HR, Effort & Ease | Mediterra Swim & Run

Out Of Tune

by Coach Mat | 5 Mar, 2013

Without a sufficient tune-up you might run into the problem I had today in practice. The following story will show you both my mistakes and my reasoning on how to correct it next time. When I arrived the pool was (finally) a pleasant cool temperature rather than the...

Why Tune-Up?

by Coach Mat | 5 Mar, 2013

What is a Tune-Up? And why should you add one to your swim practice? Traditionally, in individual sports like running and swimming, we have used the term “warm-up” for that part of the practice we do at the very beginning. The word ‘warm’...

Little Details Big Difference

by Coach Mat | 27 Feb, 2013

Little details can make a big difference. I am back in the pool for a couple weeks while waiting for the sea to calm down. However, this particular pool is rarely consistent in temperature. So arriving yesterday I found it 30 C (87 F) – uncomfortably (and...

Measuring The Catch

by Coach Mat | 23 Nov, 2012

Here is a question I just received on my post Power From The Core… Is it possible to guess how much difference there are between a good and a bad catch, if counting SPL and if other factors are equal? My answer is given here to provide a better chance that it...

The Role Of Heart Rate

by Coach Mat | 25 Sep, 2012

Another question came up soon after the Kickboard question: What about training and Heart Rate? Heart rate is a response in the body, not a causation. You don’t ‘train’ your heart rate, instead your heart rate gives you information about your...

Breathe Easy

by Coach Mat | 17 Apr, 2012

Recently, I have had three different swimmers come to me with specific complaints about being out of breath from swimming just a lap or two. There are likely a few more possible causes, but here are the three that I run into more often: 1. Struggle Obviously, then...