How to monitor training

The effective administration of a swim training programme requires accurate monitoring of changes in both the aerobic and anaerobic performances of athletes to determine whether they are improving, and if not, why not. In addition, it is important to monitor training speeds accurately (that’s not really necessary if you coach development or age group squads) so that they will produce the desired effects. Blood testing is the most precise method for monitoring training available to coaches and athletes. This procedure, however, is not without pitfalls. Furthermore, most coaches do not have the equipment, funds, time, or expertise to use blood testing for these purposes. For this reason, other noninvasive procedures are needed for monitoring training. Alternative methods involve standardized repeat sets, monitoring heart rates, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE).

Blood testing is the best poolside procedure available for monitoring the aerobic and anaerobic effects of training. Much can be learned from blood testing about the responses of athletes to training, even by those who never intend to take blood samples. The premise behind blood testing is that increases of lactate in the blood reflect increases of lactic acid in the muscles. Much of the lactic acid produced during exercise both diffuses and is transported out of the muscles and into the blood. Thus the extent of anaerobic metabolism in muscles can be inferred by the content of lactic acid in blood.

Coaches that can’t use blood testing to monitor their athletes training use their stopwatch, their intuition, and their swimmers’ heart rate to have their work done. All these methods have their strengths (ease of administration) and their weaknesses (lack of precision). Nevertheless, they provide quantitative and qualitative data that can assist coaches in making better judgments about the effectiveness of their training. A few of the tests coaches use for monitoring training are:

·         T-3000 test (and its alternatives)

·         Critical swimming speed

·         Swimming step test

·         Standardized repeat sets

·         Hears rates

·         Perceived exertion

I’ll try to analyze some of them in the next few weeks.

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