Elise's Fitness Fun

How are you going to drop/taper weights for Nats?

I'm a late night tour junkie as well.

Sleep is always troublesome and elusive. I'm not getting enough this week due to driving duties and Saturdays are always a dead loss. I was thinking of stock piling sleep beginning next week if my body cooperates.

Wasn't today on the Tour amazing? Also amazing that those guys have to come back and ride 122 miles tomorrow. The shape they are all in blows my mind.

I think what works best for me is to drop weights and running about 10 days out from my race. My first race at Nats is on Thursday, August 6, so I think I will do one last lifing session on Sunday, July 26. I may go one set of 10 the week leading up to the 26th, so really I would start my taper about 17 days out.

The 26th will also be my last run day. I'm going to go nuts not running at all for 2 weeks. Guess I'll survive somehow though.

Since my swimming yardage is so low right now, I'm thiking I'll probably swim pretty hard until 7 days out and after that just do warm-up type swims between 1200 and 1800 yards.

When are you going to cut out the weights?

I'm not sure. Last time, it was 2 weeks out. But I may shift to lighter more explosive lifting for awhile.

Originally Posted by The Fortress

I'm not sure. Last time, it was 2 weeks out. But I may shift to lighter more explosive lifting for awhile.

Sounds like a plan. Out of curiosity, what made you decide to go with the lighter but more explosive lifting?

Originally Posted by elise526

Sounds like a plan. Out of curiosity, what made you decide to go with the lighter but more explosive lifting?

My sprinter friend Allen Stark attributed switching to this approach as key to his recent success. I think this is also consistent with what Rich Abrahams does. In retrospect, I wonder if I should have done this when I re-commenced lifting after Zones. In a normal periodization cycle (which of course, I don't typically follow!), after a period of heavy lifting and before taper, you switch to plyos and explosive lifting.

Originally Posted by The Fortress

My sprinter friend Allen Stark attributed switching to this approach as key to his recent success. I think this is also consistent with what Rich Abrahams does.

I think you can say that Chris S and everyone following Lezak's plan also does this.

Periodization is good if you suffer ADD in the gym If you know your target meet in advance, it makes sense to break it up into phases, so you have an end in sight after heavy lifting that you enjoy more than taper, hopefully pushing you toward harder lifting. Plus, you have a buffer, if you hurt yourself during heavy lifting, your speed/explosive phase can be used to heal before the target meet. Of course, I have been wondering if adding plyometics really makes sense the phase right before taper. I think plyometrics might make sense to include during the entire season to keep yourself familar with the exercises, then ramp it up at the end.

The explosive lifting sounds interesting and a nice way to change things up after heavy lifting. I've read Lezak's plan before and would want to train somebody that way if I were coaching again.

My life always seems so hectic that I'm not sure I could use a plan on myself for any period of time.

I don't think Lezak's plan makes a good beginning plan, but I think people who did not lift regularly before using Lezak's plan felt they were successful with it.

I think a beginning plan where the goal is to increase weight every similar session is a good starting point for someone new, or returning, to the weight room. If you don't have experience in the weight room, where do you start with the Lezak plan weight wise?

In my life, hectic means unorganized. When catastrophe strikes, it is easier to adapt when you knew what the original plan was. Again, in my life. I don't have children, and I think that might change my mind completely

Originally Posted by qbrain

I don't think Lezak's plan makes a good beginning plan, but I think people who did not lift regularly before using Lezak's plan felt they were successful with it.

I think a beginning plan where the goal is to increase weight every similar session is a good starting point for someone new, or returning, to the weight room. If you don't have experience in the weight room, where do you start with the Lezak plan weight wise?

In my life, hectic means unorganized. When catastrophe strikes, it is easier to adapt when you knew what the original plan was. Again, in my life. I don't have children, and I think that might change my mind completely

You make a good point. One does need to have a plan to keep oneself on track. My goal has been to get stronger very gradually. I can quickly get bored with the same routine, so I try to mix up the sets a little. I've been told that your body will get "lazy" or overly efficient if you always do the same thing, so this gives me another reason to mix things up. I try to change the approach up with each workout. Some workouts I'll do a 12-10-8 set, a 10-8-6 set, an 8-6-4 set, or 2 sets of 10.

I feel like I've gotten quite a bit stronger since I started getting a little bit more aggressive with heavier weights back in March. Now, I don't know how this will carry over into the pool. Honestly, though, I felt like I was in a rut with my swimming and wanted to do something where I could see improvement. It has been very rewarding to see myself getting stronger in the weight room. I am really hopeful that the mental aspect of this will carry over into my swimming even more so than the physical aspect. I guess time will tell.

Originally Posted by elise526

It has been very rewarding to see myself getting stronger in the weight room.

I agree. If you are a person who likes tangible goals that are predictably achievable, lifting weights is great. Swimming is very frustrating in that regard. If you taper 3x/year, you really only know if you are making progress 3x/year, and something as simple as a cold could wipe out the meaning of an entire taper.