Strength Training | Mediterra Swim & Run

How Do You Know You’ve Made An Improvement?

by Coach Mat | 4 Jun, 2023

How do you know you’ve made an improvement from one practice session to another? By measuring failure, or rather, by measuring its reduction from one session to the next. If you repeat a challenging practice set and have measured what, when, where, and how and...

I Want The Strength To Be Comfortable

by Coach Mat | 1 Jun, 2020

In training for both running and swimming I have a primary objective behind it all – I want to be skilled enough and strong enough to handle a wide range of interesting exploration opportunities. When I come across an inviting patch of water or a trail wandering...

Have Extra Time? Improve Your Posture

by Coach Mat | 12 Apr, 2020

If I had to choose a second improvement project for pool-exiled swimmers with more time on your hands, I would assign the work of improving posture. This essay is part of a series discussing the kind of complementary training you can do while kept away from the pool...

Take Your Training Plan To A Higher Level

by Coach Mat | 1 Feb, 2020

Just the other day one of my swimmers was describing his weekly training plan in order to get my input on it. His goal is to build up his capabilities over the next few months in order to prepare for his first Alcatraz Triathlon with a 1.5 mile swim (2.4 km), and a...

How To ‘Lift Weights’ In The Water – Part 2

by Coach Mat | 14 Dec, 2019

This is continuing from How To ‘Lift Weights’ In The Water – Part 1… The Primary Form Of Strength At this point in the essay, the main lesson for everyone is that stroke length is the foundation to speed and the better you are at achieving a...

How To ‘Lift Weights’ In The Water – Part 1

by Coach Mat | 7 Dec, 2019

If you want to swim farther and/or swim faster, you have to be both more skilled, and stronger. Some people focus on just one or the other. But you can develop both of those together if you require both in how you go about your training. I trust you are already sold...