Calculate Your Strokes Per Length

by Coach Mat | 25 Apr, 2011

A Method To Determine Your Baseline Strokes Per Length In a pool, warm up at least 500 or so. Personally, I really only start to feel loosened up after about 800. Pick a distance event you intend to train for. Count strokes per length throughout this swim and compare...

Finding Your Tempo Range

by Coach Mat | 25 Apr, 2011

A Method To Determine Your Baseline Tempo Range Technically, Stroke Rate (SR) is in units of strokes per second (or minutes). While Tempo (the settings we use on a Tempo Trainer) is in units of seconds per stroke. Therefore SR = 1/Tempo. Often we will see analysis of...

Running In A TI Way

by Coach Mat | 23 Apr, 2011

This last year I’ve become curious as to how I might improve my running with the same kind of mindset and tools I use in TI swimming. I picked up a copy of Chi Running some time last year and have been studying the concepts. From what I read from others it was a...

How To Use A Tempo Trainer???

by Coach Mat | 29 Mar, 2011

I’m receiving some questions about how to use a Tempo Trainer. Do you have questions? Do you have favorite practice sets using a TT? I’d love to hear from you… I see the need to compile a primer on using the TT and how to design practice sets...

Seal The Hatches First!

by Coach Mat | 17 Mar, 2011

I could kick myself… I have this great Sanyo Xacti underwater camera. Last night I was getting ready to jump in the pool with some close friends, the wife and 10 yr old daughter who’s on a swim club, who wanted an introduction to TI. I brought my camera...

I Love Cool Pools

by Coach Mat | 13 Mar, 2011

I can’t complain that the pool we were giving our Portland OR workshop in was a bit cool for the level 1.0 drills we were working on today. 27 C is perfect for swimming laps, but for our short drills today it was giving us all the chills. A few laps however...

Coaching in Portland Oregon USA

by Coach Mat | 13 Mar, 2011

I am back in the Pacific Northwest USA for 3 weeks. I have been joined by TI coaches Shane Eversfield and Ryan Chapman to lead TI 1.0 and 2.0 workshops this weekend at Allstar Fitness in Portland, Oregon. We had two students today, and with such a small group we could...

Swimming With Yeast

by Coach Mat | 22 Feb, 2011

Well, not exactly swimming WITH yeast, but swimming while candida yeast is infesting the internal systems of my body. Yuk. I bet it started back in 2002 when we traveled to Africa the second and final time on the adoption adventure for our twin daughters. The first...

Louganis Got Me Started

by Coach Mat | 21 Feb, 2011

It was the summer of 1988. I was an active, but small, skinny 15-year-old high school boy without a sport I felt a passion for. Greg Louganis was a highlight of the Olympics that year, so I was naturally drawn to watch him during that famous 5 Gold Medal summer of...

Training Strategy Simplified

by Coach Mat | 10 Feb, 2011

I swam 3750m at Akdeniz Univ pool. It was 30.5 C. I started at 10:00. 10x 50m gentle check-in warm-up 3x this set: with open-turns 100m fist 150m   hold per 25- 15, 16, 17, 17, 16, 15 SPL 250m   hold per 50- 15, 16, 17, 16, 15 SPL 500m  hold per 100- 15, 16, 17, 16,...