Guys, one topic that may help out somewhat is what training target is desired, and what point of a micro & macro cycle your training will be based on... And when is testing based training going to start in relation to "building phase", etc....
Also, not all training needs to be performance based, technique, especially in pull turns, can save a lot of energy, and create a rythem.
Re: training cycles
I did my first little freedive comp a few weeks ago, just DYN... I had actually been meaning to try and adapt a proper swim taper for freediving and sort of got there. About 6 weeks out I felt like I had a fairly strong base, so I started working towards lactic acid tolerance--sprints, etc--and experimenting with different swim speeds and glides. I was also doing some fairly intense spearing a 1-2 days a week, and some weights a few times a week. Basically I felt like my muscles were getting progressively more broken down, which is what I was aiming for so I could get a proper rest/taper in. Then about 2 weeks out from the comp one of the lifeguards at the pool I was regularly training at told me I was making him nervous (I was doing sets of mostly 75's) and he asked me to not swim underwater anymore, even 50's. I was then told the comp was completely full.
So, I just quit the pool training and did a lot of lobster diving (low lactic acid, high O2, high CO2). Then a few days before the scheduled comp a spot opened up and I got to swim. My legs had gotten some rest but I don't feel like it was a proper taper.
My actual swim was 121M in bi-fins, mixed flutter and dolphin, constant kicking. Pretty much as per usual, by the end I wasn't at all hypoxic so it was a white card but I was dead-legged from lactic acid. I had actually been training mostly all dolphin in the pool but since I had gone 2 weeks in the ocean mostly flutter kicking I decided to mix that in... I did get to try a Glide mono on that day and I definitely am not gonna bother to do DYN without a mono from now on... better propulsion with less effort, slower stroke rhythm, better glide = less lactic acid.
I am planning do a few months of primarily mixed weights/cardio with 1-2 days of spearing, and maybe a little bit of pool (primarily high CO2) swimming. By then I can probably afford to buy a good mono, and I will move towards 4-6 weeks of pool work and heavy lactic work, then do a two week taper and after that see what I can do... Prior to this last comp, I had been doing very little general fitness (my 'general fitness' is probably lower now than it has been in 3 or 4 years). And honestly, I feel like I could have done that same swim when I was more fit (greater muscles mass, higher VO2 max)....
