by Coach Mat | 17 Feb, 2019 | Open Water Training, Swim Camps
We just completed a week of delightful open water swimming in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean Sea. The sea water was 79 F (26 C), with mostly sunny skies in the 80’s, a little wind, a little swell, a little rain all mixing in for an enjoyable...
by Coach Mat | 9 Feb, 2019 | Aging, Core Control, Dry-land Training, Immobility, Muscle Tone & Control, Running, Strength, Strength, Strength Training
For long distance events you need to be strong in terms of muscle endurance. Your body needs to be capable of working at moderate effort level for a long time. For sprint events you need to be strong in terms of muscle power. Your body needs to be capable of...
by Coach Mat | 2 Feb, 2019 | Aging, Aging and Improvement, Competitive/Performance Training, Distance Training, Fitness Training, How To Train?, Long Distance Training, Sprint Training, Sprint Training, Strength, Too Slow
Why Be Strong? You certainly want your shape and movement patterns to be streamline and efficient to reduce internal and external resistance to moving forward. But even then, you still need strength, because it defines your body’s ability to do work. Even when...
by Coach Mat | 26 Jan, 2019 | Distance Training, Exhaustion, Metabolic Training, Muscle Training, Neuromuscular Training, Running, Sprint Training, Strength, Strength, Strength Training, Weight-lifting
As you may have noticed from my style of writing on this blog, I try to be careful with definitions of words and use them in technically accurate ways. I appreciate when someone sends me a kind note pointing out where I may have misused or misunderstood a term in its...
by Coach Mat | 19 Jan, 2019 | Attention, Attention/Focus, Competitive/Performance Training, Distraction, External Feedback, Feedback Loop, Fitness Training, Internal Feedback, Mental Training, Neurological Training, Self-Coaching, Swim Watch
In order to plan the next cycle of practices for a swimmer working towards a particular performance goal, I need to see various kinds of data from both their objective measurements and their subjective measurements. We are, after all, training the whole person to...
by Coach Mat | 12 Jan, 2019 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, Fitness Training, Focal Point Training, Focal Points, How To Train?, Learning Methods, Neurological Training, Plateau (No Progress), Progression, Self-Coaching, Skill Mastery, Training Theory
Continued from Part 2… I’ve mentioned before that my wife, Gail, is an ‘occupational therapist’. Occupational therapists, as they are called in the US, help people learn (or relearn) how to accomplish daily tasks that their damaged brain lost...
by Coach Mat | 5 Jan, 2019 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, Distance Training, How To Train?, Long Distance Training, Marathon Distance, Metabolic Training, Open Water Training, Practice Series
Continued from Part 1. How Much Is Enough To Be Comfortable? When someone asks me a version of this question, I need to know a few things to help guide them toward an answer that is more suitable to their personal situation: How do you want to finish this event:...
by Coach Mat | 5 Jan, 2019 | Competitive/Performance Training, Distance Training, How To Train?, Long Distance Training, Marathon Distance, Practice Series, Racing Misery, Running
I am often approached by swimmers thinking about preparing to swim a much longer distance than they have done before – like 4K (Ironman tri), 5K, 10K or 20K, or even 40K (for the English Channel). I receive this question in various forms, and it essentially asks...
by Coach Mat | 29 Dec, 2018 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, Fitness Training, Flow State, Focal Point Training, Focal Points, How To Train?, Learning Methods, Neurological Training, Neuromuscular Training, Plateau (No Progress), Progression, Recommended Reading, Self-Coaching, Skill Mastery, Training Theory
It should be well understood that there is a process, and usually a long process we must follow in moving from a novice to an expert in the fundamental skills for an art or sport. There is a process or a path to follow, but there is not a single ‘recipe’...
by Coach Mat | 29 Dec, 2018 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, Fitness Training, Focal Point Training, Focal Points, How To Train?, Learning Methods, Neurological Training, Plateau (No Progress), Progression, Self-Coaching, Skill Mastery, Training Theory
Continued from Part 1… Stages Of Attention Control Not only is your neuromuscular (motor) control being trained, so is your attention, because the two are working together intimately in the development process. At first the attention is directed onto the part of...
