Interesting Stats at Complete Nutrition

A couple of my athletes have been stopping by a place called Complete Nutrition lately, which seems to be a place that focuses on supplements and meal replacement products for the bodybuilding crowd.  Both of these athletes are beyond high school age and it is nice to see them taking an interest in nutrition.  They have been asking me a lot of questions and bringing up things they are learning as they read up on it.

I got curious about visiting the store because one of those swimmers has been checking in there to get detailed stats on his body composition.  He was actually able to tell me how much his body fat percentage had improved and exactly what his lean mass is.

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 2: Energy Systems and Swim Training 101

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 2:  Energy Systems and Swim Training 101

Butter up that bacon and listen good… Viking is here to teach ya a little about fuel.

This post covers the three energy systems that contribute to the different intensities of athletic movement and how those relate to swim training.  I feel that while most coaches probably have a pretty good grasp on this topic, not all readers are coaches, and it never hurts to have a refresher.  Hopefully this helps us all to follow some of the ideas I am trying to get across throughout this multi-part series. Please understand that this is a simplified rundown on the complex science behind energy systems and training zones.  If you want more detail on the info I am summarizing here, there is more in-depth information available at the links throughout the article below. Much of the info here is cut, pasted and paraphrased from the links throughout the article.

THE VIKING MANIFESTO Part 1: The New Science of Healthy Eating

THE VIKING MANIFESTO: Piecing Together a New Approach to Nutrition and Training for Swimmers from Scientific and Anecdotal Evidence.

Part 1:  The New Science of Healthy Eating

Nutrition can often be like politics and religion. People tend to dig their heels in and stand up for their long held beliefs even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Sometimes they don’t even know how they first formed those beliefs. Unfortunately in America, when it comes to nutrition, much of our base knowledge stems from advertising.  

Feel free to add nutrition to the list of things you shouldn't talk about when you're drunk. I am not drunk right now but you might think I am when you hear me out. I came here to tell you that the standard nutrition advice you have heard all your life might just be completely wrong. The 60-70% carbohydrate, low-fat ideal is something that I have hardly heard anyone question in my thirty years of swimming, so I am taking it on with a few posts at SwimSwam along with more at the blog I share with Chris DeSantis, The Swim Brief.  A lot of what I will have to say here will be speculation based on things I have read, but all I can ask is that you follow along and form your own opinion as we go. I understand that I am not a world-class swimmer and I would qualify as merely a mediocre high school and club coach at best so it is hard to consider me any kind of an expert.  I also understand that I am not a nutritionist, and I am aware that many of the links I will direct you to are blogs and such, but if you follow them you will find all the science you need.  I can also direct you to more if you have questions.  This has become a passion of mine, as it was the launching pad for an unexpected and surprisingly successful comeback to swimming in my forties that would not have happened if I had never changed my relationship with food. I hope you can keep an open mind and follow me as I present the other side of the story regarding advances in the science of training and nutrition.

Sneaking in a Workout, Ended Up with a Flashback

Yesterday I took my high school girls to a meet and had a chance to sneak in a workout during the diving warm-up.  It was simple and short, of course, but no different than my normal.

My 200 breast USRPT target doesn't quite match my best time right now.  Notice, when I started this training I was at 2:12.3 for my best come-back race time, which translates to a 33.0 target.  I decided to leave my target there even after I improved since I had not mastered it yet by completing 20 repeats with no fails.

-8x75 warm up, mixing in speedplay.
-50's on 50 at 200 breast USRPT target (33.08) out to third fail.  My score was 8+2+2.  (My previous best is 11-4-2.)
-150 easy...

Since I didn't do my best score I decided to try to redeem it by doing a fast 200 breast from a push.  My best in a practice so far was 2:21, which I had done once.  Before that I had done a couple of 2:24's after target sets and I was hoping to take a shot at that 2:21 again.

Well, when I got to the 75, who did I see?  My old college coach from Missouri State, Jack Steck, standing at the end of the lane watching. He had showed up to officiate the high school meet.  He had his shoulders shrugged and a hand on his chin as though he was about to get on my case for something... so of course I dug deep.  I ended up hitting a 2:17.

It hurt like hell, but it was a great feeling having Jack watching me as though he was calculating how many points I was about to score.  It certainly added something to the workout.

Not sure I could handle that every day though. USRPT is mentally tough enough without Jack breathing down my neck. I felt like I was gonna die when I hit that wall!

Dammit, Klosterman!  You're swimming like you just got your ass bit by a Saluki!

VO2MAXimizer Pre-Kickstarter Campaign!

A few weeks ago I posted about a device I have started using, and I am excited to announce that it is going to make it's first big marketing push.  If you like VO2MAXimizer on facebook and check in at their website you will be able to follow along and see the actually using the device and showing off their results! I use this device and swear by it.  Remember, if you decide to purchase one, choose the Viking in the drop down menu at checkout to let them know I sent you.

PRESS RELEASE

**Attention** Your chance to be the first be one of the first to own the Best New Thing in Fitness Training is almost here!!!

LIKE AND SHARE!

Pre Kickstarter Sale Coming 2/23/15. Only 15 Units available at $200.00 off retail (even less than our early bird kick-starter pledge requirement).

The VO2MAXimizer is a new to the world product that produces guaranteed results that no other product can deliver!!! This product will change competitive sports!!!

Our beta users have all reported results including
1.) New personal best performances in each beta user's respective sport
2.) Measurable physiological changes including significant improvements in VO2 Max, Lactate Threshold, Pulse Rate, Blood Pressure, as well as 20% increase in Oxygen Carrying Red Blood Cells.

!!!BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PAGE TO WITNESS THE VO2MAXIMIZER IN ACTION!!!!

Over the next 5 weeks we'll be doing REAL TIME tests of the VO2MAXimizer and posting the progress videos and photos directly to Facebook Every Monday starting tomorrow. If you have doubts or are curious as to what you might be able to expect, stay tuned!!

www.VO2MAXimizer.com

A Pretty Awesome Morning Workout

I guess this will officially be my first training log post.  This morning was a pretty standard workout for me, but certainly outlines the way I have been making progress in my training.  Here's what I did with my team:

-10x75 on 1:30 easy free and breast drills, but mixing in speed-play to wake up the sprint.
-30x25 on 30 breaststroke in USRPT format.
-3 min. rest
-100 fast breaststroke from push.

My team went ahead and did another set after that, which was USRPT format for the 200 fly, but I don't plan to ever race that so I was done with my entire practice in about 30 minutes.

The "Viking Method" Experiment

Viking has been wanting to write quite a bit lately but have struggled to find the time.  I have been working pretty hard on a write up for SwimSwam about nutrition and training to be posted soon, since I opened my big fat mouth and tried to act like I am smarter than the nutritionist who posted some nutrition tips there. I decided that a great way to tie into that would be to supplement it with a series of smaller posts here. The first thing that will help with that is to describe my swimming comeback so that readers have some kind of reference to understand some of the the points I am making in case they want more info.  I hope that starting a little bit of a training log will add some depth to it without getting annoying. Once in a while I might just post a link or a video that anyone following along might want to see.  Sometimes it might just be a random thought, since finding time to write with the hours I work is nearly impossible. I would not post any of it if I did not think it was interesting and relevant.  I think that anyone who is curious about making themselves a better swimmer and has a mind open to new ideas might like following along with my little experimental adventure.