You'll go faster if you relax more
Hi there,
Here's an interesting reflection from my swim this morning.
The main set was 10 x 200 starting every 3m30s. The intention for each 200m effort was to swim it as a negative split, easier on the first 100m and then a touch faster in the second 100m. The immediate thought is that it would be easier to speed up after a relatively easy 100, but in fact the opposite happened. As I tried to swim easy, my pace got better making it even harder to swim the final 100m at a faster pace. In fact, I was a couple of seconds slower despite trying harder.
It wasn't just me. On chatting with the other swimmers after the session, several reported similar outcomes. My reflection is that being more relaxed actually helps you to go faster. Maybe it's because in trying to go faster we try harder, become more tense, move less efficiently, use more energy, and go slower.
I've observed this with athletes in races as well. At events where they have earmarked it as a training race, there is less pressure, they are more relaxed, and often report setting a PB.
Maybe the secret ingredient here is mindset rather than fitness. Of course, you need to have a decent level of fitness to achieve your goals. But once you've reached that level, then what?
Having the courage to go easier instead of going harder when you are chasing a goal is a tough concept to grasp. This requires work both in your head and in your sessions. Like my session today, done often enough, you can gain confidence in the approach. But you do need to embrace the concept. Ultra runner Kay Bretz in our recent podcast stated that the light bulb moment for him was being able to relax into the challenge, and deciding to be the happiest person on the course.
The question you probably have now is, "What do I do next?", so here are some options:
- Be calm. Focus on breathing and relaxing before and during your workouts.
- Emphasise efficient movement in all of your sessions.
- Train by feel, rather than by numbers. By all means, collect your data to review after the session. But during the workout try to avoid looking at your watch. See how closely you can predict your performance.
- Try some negative split sessions. You'll probably notice more difference in the water and running than you will on the bike, but you must learn to be good at relaxing in all 3 disciplines.
- If you have a low key race coming up, think about all of the above rather than smashing it. See what happens!
Have you ever tried relaxing to go faster? Feel free to share your thoughts on my Facebook page
In next week's email, Life Coach Bethany Ward (yes, that is my wife in case you were wondering) will talk in more depth about mindset.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
P.s. Mobility is a key component of going faster because it leads to effective movement. If you would like to get started with a mobility plan and are struggling for ideas, how about downloading my FREE 10 minutes per day mobility plan? You can GRAB YOUR COPY HERE.
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I really appreciate you being part of my tribe and I look forward to helping you achieve better health and better performance.
Simon
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Building fitness in the long term is quite a simple equation. You workout, and then you recover. If you get the balance of these two right, you should see a steady upward progress over time. Most folks I know and work with are pretty good at the training part, but maybe they could do better on the recovery side. I don’t know about you, but over the years I’ve come to appreciate the recovery part a lot more!
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ARTICLE: It's not just you. Even Olympians have challenges
I hope you were able to enjoy the Paris Olympics as much as I did. Many of the athletes you watched had overcome some big challenges. Like GB Rower Georgie Brayshaw who recovered from a 9 day coma and temporary paralysis after a horse riding accident to rebuild her health and fitness and eventually win a Gold medal in the Women's Quadruple sculls.
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