MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS
“I really like these two tests plus and they are well suited to the new updates with the Form Smart Swim 2 goggles,” says Justin Tolle. “Both tests are almost completely sub- maximal in nature meaning they don’t have a negative effect on overall training balance.”
1. Graduated Swimming Step Test
This comprehensive test allows us to determine your Critical Swim Speed (CSS) and monitor how your heart rate responds at various paces. Not only does it provide valuable insights into your current capabilities, but it also serves as a benchmark for measuring progress over time. This is a progressive workout that challenges you to maintain incrementally faster paces over a series of steps. By closely monitoring your heart rate at different speeds, we can pinpoint your CSS – the maximum steady- state pace you can theoretically hold for 35 to 60mins, depending on your fatigue resistance. This data will allow you to set and/or correct your training zones. After completing a warm- up set, record your resting heart rate. For the graduated steps, you start at a pace 25secs slower per 100m than your predicted CSS pace. Every 200m, you’ll increase your pace by 5secs per 100m pace. Maintain these increases until you can no longer sustain the required speed. Your CSS is typically about two steps below the point at which you were unable to hold the pace any longer. Analysis of your average heart rate at this pace will give us both your pace and heart rate for CSS. Over time, you can track your CSS and heart rate responses at different paces to assess your fitness levels. A lower heart rate response at each set pace would suggest an improvement in overall aerobic fitness and fatigue resistance. Improvements in your CSS would also indicate better overall conditioning.
2. Monitoring Heart Rate While Holding Pace Stable
The objective of this test is to monitor cardiovascular drift by keeping your swimming pace stable while observing how your heart rate rises over time. The slower the increase in your heart rate, the greater your overall conditioning and fatigue resistance. First, ensure you’re adequately warmed up, your Form Smart Swim 2 Goggles fit correctly and your heart rate is reading properly. Establish your baseline swimming pace by swimming a pre- determined distance (e. g. 200m) at a comfortable pace to ensure the pace you’ll maintain is sustainable and not too fast. Record the time and corresponding heart rate for this baseline. For the test phase, you’ll maintain the same swimming pace recorded during the baseline. Swim a pre- determined distance and record your heart rate throughout. The goal is to swim for at least 10mins, but 20- 30mins would be ideal. You can analyse the data by comparing your heart rate during the test at the set pace to (A) your steady- state heart rate at that speed and ( B) how much your heart rate climbed throughout the test from start to finish. The key is to note any significant increase in heart rate despite efforts to maintain a stable pace. An increase in heart rate despite a stable swimming pace may indicate cardiovascular drift, suggesting increased cardiovascular strain or decreased stroke efficiency over time. The slower the rise in your heart rate throughout the test, the better your overall base conditioning. Repeated use of this test at the same pace will allow us to see improvements in your performance. A lower overall average heart rate at the set pace suggests improvements in aerobic conditioning, while a lower cardiovascular drift indicates greater improvements in fatigue resistance and muscular endurance.