Sequential Loading of Training Microcyles

This article addresses some of ways to plan a short training microcycle for competitive swimmers. A creative approach to the planning of training sessions is essential to maintain an adequate adaptation stimulus.

The term microcycle (the weekly training plan including details on each individual session) is used widely but sometimes misunderstood and confused with macrocycle (combination of several microcycles over a period of a few weeks).

Once the various cycles are organised within the season or yearly plan, the detailing of individual training sessions can begin.

A common but not necessarily universal method of planning training cycles involves loading volume in the first half of the cycle, and intensity in the second half. This applies equally to meso, macro and micro-cycles, and also in individual training sessions.

This is analogous to the strength training of spring and power athletes who also use the ‘accumulation first – then intensification’ approach. However this does not preclude speed work being undertaken in the early stages of various training cycles. In fact, placing speed work ‘up-front’ in a training week or even at the beginning of a training session, when swimmers are fresh, is a useful practice at various times throughout the training season.

Some coaches make the mistake of not properly integrating speed and endurance in the training program. This is particularly evident in the endurance phase where too great an emphasis on the volume of training may impair speed.

It is an over-simplification to think that only low-to-moderate intensity volume work is undertaken in an ‘endurance’ week or phase, and that only speed work is done in a ‘speed’ week. If insufficient speed work is undertaken during the endurance phase, a swimmer may pay the price later on when they are unable to reproduce race or competitive speed.

Conversely, swimmers may become overloaded and prone to fatigue, illness and injury if they do too much speed work without the benefits of some complementary endurance training. Highly trained swimmers can use endurance training to recover from and prepare for speed training.

What are some approaches to loading micro cycles in swimming?

One method used by the Swimming Program at the Australian Institute of Sport is to systematically increase the intensity of workouts during a three-day micro cycle. The example described here is taken from a relatively intense micro cycle used to target specific areas of aerobic fitness in highly trained swimmers (see Table 1).

The basic variables of interval training (eg intensity, volume, duration, and frequency) are manipulated to meet the goals of each individual session and micro cycle. This micro cycle is for senior swimmers in good condition and may not be appropriate for age group swimmers or those returning from a lay-off, injury or illness.

Inspection of this sequence shows that the speed of training is increased systematically within each day and also across successive days. Training three sessions a day is a big commitment but the benefits gained can be substantial.

Apart from having the opportunity to do a larger volume of training, there is scope to do all the things that as a coach you never seem to get the time for. This may simply involve working all the different strokes, drills and sets that you normally squeeze into a full week’s training. It also gives the opportunity for some creative coaching like switching sets for IM, combination sets of varying distances and intensities, and trying out some new technique drills.

One of the main benefits of three sessions a day is to improve the swimmer’s feel of the water with more frequent exposure than is normally experienced. Three sessions a day is not new and has been used occasionally since the heady days of the 1950s and 60s when Australia’s leading swimmers used this approach to prepare for major competition in as few as 8-12 weeks of organised training.

On Day 1, aerobic intervals and some short springs are undertaken for a total volume of 14.5 km (5.0 + 6.0 + 3.5). The AM session contains some 400’s at an aerobic level. This should be the ‘bread and butter’ of a highly trained swimmer’s program, but some swimmers shy away from this type of work. Even sprinters should be prepared to undertake some basic endurance work. If they struggle with this, then this is a sure sign that they need more of this type of work.

The main set of the noon sessions is 8 x (200 on 2:45 [1], 100 on 1:40 [2]. These cycles are for freestyle and would need to be adjusted for the form strokes. Most coaches use the approach seen here of 22’s at an aerobic speed and then 100’s at a slightly faster threshold speed.

The shorter session in the PM contains the speed work (4 x 2 x 25m at [5] – see Table 1 for description of intensity ratings). Again the emphasis is on increasing speed as the set progresses. Swimmers should always be able to knock out some fast 25’s even during high volume training weeks. We have had good results with this type of shorter session with some speed work – the swimmers seem to respond well to it.

On Day 2 the same training volume as Day 1 (14.5 km) is completed but there is more quality in the Noon session.

The AM session is used to prepare the swimmers for higher quality swimming in the Noon and PM sessions. This session has some 800’s and 1000’s. These are often, but not always, swum as freestyle. Mixing or alternating freestyle with freestyle/backstroke by 50, 100 or 200m intervals or even individual medley in normal order or reverse order is commonly seen.

A good practice is to mix up these longer intervals: some should be done straight freestyle and some using a mixed approach. Many coaches and swimmers fall into the habit of doing all the work using a mixture of strokes and distances and may miss the benefits of continuous over distance freestyle swimming.

There are many programs at both senior and age group level in Australia that don’t seem to use these longer intervals at all – this may be limiting in the long term.

The Noon session of 6 x (150 on 2:15 at [1], 150 on 2:15 at [2], 100 on 2:30 at [3]) is a useful way to introduce more quality and sped into the workouts. This is a descending set with the first 150 swum at level [1] or aerobic, the second 150 at level [2] or threshold, and the final 100 at level [3] or maximal oxygen uptake (approximately 400m race pace). The final 100 is on a longer cycle time (2:30) to permit some recovery before the set is repeated.

This is an example of a combination set which mixes different distances and different intensities. The total distance of the set is 2400m which represents a solid training session for aerobic fitness. This type of work can be used in conjunction with the commonly used ‘heart rate’ sets, which are characterised by the repetition of the same distance at equivalent or increasing intensity e.g. 30 x 100m on 1:40 holding 1:05 or heart rate 160-190 b.p.m. (40 to 10 beats below maximum heart rate).

A commonly asked question by coaches is whether it is better to hold swimmers at a high heart rate and let their repeat times slip a little, or back them off to keep their heart rate under control. The most important thing is to keep the speed up together with proper technique – if this means increasing the rest period or cycle time, or slowing the swimmer a little, then this is what should be done. There is no single answer here and a coach has to exercise his or her judgement as to the most appropriate action on the day.

On Day 3, there are only two sessions for a total of 9.0km. This gives the swimmers a better opportunity to attack the main Noon session. The aim here is to reduce the volume of training and concentrate on the speed (intensity).

Note again how the AM session contains a small build up of intensity [1-2] to prepare the swimmers for the demanding [2-3-4] Noon session. Contrast this to the AM sessions in Days 1 and 2 where only aerobic [1] work was undertaken. Using the first session to prepare a swimmer for the second session is possible where the sessions are close together and only a few hours apart.

The final Noon session of this three day micro cycle is 4 x {2 x 100 on 1:40 [2]. 2 x 100 on 2:30 [3] and 2 x 50 on 1:00 [4]. This is the most intensive session of the micro cycle both in terms of effort and speed.

Note that the second pair of 2 x 100 is on a longer cycle (2:30) than the first pair (1:40). The extra time is designed to support the increase in speed ie. 2 x 100 on 2:30 at [3] compared with 2 x 100 on 1:40 at [2]. It is expected that the 50’s would be quite fast, at around 100m race pace. Again these cycles are for freestyle and may need to be adjusted for other strokes or junior swimmers.

This is an example of loading volume first, then quality, within a three day micro cycle. While most coaches are familiar with planning interval training workouts, the fundamental step involves integrating a whole sequence of interval sessions that contribute to the specific goals for that training cycle.

The example discussed here was a three day training cycle with a total of 36 km. Senior swimmers have used this type of training in high volume camps, at altitude and in various stages of the training cycle, where the coach is looking to develop the level of aerobic fitness. Even age group swimmers could undertake a modified version of this three sessions a day training plan during organised camps or the school holiday period.

The principles and workouts discussed here are, of course, equally relevant to the more routine practice of two sessions a day.

David Pyne PhD and Wayne Goldsmith