overtraining in swimming
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16th Feb '09, 8:56pm
I don't know if it is the same in the UK, but here in the US competitive middle and high school swimmers train twice daily, five to six days per week. I realize that all sessions aren't intense, but isn't this overtraining? State of the art cycling and running training consists of a mix of light, moderate and heavy intensities with a big emphasis on recovery. No one in these other disciplines would think of training twice daily, at least at this level, so why do coaches not understand that swimmers require rest and recovery too?
I've shown some coaches research about this and some agree, yet they soldier on in the name of tradition. Meanwhile, these kids get sick a lot and burned out mentally.I could understand this attitude years ago when research was thin, but now that we have good exercise physiology and sports medicine research, there shouldn't be any good reason to subject these kids to high volume, counterproductive training. Someone help me understand.
It's cultural
13th Aug '10, 9:22am
As long as the Olympic champions are doing the hard yards, the old school model will prevail.
But things are changing. There is a lot more emphasis on quality, in my experience, that there used to be (vs quantity) at the elite level.
- Update: Interestingly, since I posted this reply I've done PBs (set at 17/18) at 37 years of age, albeit over 50 and 100m, on 3 (average 1 hour) swims a week + 3 gym. My 200 wasn't far off, either.
Rob Robson, iStadia.com
Agree.
1st Apr '10, 9:52pm
Hello park,
I would say that each individual person trains to his/her tastes. In the case of young people, they don't make that kind of decision and leave it to their coaches. However, there are various kinds of people. We have to look at the conditions of these young people.
In this case, I would say, as you mention, that if the research proves the excessive training is counterproductive, the coaches know it and they keep doing it for tradition, it is more of an attitude problem of the coaches more than a coaching discussion.
However, I support you on your cause. Some of the training programs I've seen for young athletes are stupidly excessive.
Vasco Patricio