I have taken this extract from Jan Olbrechts book the The Science of Winning

I think this section explains why regular training is essential for progression:
Biological Adaptation
The adaptations of the human organism follow a regular pattern. During the first
1-2 weeks of a new training cycle the body adapts quickly to the new stimulus.
In the next few weeks the power of this same stimulus to provoke an adaptation will
progressively fade to end up completely after 6 weeks.
We therefore call week 1 and 2 of the adaptation process the fast adaption phase
and weeks 3-6 the stabilisation phase
After the body stops responding to the current training load (intensity and or
volume), it is necessary to increase it to induce further adaption. This means that
after 6 weeks training will be modified by either:
1) Increasing the training load
2) Increasing the training intensity
3) Increasing the frequency per week
4) Changing the proportion of workouts in each stroke(e.g. changing from
freestyle to breaststroke while keeping the volume and intensity the same)
5) Making the training programme more difficult by changing the training
environment such as training at altitude or by reducing the regenerative
training between intensive workouts(e.g. maintaining the same number of
intensive workouts per week but with less extensive training units between
them)
6) A combination of points 1-5
Whenever the athlete stops training a detraining process sets in, inducing a
relatively rapid loss of the acquired adaptation. For example, half the increase
in mitochondria from five weeks of training may be lost in one week of
detraining. Since the number of mitochondria substantially determines the
endurance capacity of the swimmer, it is obvious that the loss of one weeks
training will have a marked effect on endurance.
(Mitochondria are cell organelles and act as engines within the cells)
The above information explains the all too common scenario of swimmers
believing they train a lot but show no improvement.
This can be because this week they trained hard, next week they missed a few
sessions net result; they feel like they are always at the pool and a possible
decrease in fitness. It is certainly very unlikely to have a fitness gain in this
training situation.
The effect of this yoyo training is poor morale and poor results.
After one week of detraining it then takes four weeks of retraining to get back to
square one. Therefore it is clear that only regularity and continuity in the training
process will ensure progression of conditioning over several years.

Sandy Blackwood

Page 1

27/07/2015

Coaches yearly or quadrennial planning will not have the desired effect if
swimmers do not attend the necessary sessions and the complex balance of hard
work and recovery in all of the following skills;
Breaststrokes, front crawl, back crawl, fly IM work, kick, pull, drill
Also included in this mix is the balance of training different energy systems
within the athletes body.
There are many differing ways of categorising these but British Swimming
identifies them as follows:
Heart rate
Symbol

A1
A2
[T]
VO2
La Tol
LA Prod
Sp/Pwr

Name

Beats below max (bbm)

Low-intensity Aerobic
bbm
Moderate Aerobic
bbm
Anaerobic Threshold
bbm
Maximal Oxygen Uptake
bbm
Lactate Tolerance
bbm
Lactate Production
bbm

50-70
30-45
20-30
5-15

Speed / Power

0
0

% Race
Speed

Lactate Value
(mM)

up to 75 %

1.0 - 3.0 mM

"light / steady"

75 - 85 %

1.0 - 3.0 mM

"moderate / comfor

85 - 95 %

2.5 - 5.0 mM

"uncomfortable / to

95 - 105 %

5.0 - 10.0 mM

"hard / fast"

90 - 110 %

8.0 - 15.0 mM

95 - 110 %

8.0 - 12.0 mM

100 - 120 %

3.0 - 6.0 mM

As you can see from the following information training can go badly wrong if the
programme is not adhered to.
For example the coach could have planned for 35% of the sessions work to be on
the main stroke, 20% on kick, 20% IM, and 25% free
Allowing 70 % to be basic endurance, 20 % recovery, 5% VO2 max, 5% sprint
work in each session and there are ten sessions in each week in which to balance
hard work and recovery, but the swimmer only attends some sessions, then the
whole balance is put in jeopardy and the coach has wasted many hours of
preparation, the swimmer hours of training, and parents suffer from loss of sleep
and expense.
I have included a quote with Bill Sweetenhams views on this type of situation.

Sandy Blackwood

Page 2

Perceived
Exertion

27/07/2015

"very fast"
200"
"very fast / hard"
75"
"fast / powerful" "
distance"

Bill Sweetenham (British Swimming National Performance Director) summed up

the current position with the development of British Swimming thus:
Right now we have too many clubs in Great Britain offering too little
training time and in most cases too much competition. This leaves
many athletes in a twilight zone of training less than 14 hours a week,
hoping for international results and expecting overseas tours and camps
and national level success. For an athlete training 8 hours a week the
benefits are social, fun, participation, team building and health benefits.
For those athletes wishing for an international career and who are
serious about optimum performance at the national level then
swimming in a programme with a high performance objective of 18-25
hours is approximately what it will take to achieve these objectives.
However, in most countries and in most clubs, the vast majority of
athletes train between 8 and 14 hours per week. This is the twilight
zone, too much volume to be fun and achieve the social and happy
benefits of the participation level (8 hours and under) and not enough
to achieve the competitive results or optimum performance that an
athlete expects. In other words it is too much for participation and too
little to be considered really serious in terms of the competitive nature of
the sport. Changing this twilight zone should be the major focus of
every club and national programme.
(Bill Sweetenham, Wavelength 2002)

In conclusion we have a team of very highly trained coaches delivering well balanced
and well thought out programmes for swimmers to reach their personal bests.
The only way these programmes will be optimised is through regular attendance
achieved by looking ahead and planning for school, sport and social commitments.
These commitments can be managed and athletes can achieve all their life goals
without compromising areas but forward planning and discussion with all parties
involved is essential.
Exams and tests will be ongoing for many swimmers all through their school life and
then possibly moving on to university. A strategy for successful negotiation of exam
time accumulating the necessary knowledge needed for good results and without
significant loss of fitness needs to be constructed before the exams are happening and
its all too late.
If not the years that the swimmer should be competing at their best will see a steady
loss of fitness poor results and possibly even eventually leaving the sport.
I know many swimmers who have gathered standard grades, highers, honours degrees
while still completing up to ten sessions per week.

Sandy Blackwood

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27/07/2015