The main purpose of cross-training is a topic of debate between swimmers and their coaches with the Lifeguard Course.
In actual events, combinations should not be viewed as four
separate strokes but as one swimming stroke that includes a wide variety of
movements. This is why there are so many different types of training
philosophies. Generally speaking, freestyle is the main and most used in
training sessions to improve swimming skills. The second most used style –
especially for quality sessions or when practicing race pace – is what is
called “your own favorite style”.
This does
not apply to swimmers who choose to focus on the combination.
In this case, the specification of swimming skills is more
complex than that required of swimmers who focus on just one or two strokes,
and this inevitably means that training sessions are structured differently.
Let's see how you can organize your training in 3 sessions a
week with an approximate duration of 1 hour:
– Each day will be dedicated to a particular style, except
for freestyle which will be incorporated into each session.
– After calendar, and before the main training session,
always do a short combination drill.
– This will be followed by a specific “style of the day”
exercise (both full style and just legs) and freestyle arm only exercises.
The distance set for each day should be broken into shorter
sections to recover energy so that you can repeat the exercise with “more fuel
in the tank”.
Session 1
(butterfly)
·
600 heating (ex lo year)*
·
300m combination (eg 6 x 50)
·
400m butterfly (eg 2 x 8 x 25 with 20” recovery)
·
300 butterfly legs only (eg 3 x 100 with 15”
recovery)
·
600m freestyle, arms only (possible intervals)
·
All. 2200 m (88 meters long)
Session 2
(back)
·
600 heating (ex lo year)*
·
400 m combination (eg 4 x 100 with 20” recovery)
·
1000m backstroke, legs only, intervals (eg 6 x
100 with 20” recovery + 8 x 50 with 15” recovery)
·
400m freestyle with legs only intervals (e.g.
200 with 25” recovery + 100 with 15” recovery + 2 x 50 with 10” recovery)
·
All. 2400 m (96 m long)
Session 3
(breaststroke)
·
700 heating (ET SP SB)*
·
300m combination (eg 4 x 75 with 15” recovery)
·
400m breaststroke (eg 16 x 25 with 7” recovery)
·
400m breaststroke, legs only (eg 8 x 50 with 10”
recovery)
·
400m freestyle single arms nonstop
·
Tot. 2200 m (88 lengths)
* SP = Legs only SB =
Arms only ET: Technical exercises
From the point of view of physical training there is also a
big difference. The number of muscles involved in a combined run is greater
than it is in a single style run and your joints will be under greater stress.
That's why gym workouts are often longer, focusing on
various muscle groups and training circuits including exercises that work
different muscle groups at different intensities (speeds) with American Lifeguard Training.
In my opinion, and from an organic point of view, this is
the most complex and interesting style that requires the most dedication but
also the most fun to practice.
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