October 2015.
We are 8 months and 11 days away from the first heat going off at the 2016 USA Swimming Olympic Trials. Are you ready?
As the anticipation builds leading up to the US Olympic Trials in June and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, we will stoke the excitement with high performance tips and training techniques on an ongoing basis. Several times a month we’ll reach out to help you better prepare for your shot at greatness. For our first tip, we discuss perfecting your warmup and recovery protocols specifically targeted at championship meets.
By now, coaches have set their year plans, including the next eight months of training and racing. Two areas that often get overlooked are the taper/championship warmup, and the consequent championship recovery protocols. We recommend starting at the championship meet and working backwards to the beginning of the season. As an athlete, don’t wait until your championship meet or the week before to plan your racing warmup and recovery protocol. As a coach, prioritize the planning of these two critical performance topics.
Find the warmup and recovery protocol that works best, then practice each one and perfect it throughout the season, just like you would with starts, turns and drills.
Warmups done right
The championship dryland warmup and post-race recovery protocols are two key areas that are often overlooked in seasonal planning. After the hours spent on dryland and in the weight room during the season, planning your championship warmup to keep your body primed from a physical and neuromuscular standpoint is critical, especially for morning heats. A short dynamic warmup and reaction drills will get you ready to roll. [Let’s do a reaction drill building block]
Recovery and readiness
Getting your mind and body primed for each race is important, but so too is the recovery process. Consuming a recovery shake before your water loosen down, then foam rolling and stretching will accelerate the post-race recovery process for optimal performance. Make sure you’re practicing good habits even at seemingly minor meets. A professional repeats their routine before and after every race, so that there is never a question about the “controllables”.
Good luck – make everyday count!
#Bridge2Rio
About BridgeAthletic
BridgeAthletic works with elite professional, collegiate, and club swimming programs to provide a turnkey solution for dryland training. Led by Nick Folker, the top swimming strength and conditioning coach in the world, our team builds stroke-specific, custom-optimized dryland programs for each of our clients. The individualized workouts are delivered directly to athletes via our state of the art technology platform and mobile applications. Check Nick and BridgeAthletic out as recently featured in SwimSwam.
About Nick Folker
Nick Folker is the Co-Founder and Director of Elite Performance at BridgeAthletic. Nick’s athletes have won 22 Olympic Medals, 7 team NCAA Championships and over 170 individual and relay NCAA championships. Megan Fischer-Colbrie works as the Sports Science Editor at BridgeAthletic. Megan was a four-year varsity swimmer at Stanford, where she recently graduated with a degree in Human Biology.
The Championship Series by BridgeAthletic is designed to empower athletes with tips from the pros that will help them reach peak performance come race day. We will be covering competition-focused topics such as nutrition, recovery, stretching, and mental preparation.
Follow BridgeAthletic on Twitter here.
Like BridgeAthletic on Facebook here.
Follow BridgeAthletic on Instagram here.
Swimming Training is courtesy of BridgeAthletic, a SwimSwam ad partner.