How To REALLY Develop Swimming Endurance

Building bulletproof endurance is a key component of successful triathlon swimming.

After all, if you can’t sustain your speed, nothing else really matters!

In previous e-mails, I’ve discussed how skills are critical for building endurance.

They help you use less energy.

However, the physical side matters as well, and that’s what we’re going to discuss today.

When it comes to training, the typical approach is to just go harder and harder in the attempt to get fitter.

It makes sense- no pain, no gain.

Swimming hard and fast works…until it doesn’t.

If you’ve been trying to push the pace on all of your endurance work, I’m going to suggest that you take the OPPOSITE approach if you want to be successful.

You need to slow down.

This is particularly true if you’re not happy with your progress.

I learned the value of this approach the hard way.

Several years ago, I was struggling with my endurance in the water.

I wanted to get fitter, so I figured I needed to work harder.

While it was effective at first, I soon found myself tired, cranky, and failing to improve.

It was frustrating.

I wasn’t sure what to do and was getting ready to more or less accept my situation.

However, sometimes life throws you just what you need, just when you need it.

I happened across an article by a scientist named Stephen Seiler.

He’d done some research across several different endurance sports and had discovered that only a small percentage of the work that elite athletes do is hard.

Most of it is easy!

That approach didn’t make any sense to me, and it was the opposite of what I was doing.

How could easier be more effective??

Well, I wasn’t happy with the results I was getting, so I decided I needed to do something different, anything.

So, with nothing to lose, I decided to give it a shot.

Much to my surprise, it worked!

I started feeling better and my endurance slowly started to improve.

That was a huge learning experience for me that harder isn’t always better.