With the holidays upon us, swimmers everywhere are gearing up for their heaviest period of training this year. High volume, high intensity, and double or even triple workouts will set the tone for the upcoming weeks. The best athletes do not simply get through holiday training—they excel at it. This time of year will push athletes to their highest fitness level as they head into competition season in the new year. Let’s discuss a few strategies to maximize your holiday training.
If your workout volume and intensity are going up, then so is your energy expenditure. You burn significantly more calories during a holiday training week than in a regular training cycle. As a result, you may need to eat more to supply your body with sufficient energy. You need to re-fuel immediately after you workout to replenish your glycogen stores—this is especially critical on double or triple workout days. Eat balanced meals with protein and carbohydrates. Always have something to eat prior to your morning practices, even if you are not hungry. Maintaining a healthy diet will help you recover faster from each practice and give you the energy you need to push through challenging main sets.
During holiday training, give yourself the appropriate rest to recover between workouts. After an evening practice, get dinner, relax, and go to bed early so you can recharge before your morning workout. Even though you may not have classes during this time, do not schedule strenuous activities during the day or events that run late into the night. Your priority after each workout is to refuel and rest. Midday naps will improve the quality of your swimming in an afternoon training session. Give yourself the opportunity to perform well in each practice by taking care of your energy needs.
As difficult as holiday training can be, take advantage of the opportunity to spend more time with your team. Your teammates will push you to be better in the pool and to relax more when you’re away from it. Be a good teammate by doing the same in return. Despite the hours spent swimming, sleeping or eating, you still have time to hang out. You do not need to constantly think about swimming to perform well. On the contrary, socializing with your teammates outside of the pool will help you feel mentally recharged going into another training session.
In this exceptionally challenging phase of swimming, treat your body well, recharge both mentally and physically after each workout, and enjoy the team bonding. With these tips in mind, you’ll be on your way to an incredibly successful holiday training camp!
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.
ABOUT NICK FOLKER
Nick Folker is the Co-Founder and Director of Elite Performance at BridgeAthletic. Nick’s roster of athletes includes 35 Olympians winning 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.
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