August 25, 2016 – Invictus Athlete

Swimming Technique and Active Recovery Session

Swimming workouts designed by Heidi Fearon
A.
I.
4 Minutes of Hip Flexor Mobility of Your Choice
4 Minutes of Anterior Shoulder Mobility of Your Choice
4 Minutes of Quad Mobility of Your Choice
4 Minutes of Lat & Subscap Mobility of Your Choice

Focus on relaxed breathing throughout these mobility drills. If you cannot breathe properly, the stretch is too intense and you need to back off to the place where you can maintain a rhythmic breathing pattern.

II.
Swimming Tip of the Week: Review the following article on body position tips!

Warm-Up Technique Drills
Four sets of:
25 Meter Finger Tip Drag
25 Meter Stroke Count – count the number of strokes, be long and efficient
Rest 20-30 seconds

Followed by…

Four sets of:
25 Meter Kick
(try one set on each side/one on your back and one on your front)
Rest 10-20 seconds

Followed by…

Four sets of:
25 Meter Finger Tip Drag
25 Meter Stroke Count – count the number of strokes, be long and efficient
Rest 20-30 seconds

Main Set
Sprint Focus – Note your times. As the season goes on we will repeat this workout and you should see your times becoming faster and more tightly grouped.

Every 3 minutes, for 18 minutes (6 sets):
Swim 100 Meters

Goal is to have all six sets within 2-3 seconds of each other.

Followed by…

One set of:
100 Meter Pull @ recovery pace
Rest 30 seconds
100 Meter Kick @ recovery pace

Followed by…

Every 2 minutes, for 10 minutes (5 sets):
Swim 50 Meters

Goal is to have all five sets within 1-2 seconds of each other.

Cool Down
200 Meters Finger Tip Drag and focus on body position – waterline at the crown of your head
(If your head is lowered into the water, then the hips and feet rise towards the surface. Rather than having the water line at your eyebrows, forehead or hair line, drop your head so that the water line connects with the crown of the head.)

B.
Mobility and Maintenance
* Choose 1-2 Thoracic Mobility Drills from Kelly Starrett’s Mobility WOD and spend 5-10 minutes with them.
* Choose 2-3 Lower Body Mobility Drills from Kelly Starrett’s Mobility WOD and spend 10-12 minutes with them.
* Choose 1-2 Upper Extremity Mobility Drills from Kelly Starrett’s Mobility WOD and spend 5-10 minutes with them.
– AND/OR –
* Body work from a licensed body worker (ART, Graston, acupuncture, etc…)

C.
Inflammation Maintenance

* This could be a lot of things, but think in terms of compression (we love the NormaTec units at Invictus), electrical muscle stimulation (Compex or Marc Pro), contrast baths, salt baths, castor oil packs, etc….

D.
Nutrition Preparation
* Ensure that you have quality foods prepared in the appropriate quantities to fuel your efforts for the remainder of the week.

E.
Mental Restoration
* Different for everyone – could be meditation or could be gathering with friends; the key is to engage in activities that make your life full and help you recharge your batteries.