Body type and drag

Question
I have a sprint distance triathlon (800 yd swim) coming up on 9/24.  For the past few months I've been training but can't seem to "up" the distance.  I have a VERY hard time being efficient in the water.  My girlfriend (ex-competetive swimmer) tells me that it's my body type coupled with my style.  Let me explain.  I'm 5'10" @ 190 and muscular.  What I tend to do is power my way through the water.  That is, I don't tend to glide with efficiency.  What we've noticed is the reason I need to be powerful, and thus inefficient, is because I tend to sink when I swim.  As a matter of fact, I have to drag my legs instead of kicking because kicking just uses more energy instead of acting as propulsion.  Most of my energy is concentrated on trying to stay afloat vs. going forward.  Also, my shoulders tend to be rather broad so they create a bit of drag.  I'll be wearing a wetsuit for the ocean swim in hopes that the extra bouyancy will help, but can you offer any additional advice?
Thanks,
-O

Answer
Hi Omar! It's Lanny. There's not much time between now and 9/24 but I could give you the following short term suggestions:

Spend the next two working almost entirely your kick.

Try different drills like:

kicking on a kick board
kicking wihout a kick board face down hands out front
Swimmimg one arm only with a full kick ( alternate every 25 or 50 metres)
kicking on your side with one arm forwards and one arm at your side
kicking some on your back-arms above your head

I've saved the best for last. It's called vertical kicking. It's just like treading water in the deep end but you do a flutter kick to stay up instead of the usual side or breast stroke kick. Your body should be completely straight with no bend at the waist. Beginners can keep there hands in the water and use them for a little help ( if you are not very buoyant you'll probably need some assistance from your arms). This is a really hard drill! But also super effective- it strengthens your legs and helps you to "feel" the water with your legs. Do this drill whenever you can. Don't expect to go for too long- maybe 5 minutes at a time. I personally like to vertical kick for 20-30 minutes with alternating periods of hard/easy.

With only two weeks to go, the above is all I would recommend. If you lose your legs on a distance swim you lose everything. Do just enough full swimming and pulling to maintain your upper body conditioning- maintenance doesn't take much. Concentrate on the kick drills.

About three days before your event you need to do a mini recovery phase. Just cut all your training in half three dyas out, 25% two days out and almost nothing the day before you race. Don't so anything hard during these three days- all easy to moderate maintenance/rest work. Stop all weight training (if you are doing any one week before the race).

One of the reasons  ( besides genetics (you sound like you are better built for shorter events than triathalons) you may be having so much trouble with your kick is the fact you are constantly working the legs for the other two activities- running and biking. Cut back on the running/biking the next two weeks. Think maintenance this week and more rest/recovery next week for the running and cycling.

Finally, some nutritional guidance might help. You need to up your carbohydrate intake and protien intake between now and the race. Make sure you are getting 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Eat lots of carbs like pasta, bread etc...  You also should be getting proper pre, during and post workout/event nutrition.

Recent research has shown increased performance in endurance athletes when they consumed a mixed, crabohydrate, electrolyte solution (like gatorade)with some ( a small amount) whey protein every 20 or so minutes while training and competing (just drink until you feel hydrated). There are sports drinks you can get already mixed like thi or you can  just mix the Gatorade with a few grams of whey protein and put up with the bad taste. You can water this solution down if it seems too "heavy" during a workout or event. Ideally 2 grams of protein/20 ml gatorade mix works best every 20 minutes.

After your workout again carb/electrolyte/protein load but in larger amounts. Drink the gatorade or eat a fast absorbing carbohydrate within one hour of training. Also take about 40 mg of a good whey protein drink.

Finally, there is a natural substance called creatine. If you are not taking creatine you should be. It is natural and comes from red meat. It is effective at improving musculatr strength and endurance. It is safe with only one  harmless side effect which could be a little fluid retention. If you started creatine now (just buy plain creatine powder) you would be in what we call the loading phase which is the phase where tremendous gains can be seen. For loading take 5 mg 4-5 five time per day (one dose before or after a workout) for two weeks than after that you only need to take one 5 mg dose.

I hope the above is helpful. Shoot me another question regarding your next triatholan and I can actualy give you full training advise for that particular race... have a great day!... Lanny Schaffer... Exercise Physiologist/Personal Trainer... The International Fitness Academy... fitness my [email protected]