Team-BHP > Shifting gears


Reply
  Search this Thread
160,972 views
Old 19th May 2019, 18:52   #121
Team-BHP Support
 
Samurai's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Bangalore/Udupi
Posts: 25,800
Thanked: 45,200 Times
re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by ninjatalli View Post
I'm really interested - but I'm a bit doubtful about learning this via the course videos. Does the content really provide one with meaningful aspects vis-a-vis a normal training course? Or compared to generic info available online like this?
The guy in that article learned from the TI video. What he has provided is just a preview, at 30,000ft bird's eye view.

BTW, I am reading the PDF that came with it. I had to smile at one statement because I did the same thing.
Quote:
While freestyle was unquestionably faster than other strokes, it was so difficult to learn that fewer than 30 percent of American adults can complete a single length of a 25-yard pool. The vast majority has opted for the simpler, and far less tiring, breaststroke.
Samurai is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 19th May 2019, 19:15   #122
Team-BHP Support
 
graaja's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Coimbatore
Posts: 3,178
Thanked: 20,535 Times
re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by ninjatalli View Post
I'm really interested - but I'm a bit doubtful about learning this via the course videos. Does the content really provide one with meaningful aspects vis-a-vis a normal training course? Or compared to generic info available online like this?
The videos are very well organized. They have structured exercises that teach you each part of the technique like breathing, hand propulsion, leg movement and then putting it all together. I was able to implement the full technique in 2 weeks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
BTW, I am reading the PDF that came with it. I had to smile at one statement because I did the same thing.
Quote:
While freestyle was unquestionably faster than other strokes, it was so difficult to learn that fewer than 30 percent of American adults can complete a single length of a 25-yard pool. The vast majority has opted for the simpler, and far less tiring, breaststroke.
This is so true. Three years back, I used to get so frustrated with freestyle (I would lose breath in just 50 meters), that I did most of my swim in breast stroke. And I also had a very bad form in my breast stroke. Because of this I did my first 2.5km open water swim in a little over 2 hours while everyone else finished 5km in that time. That is when I decided to focus on freestyle and came across the TI method.

Now I find the swim part of the Triathlon to be the easiest
graaja is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 22nd May 2019, 22:41   #123
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Delhi-NCR
Posts: 4,042
Thanked: 63,607 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by AJo View Post
I have immense respect for you triathletes, after trying to swim in the open ocean myself. It was an exhilarating as well as terrifying experience for me (A bit like bungee-jumping). Realized its a complete different ball-game from swimming in the pool. One feels really puny when faced with the forces of nature!! Even then, I am looking forward to the next time I can swim in the open sea.
As a person who has done some meaningful sea swimming in earlier years I would not recommend it for those who do not have the facility to train in the open sea under supervision. Other than the requirement of being very fit swimming in open sea, even with a snorkel, can lead to moments of panic that can be dangerous at best or fatal at worst. When panic occurs it just doesn't happen it envelopes you. This would be my sincere advice.
V.Narayan is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 23rd May 2019, 01:31   #124
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bir-Billing, HP
Posts: 478
Thanked: 895 Times

When you say your times improved because of doing TI over regular Freestyle, is it because of increased stamina. Because I don't think TI can actually be faster than regular freestyle.
The reasoning makes sense because the thigh muscles are the biggest in the body and if you are not moving them then you would be using less oxygen, but I find it hard to believe that TI can be faster than Freestyle, if you have the stamina.

I used to be a very fast swimmer and the only style I learned was freestyle. I taught my brother freestyle in 10 days and most of it was removing his fear. After that learning freestyle seemed like child's play. I guess, it all depends on your coach. I was lucky that in Chandigarh, the pools had the same coach for the normal public who also coached the national level swimmers and I was lucky to get one on one training as well because the coach liked kids who wanted to learn how to swim properly rather than just play around. He wanted me to try for the state team but I got enamoured by cricket at the wrong time.
rdst_1 is offline  
Old 23rd May 2019, 13:40   #125
AJo
BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pune
Posts: 57
Thanked: 320 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by V.Narayan View Post
As a person who has done some meaningful sea swimming in earlier years I would not recommend it for those who do not have the facility to train in the open sea under supervision. Other than the requirement of being very fit swimming in open sea, even with a snorkel, can lead to moments of panic that can be dangerous at best or fatal at worst. When panic occurs it just doesn't happen it envelopes you. This would be my sincere advice.
I completely appreciate & endorse your advice. I was lucky enough to have a very competent guide with me on my first swim in the sea. This made a lot of difference!! (One comment of his has always stayed in my mind - "Don't fight the water").
AJo is offline  
Old 23rd May 2019, 15:17   #126
Newbie
 
reach_gm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Delhi - NCR
Posts: 19
Thanked: 13 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

I have recently joined and came across this thread.

There is good one in Delhi located at SRCC, North Campus, Delhi University.
It is a decent size, Max Depth 15 Ft and Lowest 3 Ft.
It is well maintained, recently renovated. It has changing rooms and has a bunch of shifts, also dedicated Girl's shift.
It is a bit costly for public and is reasonable for college students and staff.
reach_gm is offline  
Old 23rd May 2019, 16:08   #127
Team-BHP Support
 
graaja's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Coimbatore
Posts: 3,178
Thanked: 20,535 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by rdst_1 View Post
When you say your times improved because of doing TI over regular Freestyle, is it because of increased stamina. Because I don't think TI can actually be faster than regular freestyle.

The reasoning makes sense because the thigh muscles are the biggest in the body and if you are not moving them then you would be using less oxygen, but I find it hard to believe that TI can be faster than Freestyle, if you have the stamina...
Even in TI you still need stamina to do long distance. TI is not different from freestyle. It is just a variation of freestyle. And it focuses more on efficiency than power and is more suitable for long distance swimming than sprints.

By changing from a 6 beat kick to 2 beat kick, you may lose some propulsion, but you save more energy. In regular freestyle, by the time the recovering hand enters water, the other hand is already halfway through the stroke. This creates a higher drag in the water. But in TI, the power stroke starts only after the recovering hand enters water. This reduces drag and results in higher efficiency.

Another advantage of TI in my own experience is that it is suitable for people who have taken to swimming late in life (I started when I was 41) and do not have any professional/competitive swimming background.

Swimming involves a lot of muscles - core, legs, arms, chest and shoulders. All of these should be conditioned and work in tandem to achieve maximum speed. When one starts swimming from an early age, it is easy to condition your body. But when you start swimming at a later stage in life, all these muscle groups would have developed at different levels depending on lifestyle and it may not be possible to condition them as a kid would do.
graaja is offline  
Old 24th May 2019, 00:10   #128
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bir-Billing, HP
Posts: 478
Thanked: 895 Times

Learning as a kid and learning as an adult are definitely 2 different things. I learned when I was 12-13. The coaches didn't tell us about recovering hand etc. I taught my brother the same way when he was 24.
I am quite unfit these days, but somehow I haven't lost the speed when it comes to swimming or even cycling for that matter. Sure stamina is not the same but at any given day I can pick up my cycle and go for a 50km ride or go and swim 30-40 laps. Sure, when I was younger, we used to do around 1.5-1.75 kms in the 25 minutes that we got the pool for. Now it takes around 40 minutes even though I am grossly overweight. I guess muscle memory plays a big part as well. Speed for a single lap remains similar for me, just that now I have to stop after 3-4 laps to take a breather because now I weigh 2.5 times.
rdst_1 is offline  
Old 24th May 2019, 00:49   #129
BHPian
 
akshaymahajan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Delhi
Posts: 596
Thanked: 443 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by reach_gm View Post
I have recently joined and came across this thread.

There is good one in Delhi located at SRCC, North Campus, Delhi University.
It is a decent size, Max Depth 15 Ft and Lowest 3 Ft.
It is well maintained, recently renovated. It has changing rooms and has a bunch of shifts, also dedicated Girl's shift.
It is a bit costly for public and is reasonable for college students and staff.
Is it still 15 ft this season? I ask because I know a lot of Delhi pools have been renovated this year to make them shallower (~5ft) to prevent people from drowning.
Another !
akshaymahajan is online now  
Old 24th May 2019, 10:24   #130
Newbie
 
reach_gm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Delhi - NCR
Posts: 19
Thanked: 13 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by akshaymahajan View Post
Is it still 15 ft this season? I ask because I know a lot of Delhi pools have been renovated this year to make them shallower (~5ft) to prevent people from drowning.
Another !
Did not hear anything regarding reduction in the depth. One more thing, they also had life guard and a coach (for people who want to learn) till last year
reach_gm is offline  
Old 26th July 2019, 12:22   #131
AJo
BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pune
Posts: 57
Thanked: 320 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by graaja View Post
Try the Total Immersion swimming technique.....
Hi Graaja,
As you suggested - I did buy the TI books & video. (Thank you very much).
This has helped me cut my 1 km time from 27-30 mins, to less than 25 mins consistently. (see screenshot).
I try to implement the TI technique, but have trouble with bilateral breathing (just cant do this) as I can only breathe on my left side. The other issue I have is with the "kick technique". Its as if I am 'hard wired' to kick continuously. (Any suggestions?).

TI has a recommendation on the "Stroke per Length" (see screenshot. This is available free on the TI website, so hope no copy write issue in putting it here). I observe that I am consistently at the 16-18 stroke mark for 25m lap which puts it at the lowest end for my height (169cm). (See screenshot for my strokes/length).
If I try to increase number of strokes, I get tired & my overall 1 km time goes up. Any suggestions on this?

(I am not sending you this in a "PM" since I am sure there are other people who would benefit from your answers as well).

Thank you for your help.
AJ
Attached Thumbnails
The Team-BHP Swimming Thread-total-stats1km.jpg  

The Team-BHP Swimming Thread-strokes-per-length.jpg  

The Team-BHP Swimming Thread-stats1st-4laps.jpg  

AJo is offline  
Old 26th July 2019, 18:40   #132
Team-BHP Support
 
graaja's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Coimbatore
Posts: 3,178
Thanked: 20,535 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by AJo View Post
Hi Graaja,
As you suggested - I did buy the TI books & video. (Thank you very much).
This has helped me cut my 1 km time from 27-30 mins, to less than 25 mins consistently. (see screenshot).
Hi AJ,
This is fantastic. From 30 minutes to 25 minutes is an improvement of 30 seconds in 100m pace. Glad that TI has helped you achieve this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AJo View Post
I try to implement the TI technique, but have trouble with bilateral breathing (just cant do this) as I can only breathe on my left side. The other issue I have is with the "kick technique". Its as if I am 'hard wired' to kick continuously. (Any suggestions?).
The most important concept in TI is increasing efficiency of swimming. Bilateral breathing and two beat kick contribute equally as your stroke sequence. The best way to conquer these techniques is one at a time. When you try to focus on stroke, breath and kick, it is usually difficult to get all of them right. First get your kick and stroke without worrying about breath. For this you can use a snorkel. With a snorkel, focus only on hand and leg synchronization. Do this for two or three days and you will get them synchronized. Once you master the stroke and kicks, then you can focus on breathing.

You can try bilateral breathing by standing in the pool in one place and practicing to roll your body both sides and breathe. After practicing in stationary position, practice while swimming. It will be a little tough in the beginning, but you will get this in a few days. Follow the Lesson 4.x videos.

It is a little difficult to unlearn our previous technique, but with some patience and discipline, you will get over this in just under a week's time.

And you should be able to bring the 1km time to 20 minutes easily.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AJo View Post
TI has a recommendation on the "Stroke per Length" (see screenshot. This is available free on the TI website, so hope no copy write issue in putting it here). I observe that I am consistently at the 16-18 stroke mark for 25m lap which puts it at the lowest end for my height (169cm). (See screenshot for my strokes/length).
If I try to increase number of strokes, I get tired & my overall 1 km time goes up. Any suggestions on this?
There is no need to increase the strokes per length. If you increase your swimming efficiency by getting your stroke, breath and kick to perfection, you will see that the strokes per length will usually be lower. It is enough to keep it in the green band. Once you are able to consistently keep the strokes per length in the green band, what you need to do is increase the strokes per minute. This is covered in the 2.0 series. I would suggest you to get to this metric after you master bilateral breathing and two beat kick.

Thank you for updating the thread with your experience.
graaja is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 29th July 2019, 11:32   #133
AJo
BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pune
Posts: 57
Thanked: 320 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by graaja View Post
The most important concept in TI is increasing efficiency of swimming.
Hi Grajaa,
Thank you for your excellent suggestions. Will certainly try to implement them as much as I can.
I completely agree with your take on the efficiency. My personal observation is that by implementing TI (albeit, not 100% perfectly), I am back to swimming 40 laps of freestyle non-stop, & even after this am not very tired. (This is after a gap of 2.5 years, when I could manage this earlier). I now feel I could do another 500m easily (& did so a couple of times).

A Doctor friend of mine advised me to keep tabs on my heart-rate (HR) when I swim (must be because I turn 50 next week). (Got myself an el cheapo fitness band (Honor 4) to monitor the HR). When I used to swim freestyle earlier (prior to TI), my HR used to rocket up & at the end of just 500m I was panting & struggling for breath & to get my HR down.
Post TI, my HR stays very stable during the swim (130-140) & comes to 90-100 immediately post my 1km swim. This has certainly convinced me on the Efficiency that TI brings. I would wholeheartedly advise everybody to give TI a shot!!
AJo is offline  
Old 29th July 2019, 11:56   #134
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,877
Thanked: 11,684 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Question about the TI technique (as far as I can see from the video, TI is basically the same as the freestyle but without using the feet) vis-a-vis reducing lap time, am confused about how not using the feet to kick while swimming, or only one kick per stroke is faster? Shouldn't it be the opposite? If you kick continuously, with proper freestyle technique, won't you be faster? TI might be more efficient and might help one swim longer (though even then, won't using your entire body help with that too?), but am thinking just in terms of lap time.

Or is the time reduction happening because the freestyle technique in the first place, before taking up TI, was flawed? Like keeping the head above the water, or raising the head each time a breath needs to be taken, something like that?

Last edited by am1m : 29th July 2019 at 11:59.
am1m is offline  
Old 29th July 2019, 12:35   #135
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,877
Thanked: 11,684 Times
Re: The Team-BHP Swimming Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by graaja View Post
The most important concept in TI is increasing efficiency of swimming.
That's the same goal with any form of coaching to improve technique in any sport I guess.

Quote:
Originally Posted by graaja View Post
You can try bilateral breathing by standing in the pool in one place and practicing to roll your body both sides and breathe. After practicing in stationary position, practice while swimming.
Which is exactly how our swimming coach taught us kids in the 90s when we were learning the normal freestyle technique.

Is TI just normal freestyle re-packaged?
am1m is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks