Articles Written by RKC Martin Farrell

Carryover to sports with focus to swimming:

Being competitive again in swimming attributed to kettlebell & PTP strength training:

Just recently I had a competed on Master’s nationals swimming competition and had
placed 4th in my age group.  The placement sounds impressive but that had been out
of 6 competitors.  Upon further study, I came to realize that it had been my fastest
swim.  Still, it had been a disappointment when I swam the time I did 27.57 in 50
Meter Long Course race.  The world record is approximately 21.8.  I had hoped to
break 26 but will say this.  The guy who won the heat won the last half of the race.  In
cross training kettlebells and Power to the people for that matter, I had
inadvertently trained power giving myself a lot of speed.  The question is then how did
the other guy beat me by a whole two seconds.  It was not that he was faster as much
as a question of fatigue.  I actually came out ahead and broke even until halfway he
gradually took over.  I did not train heavy enough for more speed and endurance.   
Since my training with heavier kettlebells , I have improved my running times
significantly not to mention lower my heart rate to 50 beats a minute.  If I win
nationals then I think about going beyond.  World Masters.  If that is go then its
Olympics.  

This is a problem with keeping the anaerobic threshold up long enough which requires
anaerobic type training.  When I swam competitively from age 7 to 17 I swam 50 M
free in 28.5 but with a flip turn which adds speed.  In 50 M without a flip turn in
would have been approx 29 seconds which is a full second and half slower then my
disappointing time not to long ago.  With almost no preparation, I was able to after a
decade of no competition whatsoever despite getting tired and perceptively slow
down crush the old time by 1.5 seconds.  I wish I could have kept up the pace.  I
intend to in the near future.  

I’m not sure what the best way to train for a race 50 M is but I will argue that I had
over trained most of my life.  The “more is better” concept which I hear from runners
and endurance athletes is true to a point.  Sure I could run a 5 min mile if I ran 10
miles a day, but for how long?  When have my joints or bone mineral deteriorated to
where I can not run?  The true way to train is intensity in interval training.  

What do I know about the specifics of overtraining?  

Not too much other then half a life time of experience in being the victim of it in the
pool and a former victim in the weight room.  Work smarter and not harder.  

I swam nearly 6 days a week for 1.5 hours in the pool in my growing years.  I
consider that overtraining at least to balance strength and endurance.  Too much
endurance training and not enough strength training.

The thing about kettlebells that are good for sprinting is that there are ballistics
involved that can always tax my abilities even on a one rep max scale.  Unfortunately I
did not get into interval training with very high intensity until after competition but there
will be others.  I honestly believe that kettlebells will test ones abilities for a lifetime.   
Even in raw strength.   Some would argue but the levels of strength increase with
weight.  The more explosive I become, the faster in the pool I will be.  

Though I take training seriously currently, I had not taken training swimming
specifically serious for this recent meet.  I had the power to win but not the endurance
in a sprint event.  Sounds like an oxymoron: endurance in a sprint event.  Granted,
there are ways to train to meet an anaerobic threshold (90-100 %) intensity or
aerobic threshold which is less intensity for a much longer duration.  I do not pretend
to have a lot of knowledge on how to train either way in balance with one another.  
The catch is to keep up this intensity for more then 20 seconds which is specific to a
50 M event.  

The desire to compete had been dormant long enough.  I have good technique that
probably could be improved but for now need to get back into swimming shape with
this newfound power and explosive ability I now possess in the pool.  Salutations go
to Pavel and his PTP/RKC concepts that have given me newfound strength and
power to be faster then ever.