courtesy of James Fike, Founder and CEO of Fike Swim
If you haven’t read my previous Less Is More articles, check them out here:
Less Is More: Lifetime Bests at 38
Less Is More: Another Lifetime Best at 39
Less Is More: Accidentally Crushing a Best Time at Age 39
Less Is More: Fastest at 40
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This past short course season was huge- I broke 54 in the 100 breast for the first time and did it twice (53.81 and 53.95), and nearly broke :24 in the 50 (24.19) and 1:58 in the 200 (1:58.04), and all at the age of 40. The million-dollar question, of course, is how much longer can I keep setting new bests? I try not to dwell on this, it really doesn’t matter, and it’s certainly not helpful to stress about it. But as I plot the course ahead it’s something I need to consider. So, here are the things I will focus on as I head into 41:
Activation and Recovery
Currently every practice begins with 8-10 minutes of activation on deck, no matter what the practice will be. This work is invaluable and makes it so your first 25 feels like you’ve been in the water for a few hundred already. I do a series of dynamic stretches, small muscle movements, and jump roping, but going forward I want to extend each exercise and add resistance bands, all of which will take the time to about 12-15 minutes. Additionally, each day ends with about 40 minutes of stretching before bed, but this could easily go to an hour. I plan on pushing my body harder than ever, and that will require more stretching for injury prevention and peak performance.
Technique
Technique is a perpetual struggle, for everyone I think. Swimming motions, especially of the breaststroke variety, are not normal human movements. When you combine that with the fact that the body is always looking for the easiest and most comfortable movements, you end up with constant pressure pushing back against your goals. My big goal on every stroke is to slam my face in the water and drive the top of my head forward, as if the back of my head is attached to a rope being pulled down the pool. I pretty much did that in the 50 and 100 this season, but there were several strokes in the 200 at Sectionals that could have been better. It’s frustrating but also encouraging, because it means there is room to improve and get faster. Currently one of my solutions to this problem as I begin a new training cycle and ramp back up is to do four or five 100s of “gentle” breaststroke without pullouts, simply going through the fundamental breaststroke motion (i.e., pull, breathe, kick, glide) but working the head motion every time. It kind of looks like rec swimmer breaststroke, but a rec swimmer who is really angry with their face. Another great solution is breaststroke pull with fins and dolphin kick to help me get way up (like belly button at the surface) and forward fast.
Tempo
I focused heavily on power and distance per stroke from September through February and neglected my tempo. Sprint 25s, which used to be a staple in my training, were few and far between. I was obsessed with becoming a better second half swimmer, because that was always a huge weakness, so I did sets like: 7 rounds (done 4 rounds, break, 2 rounds, break, 1 round) of 50 free @ 90%, 50 breast @ 100%, 50 easy. In prelims of the 100 at Sectionals I took five strokes, then six, six, and seven by 25. That resulted in a 54.0. The plan for finals was five strokes, then seven, seven, and eight by 25, but I was so used to stretching out my strokes I ended up doing the exact same race and going 53.95. Had I added those three strokes I would have easily beaten by best of 53.81 done just a couple months earlier. But hey, another example of room to improve. My favorite set for tempo work is (25m pool):
2×50 @ 1:20 with a stretch cord, six strokes fast
8×25 @ :35 sprint
4×50 @ 1:20
6×25 @ :30
6×50 @ 1:20
4×25 @ :25
8×50 @ 1:20
2×25 @ :20
More “Distance”
It’s very difficult to change how you swim and how you race over longer sets like 20×100. So for the last three and a half years I have mostly stuck to 25s and 50s as I built a more explosive, sustainable breaststroke. It was only in the last training cycle that I included 75s and 100s from time to time, but they were never successive repeats. If I did a 100 breaststroke, it was followed by something else before doing another 100. Now that I’m equipped to handle longer distances, I’ll do more 75s and 100s, like by tweaking my favorite set from 50s to 75s (25m pool):
3 Rounds (instead of 4 rounds with 50s):
75 fast @ 1:30
3×75 easy @ 1:30
3 Rounds:
75 fast @ 1:30
2×75 easy @ 1:30
3 Rounds:
75 fast @ 1:30
75 easy @ 1:30
Weight Room
The day after my last race of the season I was in the gym tackling new strength goals. For the first few weeks of this new training cycle I am doing about 1,000 pushups each week before mostly cutting them out due to the intensity of the training and strain it all puts on my shoulders. And I’ll be more aggressive with pullups throughout the new season, meaning more of them and more done with added weight. I also want to include standing pull downs at the lat pulldown machine more regularly in order to specifically improve the pull down portion of my pullouts. Here are the goals for my primary/big movements:
Bench Press: go from 325lbs to 335lbs
Deadlift: go from 400lbs to 425lbs
Bent Over Rows: go from 225lbs to 250lbs
Pull Ups: go from 110lbs to 125lbs of added weight
I currently weigh about 214lbs, but I want to get to 220lbs this year. Going from 195lbs in college to 214lbs now, and the strength gains that came with it, certainly helped me get faster. So, I’m hoping to push on that a little more. This will require a bit of force feeding throughout the day, just as it did when I added 20lbs, as I burn calories very quickly.
The Tattoo
I show up for practice every day because I love this sport. But it’s the frustration of the coulda-shoulda-woulda that pushes me through the hard sets. I swam for Texas when we won NCAAs in 2000, 2001, and 2002. For two of those years I missed qualifying for the meet by about three tenths in the 100 breast. Back then the automatic time was around 54.1 if you can believe it, and the invited time was about 54.8. As a result, I was not able to get the championship ring or the tattoo. I left Texas with a nagging feeling that I could have made it. It took 17 years of coming up short year after year, but I finally hit 54.8 in the 100 in 2019. And now that I’m at 53.8 and 1:58.0, which I never dreamed of because I thought I wasn’t capable of doing a good 200 breast, I felt it was time to get what I earned so many years ago.
The big question is still, how much longer can I keep dropping time? Studies have shown men are capable of strength gains into their 40s, and so if you put aside conventional swim wisdom which says you must grind a certain number of yards and do certain kinds of sets, then I don’t see any reason why I can’t continue dropping time for at least a couple more years. But we’ll see. One meet at a time. Good luck with your training. I hope this helps you SWIM DIFFERENT!
If you like this article and still want to know more, stay tuned to the Fike Swim:
About Fike Swim
“We design products exclusively for the toughest sport in the world. We unapologetically place swimmers on a pedestal. The rigors they embrace on a daily basis can only be understood by another swimmer and they deserve a company focused 100% on helping them succeed. Whether you’re just starting out or training for Paris, we stand behind you.”
-James Fike, Founder
Fike Swim Products was born when founder James Fike put a brick on top of a kickboard and transformed just another legs-only kick set into a total body workout felt into the next day. Since then it’s been our mission to create unique swim equipment with the single-minded goal of making you faster. We don’t sell toys. We create tools to help you reach your potential.
James-
What is your reception like at these meets? Im mid to late 30s and occasionally compete and am viewed as a “can’t move on, stealing from the younger kids experiences” whenever I show up.
Thankfully, I’ve always felt very welcomed, which is one of the reasons I love doing this. Kids will ask for pictures and autographs, and parents and coaches tell me they appreciate the example of hard work and perseverance. I’m sorry you’ve had those experiences. Don’t let it deter you. You have every right to be there and chase your goals. You do you. Good luck!
I’m doing a version of the same thing with the 100 back at 55 yrs old. I’m substantially stronger than i was when i was skin and bones in college. In lifting i exactly mimic the number of strokes and duration of a 125 back (an extra 25 for a bit of stamina left at the end of a race).
Less is more = Michael Andrew 100 breast relay split 2020 Olympics
That is different. When you are forty you cannot do nearly as much as when you are younger. If you do too much, you risk injury and not being able to recover properly. Michael Andrew chooses to do less and that worked for him when he was younger, but as he has started to move up from just 50’s to the 100’s he needs to start doing more endurance.
So my question for James is about his lifting. Those are fairly heavy numbers (especially the weighted pullups). There’s no max power without max strength first, but do you just go for max strength and let the subtleties of power, metabolic conditioning take care of themselves in the pool? Or do you periodize (either undulating or in blocks) to focus on power and speed? The extreme of course was one jacked dude Jason Lezak who would lift heavy early and then end up closer to competition season doing max reps for 47 seconds — the duration of his 100 LCM free.
There is definitely periodization. Take a look at my vlog on training cycles. I start each training cycle with 3×12 for a week, then 3×10, then 4×8, then an easy week of 4×3 at 60%, then three weeks of 5×5, another easy week, then a couple weeks of max lifting 5,4,3,2,1. Except for the easy weeks, I try to move as much weight as I can for those reps. For instance, I’m currently on 3×10 and moving 265 on bench, 305 on deadlift, 160 on rows, and 25 on pull ups for the the third set. I do some of the “max reps in a certain amount of time” but not a lot.
Thanks. Just checked out the VLOG. It fills a huge gap in understanding for swammers. Nice crib, too.
Another question. Doesn’t seem like you do heavy squats, and I know you said you rely on weights rather than kicking for your kick power. Many do BB squats and deadlifts, although the CNS fatigue doing both is unreal. Was this a conscious decision based on some estimate of leg power output/saving knees/limiting CNS fatigue? Or was this injury-related? Deadlifts are known for the biggest anabolic hormone surge and would be preferred with aging if one could only tolerate one of those leg dominant lifts.
I had to avoid squats for many years due to knee pain, which turns out was just from loose joints and a tight IT band. After working on my IT band I can now do squats, but it’s been a long, slow rebuilding process. I frequently did squats and deadlifts on the same day in the last training cycle, but that, along with other leg work, destroyed my legs, so now I do deadlifts on Mondays and Fridays and squats with my small muscle work on Wednesdays. I like doing both and feel they have unique benefits, so as long I can recover I’ll keep both.
@JamesFike, you have talked a lot about lifting, training, etc. and I agree with all of it. I am a few years older than you and have found that less (swimming) is more. One question for you: how do you address meets and racing? How many meets are you swimming each season?
Hi Pete, thanks for the questions. Take a look at the vlogs I’ve done for meets. I could write a book to answer your first question but here are a couple points worth noting…In the past I would prep for big meets by eliminating weights two weeks out, but as Jason Lezak once said, you don’t eliminate swimming when you taper, so why would you eliminate lifting? I’ve lifted on a Thursday and raced a big meet on a Friday. Granted, it was very light lifting, but it’s important. We are athletes, not just swimmers, so it’s good to work on general athleticism throughout the year and all the way up to the big meet. I try to have fun… Read more »
I found the same thing about racing. My weekly pool cycles end every saturday with some sort of quality set, usually off the blocks, always with others, and always emphasizing racing. Only times I do not do it are meet weekends where I am racing anyways. I am always focusing on race pace in practice, but I definitely try to race others in more of a meet simulation once a week.
“Studies have shown men are capable of strength gains into their 40s, and so if you put aside conventional swim wisdom which says you must grind a certain number of yards and do certain kinds of sets, then I don’t see any reason why I can’t continue dropping time for at least a couple more years.”
I think not only is conventional swim wisdom wrong for many younger people (especially those that skew more towards sprinting), but it DEFINITELY isn’t the answer for many that are pushing for best times into their 30s and beyond. If you’re someone with a limited amount of time in a day, working full-time, and trying to get the most you can out of like… Read more »
“…let’s be honest, who wants to be a distance swimmer in their 30s and beyond anyway?…”
Count this nearly 55 year old as someone who does … but also as someone who has drastically changed training approaches from the ‘garbage yards/animal lane’ style of the 1980s. I still train principally for the 400 IM and 500 free, but prioritize race pace training. So, I rarely swim straight 400 IMs in workouts – race pace repeats are often 50s and 100s. When I train for the 1650, I’m much more likely to do repeats of 50 to 150 yards than repeat 500s. Race pace and swimming fast in workouts applies across all events and our entire lifespans.
Sorry if I sounded dismissive there – I know there are people that still swim distance later in life, just as a minority of people compared to in the age-group years. Agree about the approach at any rate – better to do more short repeats (ie: 16x50s, 8x100s etc) than fewer long repeats (4×400) – you can get the same volume of training in, but with better focus on skills/technique and less boredom setting in.
Might I ask, how much do you train? (# of workouts, distance of workouts, dryland etc)
If this extra mass thing works, might have to sign up for a masters meet the same weekend as a powerlifting meet.
Gonna sink like a stone
I love it, super inspiring!
In my mid-late 30s I’ve seen a renaissance of my swimming. I’ve been competing since 5 and doing Masters since my mid 20s after a hiatus for college/grad school at a school without a team.
As an age grouper I swam very stupid. I had no sense of technique and just muscled my way through the water. I was a 100/200 fly, 100/200 back, and 200/400 IM specialist, but fly was really the only stroke I think anyone would I agree I had “good” technique on.
Fast forward to my Masters career and I’ve made a night-day switch in my approach to technique. I’ve cleaned up my absolute garbage free and breast technique and smoothed… Read more »
Improvement is all that matters, and one thing is undeniably true: there is no such thing as a perfect race, so you can always be faster than you are right now. How much faster – who knows, but that’s what makes this all so exciting. Best of luck to you.