December E-tip:

Zone In, not Out, to Overcome Your Limits

By Terry Laughlin
Total Immersion

Rather than taking your mind away from what you're doing, the goal is to be completely present with it, and to use that mindfulness to make your awareness deeper and more subtle.

An article in the January 2008 issue of Outside magazine describes how uber-swimmer Michael Phelps is training for his attempt at seven or more gold medals at this summer's Beijing Olympic Games. A sidebar features five suggestions for how you can "Be Like Mike."  Number 4 reads: Find Your Rhythm.

"Whatever is the last song on when I get out of the car is going to be what's in my head during practice. So it has to be a good one," Phelps is quoted as saying.

Perhaps not the advice you were hoping for? I formed a mental image of Michael in the parking lot, waiting for the right song. To be honest, I did something similar in my 20s.

In 1972 (pre-waterproof mp3 players), I swam 9 miles across Long Island Sound with Louie, Louie by the Kingsmen playing in my head for almost three-and-a-half hours. This mental trick, called dissociation, was the subject of a recent article in the New York Times by fitness writer Gina Kolata.

"You are always capable of doing more," the article quoted Dr. Bill Morgan, emeritus professor of kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin, and dissociation is one of the techniques commonly used by athletes to help overcome limits.

Distraction in Action

The limits of human performance are poorly understood. It could be the ability of the heart to circulate blood to the muscles, the ability of the muscles to respond to nerve stimuli, the availability of muscle fuel. But mind state can be more influential than all of them.

In one experiment, Dr. Morgan instructed runners to say "down" every time a foot lands, or to stare at an object while running on a treadmill, and to breathe in sync with their steps. Runners who did so outperformed members of a control group who ran in their usual way.

Dr. Morgan, who has worked with hundreds of sub-elite marathon runners, said everyone had a dissociation strategy. But a key difference between average and elite marathon runners is that whereas average runners describe zoning out to make it through the last few miles of the race, the elite runner zones in more keenly.

This habit of better runners will be familiar to anyone who has practiced the "purposeful mindfulness" Total Immersion advocates for stroke improvement. While dissociation is intended to take an athlete's mind off the distance to be covered, or the effort required while running or cycling near one's limits, a contrasting mental technique—let's call it association—is far more interesting and functional than those cited in the article.

Dissociation techniques are actually rather widespread and not limited to those who race. The TV-watchers and magazine-readers on the treadmills at the gym appear to find exercise so boring they do anything to take their mind off it. Ms. Kolata's article cites examples that are more imaginative and helpful—watching the seat post of the cyclist ahead of you—but are still unrelated to focal points that actually save you energy or increase the effectiveness of your movements.

In contrast, the focal points we suggest to swimmers result in actually increasing the effectiveness of your movements. Rather than taking your mind away from what you're doing, the goal is to be completely present with it, and to use that mindfulness to make your awareness deeper and more subtle. Further we've learned that because efficient swimming movements are so counter-intuitive, if you don't focus on them, you're likely to be repeating less effective movement.

Those of us who race have also discovered that focal points have the additional benefit of helping us avoid distractions, some of which have the potential to turn into energy-and-fortitude-sapping anxieties. Swimming is unique in this aspect, because the most effective movements are far less intuitive than in the land sports cited by Ms. Kolata in her article.

Focusing on Freestyle

Here's a starter set of three focal points for freestyle. Pick one and swim short distances (25 to 50 yards) easily, trying mainly to feel as described. Between repeats, take three to five relaxing breaths until you feel ready to swim with ease again. To test your efficiency, count your strokes for 25 or 50 yards before beginning, then compare your stroke count for that distance after practicing one or more of the focal points.

1) "Hang" Your Head
Why: Head-spine alignment is essential to comfortable, efficient swimming.

2) Lengthen Your Body
Why: A longer body line reduces drag, allowing you to swim smoother, faster, easier.

How to Practice:
• Focus on using your arms to lengthen your body line, rather than pushing water back.
• In freestyle, slip your hand and forearm into the water as if sliding it into a mail slot.

3) Move Like Water
Why: Water rewards fluent movement and penalizes rough or rushed movement.

How to Practice:
• Pierce the water; by moving your body (head, arms, torso) through the smallest possible "space" in the water.
• Swim as quietly as possible—minimizing bubbles, waves or splash.

Here is the tip of the month for November (sorry we missed October!): 

March Etip:

January:

7 Habits of Highly Effective Swimmers By Coach Joe Novak Total Immersion

1. Always be aware of your stroke count. Work on maintaining the most efficient stroke possible at slower speeds, and ensure that an increase in strokes is a result of making a choice to go faster—not an accident of fatigue or loss of concentration.

2. Realize that it's better to control your effort and maintain proper form than to compromise technique by going all out to make an interval. Understand that conditioning is something that happens to you, while you work on race-winning skills.

3. Constantly seek ways to minimize drag. In the equation: Velocity = Stroke Length x Stroke Rate, our natural instinct is to increase Stroke Rate to go faster. But the fastest swimmers in the world are those who get the most out of each stroke they take. While I've seen and experienced the limits one can physically exert themselves in the water, I have yet to see a limit on how much a person can improve their efficiency.

4. If need be, go last in the lane if it's the best position in which to practice effective swimming. While swimming at Army, I split 43.1 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle, yet I sometimes preferred to go last in my lane so I could practice great technique without distraction. For a year and a half I trained in Irvine, California, sharing a lane with Jason Lezak, the all-time fastest American in the 100-meter free. While he was unquestionably the fastest swimmer in the pool, he usually went last in our lane and I could count on one hand the number of times he led the lane.

5. Strive to be the quietest swimmer in the pool. Working against the water is an exhausting and frustrating process. The same habits that allow us to be silent and smooth make us efficient in the water.

6. Focus on looking easier—at all speeds—than anyone else in the pool. The greatest athletes in all sports—Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky, Alexander Popov—consistently outperform the competition while appearing to be going at half speed.

7. Pull away at the end of races, as well as on turns and underwater. While all swimmers have this as a goal, a conventional swimmer does it by trying to out-train you ("The fitter I am, the more I'll have left in the tank at the end."). Total Immersion teaches you to swim more economically at any speed...by seeking small edges in stroke efficiency...by developing acute pace awareness...by mastering "swimming gears" for the most advantageous strategy for each stage of the race...by "winning every turn" (in practice too)...and by blending mind and muscles seamlessly toward that goal. And here's the fundamental difference: The conventional swimmer is focused on getting in shape at workouts; the TI Swimmer is focused every minute on mastering the skills that win races. It's not what you do at practice—it's how.

**Each month we post a swimming tip of the month from eteamz and active.com! If you'd like to subscribe to the eteamz/active.com swimming newsletter visit www.active.com

Four Focused Swim Workouts

By Erika Lilley, CSCS
For Active.com

When you find yourself heading to the aquatics center on a regular basis without a plan, it's time to refocus and establish your purpose for swim training. Otherwise, you'll see minimal results and soon get bored of staring at that black line at the bottom of your lane as you do the same sets over and over again.

If you have never been a competitive swimmer or don't belong to an organized Master's program, you may not know how to put together a workout that is more than just "jump in and swim for 30 minutes."

Below are four solid, fundamental workouts that offer some variety and purpose, not to mention some "fun" to your training program. Each workout is designed with a specific theme: technique, sprint, distance and interval training. You are free to alter them as you wish--make them longer or shorter--depending on your training schedule. However, each offers a solid template for the percentage you should allot to each Main Set, so adjust your total yardage accordingly.

You can also adjust the intervals to your ability level (1:30, 1:25, 1:20) for each workout in the main set--especially when performing The Quickie workout. Try to keep each set descending: that is, do each 50, 100 or 200 faster than the first one you performed, so your final one is the fastest.

Perform at least two of these workouts a week and not only will you will be looking forward to your trips to the pool, you will turn yourself into a better overall swimmer.

Tech To It (Technique/Drill Workout)

Warmup:  400 IM Drill
Main Set:

• 16 x 50--Alternate free/stroke drill (choice*) by 50
• 400 Kick (200 with board, 200 without)
• 400 Pull (200 Freestyle, 200 Stroke*)
• 5 x 100 Kick (choose swim or stroke, descending)
• 5 x 100 Pull (choose swim or stroke, descending)

Cool Down:  300 Freestyle
Total Yards: 3300

*Your choice of three strokes: butterfly, backstroke or breastroke. Try NOT to do freestyle when offered the choice. This will only make you a better swimmer.

The Quickie (Sprint Workout)

Warmup:  500 Freestyle
Main Set:

• 8 x 50--Slow/medium pace (1 minute interval)
• 8 x 50--Medium/fast (1 minute interval)
• 8 x 100--Freestyle (descending)
• 8 x 100--75 fast, rest 10 seconds, then 25 sprint
• 8 x 50--25 medium, rest 10 seconds, 25 sprint (1:10 interval)

Cool Down: 300 Freestyle
Total Yards: 3200

Go Long (Distance Workout)

Warmup: 200 Freestyle (Stretch it out. Warm up your legs and your pull.)
Main Set:

10 x 400

• First five 400's are freestyle (descending).
• The last five 400's alternate between pull and kick per 400. (Kick with board and fins. For pull, use a pull-buoy and paddles.)

Cool Down: 300 Freestyle
Total Yards:  4500

Break It Up (Interval Workout)

Warmup: 5 x 200 (50 drill, 100 swim, 50 drill)
Main Set:

3 x 400
• First 400: 100 build, 200 fast, 100 medium
• Second 400: 100 slow, 50 fast, 50 slow, 50 fast, 100 slow
• Third 400: 200 build, 100 fast, 100 slow

2 x 200
• First 200: Pull (100 stroke, 100 freestyle)
• Second 200: Kick (100 stroke, 100 freestyle)

Cool Down: 400 Freestyle
Total Yards: 3000