So energy zones…you think I would be jazzed about this because this is the entire crux of the SwiftDuck program, but I don't want to come out as preachy or too technical. There are different phases of work and reaction to that work in the body as you exercise. These different work types
are generally broken into energy zones. …I am not sure I really want to do this. There are books, thesis's, and speeches covering this. You can attend week long seminars that don't come to a conclusion because there are conflicting opinions as to the best possible methodology. That is, the conflict is in how to use the different zones to maximize performance.
The reality of the different zones is not really in question. That is the special thing about SwiftDuck. I don't subscribe to a system. SwiftDuck just presents energy zones broken down to their most basic, you can do with them what you want. You can do so with confidence that they are accurate to you regardless of the season plan you choose to follow or which experts methodology you subscribe to.
The most basic zone is the Aerobic zone. The simple explanation of this is exercising where oxygen is important. I am going way basic on this stuff. When you exercise in an aerobic zone, you can keep on going and going and going. Your heart rate is not too high and your breathing is controlled. You could carry on a conversation without much stress. The Aerobic zone is reflected in SwiftDuck mostly in workout levels 1-3, the Green colors. You should be able to hold the first level of speed indefinitely and level 3 starts to get pretty tough, but you can hang on if you want to, maybe with some mild rest thrown in there. Workout sets of 10 x 400 in level 1 would be easy and not uncommon to some. Level three, 10 x 200 would be getting pretty tough, but 20 x 100 would be pretty easy, with just a little rest in between.
When you start to get out of the aerobic zone and into the grey zone of the thresholds and tolerance zones, things get tough really fast. This area of work is that gut wrenching, vomit inducing phase. You are being pushed to your very edge of your bodies capabilities, and actually, just beyond. There is a point with this zone where you cannot carry on. You have reached your bodies limit of dealing with the byproducts of exercise. These zones are the YELLOW colors, moving towards red.
In this range of exercise, the amount of time you are able to carry on is limited to a minute or two before needing recovery to carry on. The less rest you take, the shorter amount of time you can work. Regardless, eventually you will peter out at these speeds.
Lets just imagine a strong swimmer, :48 second baseline, doing 3 sets of 5 x 150 and holding a one minute pace throughout. They are going to be pretty whipped by the end of the 30-36 minutes of a set. They would have a goal time of close to 1:30 and a cycle of 2:00-2:30.
That is about level 5, maybe level four. If you wanted to stay in the range, you might notice that level 6 is the same goal time but short rest. For that, you would need to do shorter yards and get some recovery after going. Most swimmers cant make the set above on short rest, but could do 3-4 sets of 4 x 100 on short rest, maybe :05 seconds with a recovery 400 in between. Unless you are totally built for distance, that set would be all your body could handle.
Now, you may think we are talking speed, but not yet. True Speed work is closer to your ORANGE and RED zones. Now we are talking race pace work. This type of stuff is about as much as your body can handle for :30 seconds at level 7 and maybe :08 seconds at level 9. This is real speed work. It is pushing the Anaerobic system now, meaning that it is not oxygen based as much, it is getting into a totally different chemistry in the body with lots of big words and acronyms. This type of speed needs LOTS of rest compared to time worked.
This is speed most swimmers never tap into. Many swimmers think speed work is just doing 50's fast with some more rest. That can be correct, but to be considered True Speed, you need to be going fast enough. I have coached enough swimmers to tell you their concept of fast is not always lined up with reality. That same :48 swimmer doing 50's fast, I would be looking for :26 second or faster. Typically I would get :27-28, but that is not true Speed. You need to be so fast that you NEED your rest.
The PURE SPEED :08 second blasts are the most fun though. You are at total red line speed for a few seconds, doing pure anaerobic work, and then you rest a bunch. This is one of the least exhausting types of work to do because it is so fast, that you can't maintain it, nobody could, so there is no point trying. It taxes the body in a different way and will have long term racing gains, but won't make you more "fit" necessarily.
Doing work in the upper zones helps your body adapt to that speed. You may end up going those speeds eventually or hopefully in a race, and your body takes time and repetitions to learn how to handle the influx of exercise byproduct pulsing through your body.
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