пятница, 28 февраля 2014 г.

Workouts for Beginners


Before you start doing the workouts described here, you should be able to swim at least 500 yards (twenty lengths of a standard, twenty-five-yard pool) without stopping. Once you’ve learned how to swim freestyle, or one of the other strokes described in Chapters 7 through 10, it will be fairly easy to build up to 500 continuous yards. Don’t be intimidated. The trick is to increase your yardage gradually. If you can swim 50 continuous yards now, in a few weeks 500 yards will be a piece of cake.
The following is a program you can follow to build up to the 500-yard level. If you find them too easy, you may want to skip the first few workouts: begin at your current level of ability and fitness.
I recommend that you swim only three times a week at first. As always, if you are over thirty, be sure to have a medical exam before starting your program and once a year thereafter.
Here is a three-week program to get you ready for the fitness/lap swimmer level of training. The first workout will take you only ten to fifteen minutes. That’s enough for the first time. By the time you finish the ninth workout, you’ll be swimming almost a mile, and it should take you between forty and fifty minutes. Now, let’s get started.
Workout 1
Swim 50 yards. Rest 1 to 3 minutes.
Kick 2 × 25 yards with a kick board, resting between laps.
Swim 50 yards.
Total: 150 yards
Workout 2
Swim 75 yards. Rest 1 to 3 minutes.
Swim 50 yards. Rest 1 to 3 minutes.
Kick 3 × 25 yards, resting between laps.
Swim 50 yards.
Total: 250 yards
Workout 3
Swim 100 yards. Rest 1 to 3 minutes.
Pull 50 yards with a pull buoy. Rest 1 minute.
Kick 2 × 50 yards. Rest 2 minutes between fifties.
Swim 100 yards.
Total: 350 yards
Workout 4
Swim 150 yards. Rest 1 to 2 1/2 minutes.
Kick 2 × 75 yards. Rest 2 minutes after each.
Pull 2 × 50 yards. Rest 2 minutes after each.
Swim 100 yards.
Total: 500 yards

Workout 5
Swim 100 yards easy warm-up.
Kick 2 × 75 yards. Rest 2 minutes after each.
Swim 200 yards. Rest 2 minutes.
Pull 2 × 75 yards. Rest 2 minutes after each.
Swim 100 yards.
Total: 700 yards
Workout 6
Swim 100 yards easy warm-up.
Kick 2 × 100 yards. Rest 2 minutes after each.
Swim 300 yards. Rest 3 minutes.
Kick 2 × 50 yards. Rest 1 1/2 minutes after each.
Pull 150 yards.
Swim 50 yards easy warm-down.
Total: 900 yards
Workout 7
Swim 100 yards easy warm-up.
Kick 2 × 100 yards. Rest 1 1/2 minutes.
Swim 400 yards. Rest 3 minutes.
Kick 4 × 50 yards. Rest 1 minute after each.
Pull 200 yards.
Swim 100 yards easy warm-down
Total: 1,200 yards
Workout 8
Swim 100 yards easy warm-up.
Kick 2 × 100 yards. Rest 1 1/2 minutes.
Swim 500 yards. Rest 3 minutes.
Kick 4 × 50 yards. Rest 1 minute after each.
Pull 2 × 125 yards.
Swim 100 yards easy warm-down.
Total: 1,350 yards
Workout 9
Swim 100 yards easy warm-up.
Kick 3 × 100 yards. Rest 1 1/2 minutes.
Swim 500 yards. Rest 2 minutes.
Kick 4 × 75 yards. Rest 1 minute after each.
Pull 2 × 150 yards.
Swim 150 yards easy warm-down.
Total: 1,650 yards
You now are ready to do the fitness/lap swimmer level of the following workouts. These are harder than the beginner workouts you’ve just completed. Again, I recommend that you swim only three times a week until your body becomes acclimated to your new regime. After that, try to build up to five times a week. At a minimum, you should swim two to three times every week.

APPENDIX A Sample Training Programs


COACHED MASTERS WORKOUTS are held in all fifty states in the United States and in every province in Canada. You can find out if there is an organized workout program in your area by calling the U.S. Masters Swimming national office (508-886-6631). If there are no programs near you or if the workout schedules do not match your schedule, you will have to work out on your own, or, preferably, with a partner.
This appendix provides a sampling of workouts and stroke drills to help you get the most out of the limited time you have available for getting—and staying—in shape. Most of the workouts have been adapted from those prepared by the coaching staff of the Southern California Aquatics Masters (SCAQ) swim team in Los Angeles. The goal is to optimize your time and efforts in the pool. Each workout is given at three levels:
• Fitness/Lap swimmer
• Intermediate swimmer
• Advanced Masters swimmer
The drills are for everyone. Swimming is unlike running in that technique can be as important as conditioning. This means that if you work diligently on perfecting your stroke technique, you can continue improving your times in your forties, fifties, and even sixties and seventies. Even Olympic champions spend a few minutes every day working on their technique. The drills here will help you improve your skills no matter what your ability level.

SETTING GOALS


In swimming, as in all athletic endeavors, it is important to give yourself something to strive for. You should set both interim and ultimate goals, and they should be both difficult and realistic. If your best time for the mile swim is twenty-six minutes, an ultimate goal might be twenty-two minutes. But you must face that you are not going to get there all at once. Set an interim goal of, say, twenty-five minutes, and make sure to savor that feeling of accomplishment when you achieve it. Then set out to reach your next interim goal—say twenty-four and a half minutes.
Your goal can be much more modest. If you haven’t exercised for years, and were never much of a swimmer to begin with, your ultimate goal the first season might simply be to swim a mile without stopping. If you can only make two laps (50 yards) before becoming winded the first time out, don’t be discouraged. Set an interim goal of twenty laps, or 500 yards. Each time you work out, say three times a week, decide to do a nonstop swim in which you try to go one lap farther than you did the previous time. It will be difficult at first, but eventually adding that lap will not be difficult at all. In just a few weeks you will have reached your first interim goal. Then set your next interim goal, 1,000 yards, without stopping.
Whatever your level of swimming, keep your eye on the prize—your ultimate goal—but enjoy that delicious feeling of success at each small step along the way.

Итоги 39-й тренировочной недели 2-го года занятий

На этой неделе провел 4 тренировки: 2 силовых и 2 плавание.
 
Общее время тренировок: 03:52:49 (Рекордное время тренировок: 11:04:18)
Средний пульс тренировок: 122.25 (Рекордный средний пульс тренировок: 135.50)
Максимальный средний пульс тренировок: 165.00 (Рекордный максимальный средний пульс: 183.67)
Килокалорий за тренировки: 2534 (Рекордная затрата килокалорий на тренировках: 4998)
Общая работа на тренировках: 26254.75 (Рекордная работа на тренировках: 49665.70)
Средний вес: 99.73 кг (Рекордно низкий средний вес: 97.60 кг)
Средний пульс за тренировочный день: 71.50 (Рекордно низкий средний пульс: 57.50)

Систола: 146.00 (Наинизшее систолическое давление: 132.25)
Диастола: 88
.25 (Наинизшее диастолическое давление: 79.00)
Плотность: 112.68  (Максимальная плотность: 151.93)

На этой неделе установлены следующие личные рекорды:
 
Нету

2-й год 39-я неделя Тренировка-4 2A1-2/4

Давление 158/95, пульс 69, вес 100.7 кг  (Минимальное давление, пульс и вес: 123/72, 53, 97.3) 
Отличный сон

Разминка 
BW/ 10; 13; 11; 10; 10 = 34
Амплитуда: 61 см
Время выполнения: 2.0 мин
Работа: =
100.7*0.10*34*2*0.61 = 417.70 (Рекордная работа: 649.19)
Интенсивность: =417.70/2.0 = 208.85  (Рекордная интенсивность: 237.50) 


2. Shinbox Switch w/Extensions 
ВТ/ 2; 5; 3; 2; 2 = 14
Амплитуда: 40 см
Время выполнения:  6.25 мин
Работа: =100.7*0.38*0.4*14*2 = 428.58  (Рекордная работа: 428.58)
Интенсивность: =428.58/6.25 = 68.57  (Рекордная интенсивность: 135.38)

 
Протяжка гири 16 кг двумя руками над головой: 1 х 5
(Амплитуда: 215 см; Работа: =16*5*2.15 = 172.0)


3. Толчок двух гирь   
(16кг+18кг)/4, 17; (20кг+22кг)/12, (24кг+26кг)/9, (32кг+32кг)/6
 Амплитуда: 78 см - непосредственно толчок, 140 см - поднятие гирь в исходное положение перед толчком
Время выполнения: 14.0 мин
Работа: =(16+18)*(21*0.78+2*1.40)+(20+22)*(12*0.78+1*1.40)+(24+26)*(9*0.78+1*1.40)+(32+32)*(6*0.78+1*1.40) = 1914.16  (Рекордная работа: 6043.20)
Интенсивность: =1914.16/14.0 = 136.73 (Рекордная интенсивность: 440.64)
 
4. Goblet Squat   
16кг х 5, 32кг/ 3; 4; 3; 3; 3 = 10
 Амплитуда: 61 см - присед, 140 см - подъем гири в исходное положение
Время выполнения: 3.25 мин
Работа: =((16+100.7*0.4)*5+(32+100.7*0.4)*10)*0.61+(16*1+32*3)*1.40 = 769.37 (Рекордная работа: 1077.95)
Интенсивность: =769.37/3.25 = 236.73 (Рекордная интенсивность: 473.13)
 
 
5. Рывок одной гири   
16кг/5, 18; 18кг/14; 20кг/10; 22кг/7
Амплитуда: 205 см
Время выполнения: 14.0 мин
Работа: =(16*23+18*14+20*10)*2*2.05+22*9*2.05 = 3767.9  (Рекордная работа: 8659.20)
Интенсивность: =3767.9/14.0 = 275.41 (Рекордная интенсивность: 670.58)
При рывке гири 22 кг начало потягивать в правой стороне спины, доработав левой рукой, перешел на правую, из-за того что потягивания усилились, решил не рисковать и поставил гири после двух повторов.


6. Подтягивания на перекладине нейтральным хватом   
ВТ/1; 4; 3; 2; 1 = 11
Амплитуда: 67 см
Время выполнения: 4.75 мин
Работа: =100.7*11*0.67 = 742.16  (Рекордная работа: 4757.07)
Интенсивность: =742.16/4.75 = 156.24 (Рекордная интенсивность: 452.03)
Рекорд в подтягиваниях: 15 раз
 

7. Отжимания от пола закрытым хватом   
ВТ/ 2; 3; 2; 2; 2 = 7
Амплитуда: 50 см
Время выполнения: 0.5 мин
Работа: =0.6*100.7*7*0.50 =  211.47  (Рекордная работа: 5019.84)
Интенсивность: =211.47/0.5 = 422.94 (Рекордная интенсивность: 452.03)
Рекорд в отжиманиях закрытым хватом: 18 раз


8. Подъем прямых ног в висе на перекладине   
 ВТ/ 3; 4; 3; 3; 3  = 16
Амплитуда: 47 см
Время выполнения: 5.25 мин
Работа: =100.7*0.55*16*0.47 = 416.50  (Рекордная работа: 414.43)
Интенсивность: =416.50/5.25 = 79.33 (Рекордная интенсивность: 207.22)


9. Перемещения в продольном шпагате   
ВТ/ 2; 4; 3; 2; 2 = 9
Амплитуда: 44 см
Время выполнения: 2.5 мин
Работа: =100.7*0.35*0.44*9*2 = 279.14  (Рекордная работа: 389.14)
Интенсивность: =279.14/2.5 = 111.66 (Рекордная интенсивность: 209.93)


Общая работа на тренировке: =417.70+428.58+172.0+1914.16+769.37+3767.9+742.16+211.47+416.50+279.14 = 9118.98 (Рекордная работа: 18984.41)
 
 
Аэробная статистика тренировки:

Общее время тренировки: 01:28:25 (Рекордное время тренировки: 02:44:24)
Средний пульс за тренировку: 122 (Рекордный средний пульс: 143)
Максимальный пульс за тренировку: 176 (Рекордный максимальный пульс: 186)
Килокалорий за тренировку:
1000 (Рекордная затрата килокалорий на тренировке: 1668)
Процент жира из потраченных килокалорий на тренировке: 23
Время нахождения в зоне 3: 00:13:12 (Рекордное время нахождения в зоне 3: 00:52:03)
Время нахождения в зоне 2: 00:21:48 (Рекордное время нахождения в зоне 2: 01:21:38)
Время нахождения в зоне 1: 00:35:51 (Рекордное время нахождения в зоне 1: 01:57:24)

Плотность тренировки: 103.62 (Рекордная плотность: 216.84)

Результат тренировки: Улучшение жиросжигания

По результатам этой тренировки установлены следующие личные рекорды:

- Работа в Shinbox Switch w/Extensions: 428.58
 
Итого 1 ЛС

Рекорды в толчке:
- гири 16 кг + 18 кг = 42 подъема                            - гири 18 кг + 20 кг = 36 подъемов  

- гири 16 кг + 20 кг = 40 подъемов                          - гири 18 кг + 22 кг = 16 подъемов

- гири 16 кг + 22 кг = 20 подъемов                          - гири 18 кг + 24 кг = 27 подъемов
- гири 16 кг + 24 кг = 29 подъемов                          - гири 18 кг + 26 кг = 8 подъемов 

- гири 16 кг + 26 кг = 13 подъемов                           - гири 22 кг + 24 кг = 15 подъемов 

- гири 20 кг + 22 кг = 18 подъемов                          - гири 22 кг + 26 кг = _ подъемов 

- гири 20 кг + 24 кг = 19 подъемов                          - гири 24 кг + 26 кг = 9 подъемов                       
                                                     - гири 32 кг + 32 кг = 6 подъемов
- гири 20 кг + 26 кг = 9 подъемов                    
- гири 16 кг + 24 кг = 29 подъемов (18/06/2013) - По Разрядные нормы в гиревом спорте на 1985-1988 rr. толкнул на 3-й взрослый (20 раз), следующая ступень - 2-й взрослый: 35 раз. По Разрядные нормы в гиревом спорте на 1989 - 1992 rr. не хватило 1 подъема чтобы набрать 30 и получить 3-й взрослый...
Рекорды в рывке:
- гиря 16 кг = 52 подъемов    - гиря 22 кг = 22 подъемов
- гиря 18 кг = 46 подъемов   - гиря 24 кг = 24 подъемов
- гиря 20 кг = 30 подъемов    - гиря 26 кг = 9 подъемов
Рывок гири 24 кг: 24 повторения (24/07/2013): по Разрядные нормы в гиревом спорте на 1985-1988 rr. рванул на 3-й взрослый и не хватило 1 раза до 2-го взрослого; по Разрядные нормы в гиревом спорте на 1989 - 1992 rr. рванул на 3-й взрослый и не хватило 4 раза до 2-го взрослого;
4. Приседания с гирями на груди + жим стоя   
(16кг+18кг)/ 3, 6; 4; 3; 3
Амплитуда: 61 см - непосредственно присед,  140 см - поднятие гирь в исходное положение перед приседом, 66 см при жиме с груди
Время выполнения: 2.5 мин
Работа: =((100.2*0.4+16+18)*0.61+(16+18)*0.66)*9+(16+18)*2*1.40 =  703.86  (Рекордная работа: 1590.13)
Интенсивность: =703.86/2.5 = 281.54 (Рекордная интенсивность: 508.05)

среда, 26 февраля 2014 г.

TIPS FOR TRAINING

At last you are ready to begin training. Whether you are training simply to improve your cardiovascular fitness, because you aspire to conquer the English Channel, or because you want to compete in the Iron Man Triathlon, chances are you will use the freestyle most of the time. But try to incorporate the other strokes into your workouts as well.
Variety is the spice of life, and, as emphasized earlier, one of the most appealing things about swimming is the great variety of ways you can use it to work your body and cardiovascular system. I also suggest that you use flip turns during practice sessions. (Of course, if you are in an ocean or a lake, there won’t be a whole lot of opportunities to do flip turns.) But doing them in practice will keep you from grabbing an extra second or two of rest on the turns, and it will help increase your lung capacity. For years I avoided doing flip turns on swims over a hundred yards. Then, six years ago, I simply made up my mind I would do them on every turn when I was swimming freestyle. Within a few weeks I had achieved my goal. Now it is simply a matter of course that I flip all my turns.

COME ON BABY, WORK OUT


If you observe these commonsense conventions and courtesies, every swim session should be an enjoyable, invigorating experience.
Now it’s down to the real nitty-gritty: the workout. Here is where everything you have learned finally comes together. As mentioned before, one of the things that make swimming so interesting is the almost infinite variety of ways it allows you to work your body and cardiovascular system. As you read earlier in this chapter, in addition to practicing the four competitive strokes, you can use a kick board to work your legs, a pull buoy with or without hand paddles to concentrate on your arms and upper body, flippers to work on speed and ankle flexibility, or Zoomers to increase your yardage at race pace.

Training Specificity

I have always believed in the importance of quality training and training specificity. If you want to swim fast in competition, you have to swim fast in practice. Swimming endless laps at an easy pace, the aquatic equivalent of jogging, will make you stronger and improve your cardiovascular fitness, and these are important benefits of fitness swimming. But easy lap swimming will do precious little to help you swim faster. To swim fast, your body needs to adjust to the demands that fast-pace swimming will place on it. The only way this will occur is for you and your body to experience those demands during training.

The Workout

Ideally, you should train with a coach and a group of fellow swimmers. But if you are working out on your own, certain elements should be included in all your workouts. Appendix A provides a series of sample workouts at three levels: the fitness or lap swimmer, the intermediate swimmer, and the advanced or competitive Masters swimmer. Each workout lasts no more than one hour. But these samples are meant to be just that. After a while you will be able to write your own workouts, providing yourself almost infinite variety and enabling you to work on your strengths and weaknesses, or simply those aspects of swimming you enjoy most.
Most of the workouts I do follow a basic structure:
1. Stretching. Especially for the adult swimmer, and especially in the morning, it is important to do a few stretching exercises to limber up your muscles before you begin training. Take about five minutes to stretch your legs, shoulders, and back before entering the water.
2. Warm-up. This is an easy swim designed to get your muscles warm and your body in motion before beginning the major parts of your workout. Warm-up swims range from about 200 to 1,000 yards. Swimmers usually mix strokes and sometimes include some kicking or pulling.
3. Kick, pull, or drill set (followed by an easy swim). These sets are done to allow you to focus on and strengthen particular aspects of your swimming skills. To concentrate on your arm stroke, you may want to do a pull set using a pull buoy—say, 5 × 100 yards with 30 seconds’ rest between each repeat. In addition, you might want to focus on your breathing pattern and try to increase lung capacity. If so, you can, try to swim the set alternating your breathing pattern: on laps 1 and 3 you may breathe every third stroke, whereas on laps 2 and 4 you will breathe every fifth stroke. I usually swim a pull set one day and a kick set the next. Drills, which are described briefly in Appendix A, are particularly useful in helping you improve your stroke technique, and even the greatest swimmers in the world incorporate drill sets into their workouts almost every day. After this set, swim an easy one hundred yards or so to warm down.
4. Major set (followed by an easy swim). This is the key focus of each workout. The major set will vary, depending on which stroke or strokes you want to concentrate on, how far along you are in your training, and, if you are a competitive swimmer, whether it is the beginning, middle, or end of the season. Accordingly, you may have only very short rests (5 to 10 seconds) between repeats (at the beginning or middle of the season) or long rests (at the end). The most important thing is to make sure that you put all your effort into each repeat. A favorite midseason set of mine is to swim 5 × 100 yards breaststroke on 1:30, trying to descend each swim. When I am in good shape, I will start out at about 1:22 for the first one, then gradually bring my time down about half a second for numbers 2, 3, and 4, then try to blast the final swim at about 1:15. Following the major set, do an easy swim of about one hundred yards.
5. Timed swim (followed by an easy swim). Although not all coaches feature this element in their workouts, I like to include an all-out effort almost every time. This is usually a kicking or pulling swim (say 500 yards kicking or pulling) or an event that is not swum at meets (for instance, 500 yards backstroke). I keep a record of how I do each time, and my goal is to swim the event faster than I did the previous time.
6. Sprints. If you want to swim fast, you have to practice swimming fast. This is the rule of specificity of training. Although sprints are hard to do, especially near the end of a training session, it is important to include a sprint set in your workout at least twice a week. As mentioned earlier, many top swimmers now do their sprint sets with Zoomers. Two typical sprint sets are 5 × 50 yards freestyle with 30 seconds’ rest and 8 × 25 yards free with 30 seconds’ rest, trying to hold your breath for each sprint. (As you get in shape, you will find your lung capacity increasing significantly. During a taper, you may replace a sprint set with a broken swim.)
7. Warm-down. This is an important, often neglected, part of every training session. Swim a slow, easy 100 to 200 yards to allow your muscles to rid themselves of the lactic acid that has built up during the workout. An easy warm-down is essential to eliminate muscle soreness. A study published in 1994 indicates that it is also the key to avoiding a heart attack following intense training.

Planning Your Training Season

To keep track of your progress—and you will find that you improve very quickly, especially in your first few months of training—you should create a plan for yourself, one that is as specific as possible. This plan should include an overview of your season (if you intend to compete), your interim and ultimate goals (see the last section in this chapter), a regular training time, and a realistic training schedule.
One of the hardest things for adult athletes is finding time to train. After all, we are busy with our families and jobs. The only way to handle this situation is to make your training a high-priority item, a given. Set aside a specific forty-five minutes or hour—whatever is reasonable considering all the demands on your time—and stick to it. Yes, there will be times when something comes up that will keep you from the pool—a sick child or a business meeting that can only take place at a certain time—but barring these exceptions, stick to your plan.
Ideally you should try to work out with a group. Swimming with others is easier and more enjoyable than working out by yourself. Many community centers and Y’s have Masters swimming groups that work out early in the morning, at noon, or after work. These groups are usually very supportive, with swimmers helping one another on stroke technique, pacing, and so on. But if you cannot find a group with a compatible schedule, train on your own.




Introduction




Opening Credits





Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin (2008)




Recorded at the 2007 Salzburg Festival, this production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin features an excellent, young cast and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by maestro Daniel Barenboim. Director Andrea Breth has created an intimate production that mines the depths of expression and charisma of her singer-actors and integrates silent secondary episodes and miniature dramas to heighten the intensity of the story. The title role--a tour de force for any baritone--is taken by Peter Mattei, who starred as Figaro in the Metropolitan Opera's HD Live Broadcast of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

He is joined by dazzling young Russian soprano Anna Samuil, a protégée of Daniel Barenboim who has been acclaimed as a vibrant new presence on the opera stage. The opera includes a wonderful performance from the young tenor, Joseph Kaiser, recently acclaimed for perfomances at The Met opposite Anna Netrebko in Roméo et Juliette, as well as a solid contribution from bass Ferruccio Furlanetto.


DVD 1 [114'57]
Opening Credits [1'34]

ACT ONE
Scene I
Introduction [2'09]
Duet and Quartet [5'32]
Peasants' Chorus and Dance  [5'16]
Scene and Olga's Aria  [4'14]
Scene «Nu ti, moya vostrushka» [3'25]



Recorded at the 2007 Salzburg Festival, this production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin features an excellent, young cast and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by maestro Daniel Barenboim. Director Andrea Breth has created an intimate production that mines the depths of expression and charisma of her singer-actors and integrates silent secondary episodes and miniature dramas to heighten the intensity of the story. The title role--a tour de force for any baritone--is taken by Peter Mattei, who starred as Figaro in the Metropolitan Opera's HD Live Broadcast of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

He is joined by dazzling young Russian soprano Anna Samuil, a protégée of Daniel Barenboim who has been acclaimed as a vibrant new presence on the opera stage. The opera includes a wonderful performance from the young tenor, Joseph Kaiser, recently acclaimed for perfomances at The Met opposite Anna Netrebko in Roméo et Juliette, as well as a solid contribution from bass Ferruccio Furlanetto.
Read more at http://avaxhome.cc/music/classical/tchaikovsky_eugene_onegin_2008_2dvd.html#teDuTOfP8d43moyP.99
Recorded at the 2007 Salzburg Festival, this production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin features an excellent, young cast and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by maestro Daniel Barenboim. Director Andrea Breth has created an intimate production that mines the depths of expression and charisma of her singer-actors and integrates silent secondary episodes and miniature dramas to heighten the intensity of the story. The title role--a tour de force for any baritone--is taken by Peter Mattei, who starred as Figaro in the Metropolitan Opera's HD Live Broadcast of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

He is joined by dazzling young Russian soprano Anna Samuil, a protégée of Daniel Barenboim who has been acclaimed as a vibrant new presence on the opera stage. The opera includes a wonderful performance from the young tenor, Joseph Kaiser, recently acclaimed for perfomances at The Met opposite Anna Netrebko in Roméo et Juliette, as well as a solid contribution from bass Ferruccio Furlanetto.
Read more at http://avaxhome.cc/music/classical/tchaikovsky_eugene_onegin_2008_2dvd.html#teDuTOfP8d43moyP.99
Recorded at the 2007 Salzburg Festival, this production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin features an excellent, young cast and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by maestro Daniel Barenboim. Director Andrea Breth has created an intimate production that mines the depths of expression and charisma of her singer-actors and integrates silent secondary episodes and miniature dramas to heighten the intensity of the story. The title role--a tour de force for any baritone--is taken by Peter Mattei, who starred as Figaro in the Metropolitan Opera's HD Live Broadcast of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

He is joined by dazzling young Russian soprano Anna Samuil, a protégée of Daniel Barenboim who has been acclaimed as a vibrant new presence on the opera stage. The opera includes a wonderful performance from the young tenor, Joseph Kaiser, recently acclaimed for perfomances at The Met opposite Anna Netrebko in Roméo et Juliette, as well as a solid contribution from bass Ferruccio Furlanetto.
Read more at http://avaxhome.cc/music/classical/tchaikovsky_eugene_onegin_2008_2dvd.html#teDuTOfP8d43moyP.99

Bill Kirby Visualization




Inefficient Catch and Pull Through





Catch up with Cue





POOL ETIQUETTE


You are just about ready to begin training. But before you do, a brief word about pool etiquette is in order. Every day more people are getting in the swim. Indeed, in many parts of the country, pools are filled to capacity. These people range in ability from rank beginner to accomplished athlete; from individuals who are focused completely on their own movement up and down the pool to those who are continuously aware of the position of every person in their lane. To avoid conflict, and make everyone’s experience more enjoyable, a number of conventions have grown up over the years. Here they are in brief:

Conventions
1. Lane designations. In most pools, lanes are designated as slow, medium, or fast. These are relative terms. Choose a lane compatible with your speed, then notify the others in the lane that you are joining them.
2. Swimming pattern. If there are two of you in a lane, you may opt to keep to one side of the lane; the other swimmer will stay on the opposite side. Three or more swimmers in a lane must circle swim: In the United States, Canada, and most of the rest of the world, the custom is to stay to the right, that is to swim counterclockwise. (As you might expect, in Great Britain, Australia, and a few other Commonwealth outposts, swimmers circle clockwise. When will these people get it right?)


3. Joining a workout. If there is a workout set in progress, you may join only as a part of the set.
4. Speed. Slower swimmers must yield to faster swimmers.
5. Passing. Pass on the left (on the right in the United Kingdom and Down Under). Tap the foot of the person in front of you before passing. If you are being overtaken at the turn, stop, and wait until the other swimmer has pushed off.
In addition, observing several rules of common courtesy will be helpful.

Courtesy

1. Do not stand in front of the pace clock.
2. Entering. When you enter the water, never dive, jump, or push off into oncoming swimmers. Wait until they have made the turn and pushed off.
3. Stopping. If you need to stop, squeeze into the corner to the right of oncoming swimmers, so they will have sufficient room to turn.
4. Push off underwater. This will reduce the waves encountered by oncoming swimmers.
5. At all times be aware of what is going on within your lane. Also, try not to kick or swing your arms into another lane.
6. Keep your toenails and fingernails trimmed.

THE LANGUAGE OF SWIMMING


An important part of becoming a swimmer involves learning the “language” of swimming—the basic terms and concepts that are as much a part of the sport as “line drive,” “pop up,” “home run,” “fungo,” “spring training,” and “sacrifice fly” are a part of baseball lingo. You have already been introduced to many of the basic terms in Chapters 6 through 10. Some terms and concepts are the same as in other sports—“interval training” and “split times,” for example. Others are unique to swimming. In any event, learning this special language is both fun and easy, and you will find that in a very short time it will be almost second nature to you.

Interval Training

One of the techniques you will be using to enhance the quality of your workouts is called interval training. Swimmers have used this tool for over thirty years, and recently it has been adopted by runners. Although coaches and trainers have long been convinced of the value of interval training, and of its superiority over long swims or runs, it was not until 1992 that it became clear exactly why the technique is so effective. After all, both interval training and long swims (and runs) elevate the heart rate to within the training range. This means that both techniques provide similar, if not identical, cardiovascular benefits.
The reason interval training is so valuable can be explained with three letters: hGH. Human growth hormone is the key hormone discussed in Chapter 5 that is responsible for building muscle mass and reducing body fat. The hormone is secreted by the body during exercise, and it turns out, according to a study by William J. Kraemer of the Center for Sports Medicine at Pennsylvania State University, that the best way to maximize the secretion of hGH during exercise is to perform a series of relatively intense repetitions with limited rest between. In other words, interval training.
Interval training features the set. A set consists of a series of swims, each a certain distance, done at a specific time interval. Each individual swim is called a repeat. Here are some of the major types of interval sets.

Holding your repeats

In one kind of set, you will want to hold your repeats steady. For example, let’s say that your fastest 200-yard freestyle is 2:30. You might want to do a set of six 200-yard swims, starting every three minutes and thirty seconds. If you swim at 80 percent of your current ability, a reasonable expectation, you will do each repeat in 3 minutes. That will give you 30 seconds’ rest between each 200-yard swim. As you might imagine, the first 200-yard swim will be relatively easy; in fact, you might be tempted to go faster than 3:00. Don’t! Until you are in excellent shape, you’ll find it progressively harder to hold each repeat at 3:00.
Naturally, when you start training your conditioning and endurance will leave a great deal to be desired. But as you get into better shape, you’ll find sets like the one just described easy to do. At this point you will want to reduce the resting time between repeats.
Two months have passed. Your fastest 200-yard freestyle is down to 2:25 and you’re in much better shape. Now, instead of doing a set of six 200-yard repeats on 3:30, you drop the interval to 3:15 and try to hold each repeat at 2:50. And so on.

LOFO

“Last one, fast one” is another way to enhance the training benefits of an interval set. These sets were a favorite of my coach, Peter Farragher. In a LOFO set you hold the first five repeats at your designated time (2:50 in the preceding example). Then you swim the final repeat all-out, as fast as you can.
A more advanced technique is the descending set. Here the objective is to swim each repeat a little faster than the previous one—not so easy, since you become increasingly fatigued. Descending sets are also useful in developing an internal sense of pace. When I swim an event, whether in practice or in a meet, I almost always know my time to within a few tenths of a second.
An alternate kind of descending set is the descending rest interval. Here you hold your time steady for each repeat, but you decrease resting time between repeats. For example, let’s say that you want to swim 10 × 100 yards holding 1:20. After the first swim you rest for 50 seconds; you drop your rest to 45 seconds after the second swim, to 40 seconds after the third, and so on. Finally, you have only 10 seconds’ rest before your last 100-yard swim.
In another kind of set, your aim is a negative split of each repeat. Negative splitting, which involves swimming the second half of any distance faster than the first half, is a valuable training and racing skill. Let’s say your set consisted of 5 × 200 on 3:00. Your goal is not just to hold each 200-yard swim at 2:45 but to swim the second 100 yards of each repeat 5 seconds faster than the first; your first 100 yards might be 1:25 and your second 1:20. Now you must be aware not only of your overall pace but also of your pace for each segment of each repeat.
A further variation on the same theme is a descending set, negative Splitting each repeat. Again, let’s say your set consists of 5 × 200 on 3:00. Now you swim the first repeat in 2:45, with splits of 1:24 and 1:21. On the second repeat you finish in 2:42, with splits of 1:22 and 1:20, and so on.
Still another type of interval set is the pyramid. Here you hold your rest interval steady but gradually increase, then decrease, the distance of each repeat. Usually you also try to hold a steady pace. A typical pyramid set consists of a 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, and 100-yard swim. Let’s say your rest interval is 30 seconds between repeats, and you try to hold a 1:30 pace. You swim the first 100 yards in 1:30, then rest for 30 seconds. The next repeat is a 200-yard swim, which you do in 3:00. Rest another 30 seconds. Then swim 300 yards in 4:30, and so on. As you can imagine, it becomes progressively harder to hold your 1:30 pace. There are also many variations on the pyramid.

Distance per Stroke (dps)

Why does Matt Biondi swim faster than you—or me, or just about anyone? Part of the answer lies in his natural ability, his years of training, and his positive mental attitude. His height (six feet, six inches) is also an asset. But the key to Matt’s success may well lie in the efficiency of his stroke.
I remember watching Matt compete in the 1987 NCAA championships. I was amazed when I counted his strokes in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle—sprint events—and found that he took only twelve long, smooth strokes per (twenty-five-yard) lap. Jeff Rouse, America’s fastest backstroker in the early 1990s, uses only eleven or twelve strokes per lap. The top breaststroke and butterfly swimmers typically need merely six or seven strokes for each lap they swim. Clearly these athletes are on to something.
In contrast, fitness swimmers generally take twenty to twenty-five strokes to swim a lap of freestyle or backstroke. Breast and fly may take more than a dozen strokes. Novice swimmers take even more. Top-flight Masters swimmers usually use fifteen to eighteen strokes for a lap of free and back, and eight or nine for breast and fly.
A computer-aided study published in 1992 suggests that length of stroke is indeed a major key to success. Dr. Richard C. Nelson, a professor of biomechanics at Penn State University, looked at 500 swimmers who competed in the Seoul Olympics. He found that the faster a swimmer performed, the longer his or her strokes were. “It seems to indicate,” he concluded, “that training should focus on establishing a maximum stroke length.”
Actually, many coaches have been doing just that, at least since the 1970s. They call it distance per stroke, or dps for short. These coaches emphasize the importance of maintaining a long stroke even—or rather especially—as you feel yourself tiring. I count strokes almost every lap of every workout and in every lap of every race.
You might want to try it too. Swim a hundred yards freestyle at a moderately fast clip, remembering to count the strokes you take for each lap. Let’s say you take nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-one strokes and swim 1:30. Next, set yourself the goal of swimming the same time taking nineteen strokes for each lap. Feel yourself stretch each stroke as your arm enters the water and as you pull through the stroke cycle. Once you have accomplished that, try reducing the strokes to eighteen per lap. Then try to lower your time to 1:28 or 1:25, maintaining eighteen strokes per lap. And so on. This exercise will focus your mind on making your stroke as long and efficient as you can. The result will be that you swim more efficiently, faster and with less effort.

The Taper

Tapering is a key element in preparing for your most important meets. Most experts agree that it is not possible to “peak”—that is, swim the fastest you are capable of—more than twice a year, and having a successful taper, or “hitting your taper,” as swimmers say, is a major factor in determining whether you will peak or not.
When you taper, you gradually decrease the amount of yardage you swim during each training session. At the same time, you rest longer both during and between your sets, and you increase the quality and intensity of your sprints. The idea is that after months of building strength and cardiovascular conditioning, you can peak by giving your body additional rest and by swimming in practice at close to race speed.
The taper begins several weeks before your big meet. Exactly how long it should last varies from person to person; you will have to learn what is best for you from experience. But among the important considerations are the yardage “base” you have put in over the previous several months, your age, and your body’s ability to recover.
If I have been able to train consistently, a typical taper for me takes about three weeks. During that time I gradually decrease the distance I swim daily from about 4,000 to only 1,500 yards. Finally, the day before the big meet I may not swim at all.
Broken swims are often used during the taper to give you a sense of how fast you are likely to go in your big meet. In a typical broken swim, you take a brief rest at the halfway point, then an even shorter rest at the three-quarters mark. Your time is the total elapsed time minus the resting time.
When I do a “broken” 200-yard swim, I usually rest for fifteen seconds after the first 100 yards and another ten seconds after 150. In a “broken” 100, I rest for ten seconds at the fifty-yard mark and five seconds more at the seventy-five.
A typical broken 200-yard breaststroke for me is as follows:
100 yards—1.14 (rest 15 seconds to 1:29)
150 yards—2:06 (rest 10 seconds to 2:16)
200 yards—2:54
My time for the 200 yards is the total elapsed time (2:54) minus the 25 seconds I rested, or 2:29. This is often a remarkably accurate predictor of how fast I will swim under race conditions.
One of the most distinctive rituals of swimming is shaving down before a big meet. Swimmers shave their legs, arms, and chest to decrease water resistance. Some high school and college swimmers also shave their heads, but wearing a cap provides the same benefit. I’m worried that if I shave my head the hair may never grow back, and I’m not ready yet for the Yul Brynner look.
Shaving was introduced on the international swimming scene at the 1956 Olympics by Australian sprinter Jon Henricks. He was so embarrassed at having denuded himself of body hair that he wore a robe literally until he mounted the starting blocks. “I looked like a plucked chicken,” he said later. But the saucy Aussie blasted to victory in the 100-meter freestyle, swimming’s glamour event, in record time. His teammates took notice and quickly followed suit. The result was that Australia dominated the competition as never before or since, winning every freestyle event for both men and women. But the secret was out; by the early 1960s, shaving down before the big meet had become a swimming ritual around the world.
And ritual is the right word. Many teams conduct “shaving parties” a day or so before their major competition. On the day of the meet, many swimmers can be found in the showers trimming the shave they did the day before to remove any hair that has grown in the interim.
Nonswimmers often ask if shaving really helps you go faster, or whether it is all in the mind. The unequivocal answer is it really helps. And it helps psychologically. Careful scientific studies have demonstrated repeatedly that shaving can reduce a swimmer’s time by about 2 to 3 percent, depending on just how hirsute he or she was before shaving. Two or 3 percent can easily be the difference between winning and finishing last in the Olympics or the Masters world championships.
It also feels great! Although the total amount of hair removed probably weighs only a few ounces at most, you feel much “lighter” after shaving. You seem to glide effortlessly through the water like a dolphin. And, contrary to what I have been told hundreds of times, the hair is not coarser or darker when it grows back. It comes back just as it was before.