SWIM TRAINING CONCEPT
My Swim Coach training plans are for all pool swimmers, open water swimmers and triathletes, who train on their own or in small training groups and who wish to train efficiently and with enjoyment; whether it is to prepare professionally for a competition or to improve their swimming performance and level of fitness.
Swim training with the Lane One concept is based on multiple energetic, form-based exercises in the water. There is a full spectrum of training intensity planned effectively throughout the concept with high intensive training phases tailored to play an important role.
In the course of the season, your training will include a preparation and build-up phase, achieving a wide base for endurance as well as strength and speed. Using this basis, strength endurance and tempo will be developed in the competition phase.
We split the training period into 9 cycles over the course of 32 weeks. You'll reach your peak form - e.g. for your main competition of the year - at the end of the 32nd week of training. If you have already less than 32 weeks to go, you can easily determine the correct training week to start with by calculating back from the date when you would like to reach your peak performance. The more time you have for training before reaching your season peak, the more complete your preparation.
The Swim Coach started in collaboration with aquafeel. The German company offers professional swim wear for training and competition (Fina approved) as well as swim accessories. Through My Swim Coach, aquafeel wants to support its customers to prepare best for their competitions, also outside club training.
„We want aquafeel clients to enjoy our swim products, and successfully realize their objectives in the water.
Wolfgang Kraus, CEO, fashy GmbH Produktion und Vertrieb, Germany
TRAINING PLAN FAQ
WHAT PREREQUISITES ARE NEEDED TO TRAIN WITH MY SWIM COACH? Our training is for ambitious fitness swimmers, whether they prefer the pool or open water, and triathletes. Content and scope of the swimming plans require you being able to complete at least 1.000m crawl at a stretch and to swim different swimming strokes.
SWIM TIME TARGETS: You should try to follow the training plan instructions (time targets, number of repetition, pause length) as closely as possible. However, depending on personal skills and preferences, you may occasionally want or need to differ from the instruction. Overall, that shouldn't damage your success in training. By tracking your training progress regularly with the help of our Swim Test, you ensure that scope and intensity of the swim training plan relate to your personal performance development.
I CANNOT SWIM BUTTERFLY. DOES IT MATTER? Swimming short Butterfly distances is part of our swim training. However, you can easily replace them by swimming Butterfly-slap, Breaststroke or Crawl.
WHEN CAN I START MY SWIM TRAINING? You can start our My Swim Coach training any time and in any training phase. We split the training period into 9 cycles over the course of 32 weeks. The more time you have for training before reaching your season peak, the more complete your preparation. Just determine the correct training week to start with, by calculating back from the date of your main competition (= week 32).
WHY SHOULD I DETERMINE A SEASON PEAK? When building up your performance level in a structured way, this will always include phases of effort and recovery that alternate periodically. This includes the planning of a complete training year. Ideally, an extensive preparation and build-up phase is followed by a competition phase that includes the immediate preparation directly before the main competition of the year; all followed by a recovery phase. Even if you do not participate in any competition, this training cycle makes sense for you. In the long run, only this will improve your swimming performance.
I DON'T HAVE ANY COMPETITION TO SPECIFICALLY TRAIN FOR. If you do not have any competition you want to specifically train for, but you just wish to improve your swimming performance and to keep fit, we recommend to always align your training to a period of 8 months and to complete a full training cycle.
CAN I PREPARE FOR MORE THAN ONE SEASON PEAK? In competitive sports it is not unusual to prepare for two season peaks. However, My Swim Coach does not support this yet; we'll work on it ;-)
WHAT DO I DO WHEN I AM ILL OR INJURED? If you feel bad or if you are injured, you should stop training and skip the training units that fall into this period. When starting your workout again, you may want to reduce the scope or intensity of your first training units. Always listen to your body!
HOW DO I TRAIN WHEN I HAVE A COMPETITION DURING WEEKEND? My Swim Coach training plans foresee a specific tapering only for your main competition of the year. However, before any other (build-up) competition over the year, you may certainly skip one or another training session or reduce their scope.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I TRAIN WITH MY SWIM COACH? We recommend to do at least 2 training units per week. The more performance-oriented you are, the more often you should train. However, more than 5 training units per week are not efficient due to our experience, even at high performance level.
WHAT CAN I DO IF THE TIME TARGETS DO NOT FIT FOR ME? Especially triathletes or slower swimmers often have rather unusual performance profiles in swimming. Often these swimmers show a wide range of capacity when it comes to short vs. long distances or different swimming strokes that differ from known standards in swimming. If all time targets are too slow or too fast; just choose another swim training plan. In the new training plan, just start in the same training week as you would in your previous plan. If you only have problems with one swimming stroke, you may want to adapt your target swimming times individually. However, always have a look at the respective objective of the training unit; recovery units are slower on purpose, whilst it should "hurt" a little when training tempo / stamina.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I SWIM THE TEST? We propose to swim one of our swim tests every 6 to 8 weeks, to track your training progress. This will allow you to find out when it's time to change to another Lane One training plan. In the new training plan, just start in the same training week as you would in your previous plan.
WHAT GEAR DO I NEED TO TRAIN WITH MY SWIM COACH? Paddles, Pull-Buoy and short fins are great to have. Paddles are best in size L (23x19cm). For few training units we recommend to swim in a neoprene suit; however this is not needed.
SWIM TRAINING GLOSSARY
Our swim training plans contain certain abbreviation and technical terms. Here you receive an overview of terms with explanation.
HEALTH INFORMATION
Our training plans and tips were developed by qualified and responsible sport scientists, coaches and athletes. However, they do not represent any form of medical advice.
