Re: Proper form for using a kickboard

<MJuric> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

> You could say this about alot of coaching practices, Including
> MaxHR, LT, VO2Max or anything that happens to be the flavor of the
> month training technique.

Trouble is, LT is notoriously hard to determine - if you want to be accurate
about finding it, you need multiple repeats at multiple intensities,
measuring the subsequent lactate every time. very time consuming, VERY  high
cost, and requires expertise in interpreting the trend. Training at MaxHR,
which has a high correlation with VO2Max (and is after all, the point of
using HR as an index), well, its as easy as slapping on a HR monitor for 5
seconds after each repeat of a decending set of 5 x 200's...


> This is fine if you choose to train this way. However for
> those that choose to have a slightly more diverse training methodolgy
> including training above a very very low intensity, but lower than
> racing effort(Which is rarely max) it is wise to have a "guestimation"
> of what is to hard and what is not hard enough.

I would never advise a rec swimmer to train this way, or anyone that isn't
in competition. For those individuals i would suggest using RPE, or a
C-Code.


> As you mentioned before LT testing, as well as just about any method
> of measuring fitness, has serious flaws. All to often people take
> "benchmarks" like LT, MAXHR etc and make them fast and hard rules. The
> most famous example of this IMO is the 220-AGE HR formula.

the 220-age is a generalised formula for a general population (like BMI),
and assumes the relationship between age and MaxHr is a linear one, which it
isn't. There are two other formulae that account for this:

Londeree et al (1982) suggest 206.3 - (0.711 * age)
Miller et al (1993) suggest 217- (0.85 * age)

I have found the first particularly good. However, i establish MaxHR using a
test set, and work from that. The test set is done 4 weeks into the season,
and is used for the rest of the season. I can administer it to a whole group
in a two hour session, with high reliability, (ie swimmers rarely exceed the
HR they establish in the test, and when its repeated (we did this while
developing the test) are within +/-2.1bpm, with sample of 37 collegiate
swimmers).


> However I also incorporate other indicators as well, PE, Pace or just
> plain old how I feel that day. Frankly I've come to rely more on the
> later the more familiar I become with my bodies reaction to training.

As i said, general feel using RPE or C-Code is great for those who don't
need the headache of daily, weekly and cyclic monitoring. However, using HR
i can assess and prescribe on a daily basis. Working at 15bbm one day will
invariably bring about different times for a 200 for example on different
days, however, i know i'm hitting the correct system doing this. Its as easy
as having a target HR (we use 150bpm) for an extrapolated 200 time...if
their HR is 155 or lower, i know i can push it, if its above 155bpm at that
rep time, they go easy for that session.