) loosen those ankles up.

How about something like:
6x25m hard kick w board on 1:00
rest 1m
300 swim on 7:00
300 pull buoy on 7:00 (recovery time for your legs)

6x25m hard kick w fins on :50
rest 1m
300 swim on 7:00
300 pull buoy on 7:00

4x25m odd fast kick, even fast swim on 1:00

EOW

Thanks for the prescription.

I’ll try this out

Sorry but I’m not sure what advise you’re after?