COACHING
A COACHES’ GUIDE TO
ENERGY SYSTEMS ( PART III )
In Part 3 of our series on energy systems, two age group coaches—one from Clovis, Calif. and one from Richmond, Va.— share how they inform and guide their younger athletes through energy system training. BY MICHAEL J. STOTT
I
t is instructive to recall that the whole color-code energy system was created for college-age men. That has forced coaches intrigued by the benefits of the charts to adapt them to fit training for younger swimmers. One coach who has done that successfully is Mark Bennett, head age group coach with the Clovis Swim Club, Calif., and author of a book, “A Coaches’ Playbook for Age Group Swimming,” to be published in mid-to-late 2022. Another is Jonathan Kaplan, head coach of the SwimRVA Rapids in Richmond, Va. CLOVIS SWIM CLUB: BREAKING DOWN ENERGY SYSTEMS For his age group swimmers, Bennett breaks down energy systems as follows: Aerobic • Heart rate ~130-160 • About 70-80% of max heart rate • No lactate accumulation at all • Can hold speed comfortably for as long as stroke technique will allow Aerobic threshold • Heart rate ~160-190 • About 85% of max heart rate • Little to no lactate accumulation • Difficult to hold technique, but should still be a key focus Anaerobic • Heart rate ~180+ • Likely lactate accumulation as a byproduct of glycolysis • Categorized as “swimming without control”; however, technical focus a must if and when swimming at highquality efforts *** The previous energy system categories are a simplification of traditionally used labels: 40
AUGUST 2021
SWIMMINGWORLD.COM
>> Mark Bennett, head age group coach with the Clovis Swim Club, Calif., says he uses the ideas of aerobic, threshold and anaerobic/sprint to keep things simple for his swimmers: “Doing so allows swimmers to maintain a focus on technical objectives while also being able to fall within the recommended training zones.”
EN1 (Endurance 1): (Categorized as base aerobic work) • Also called Pink training in the Urbanchek color charts. Would also be classified as White, the lowest level of aerobic training: recreational and recovery. • Also called T- or T minus by some others, meaning threshold minus, or sub-threshold. EN2 (Endurance 2): (Equates to aerobic threshold) • Classified as Red in the Urbanchek model. Distinguished by gaining very little rest (:05-:15) between reps. • Also known as T by some other models, simply meaning threshold. EN3 (Endurance 3): (Still aerobic threshold, but gauged as MVO2 training—Maximum Volume of Oxygen consumption—or high-level endurance training) • Categorized as Blue, which would be differentiated as more rest (:20-:30) between reps, but more speed; still low to no lactate accumulation.
