“More haste, less speed” is a proverb that has been around for years, meaning if you try to do things too quickly, it will take you longer in the end. As we all know, this is very true in life, but also in physical activity. How many times have you sought to complete a project...

What is Resilience?  Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Oxford Dictionary Resilience is a big topic so this will be just the start!  All of us, no matter how successful in our field, will face adversity at some point in our career, be it sport or work. Although often unavoidable, these...

By Dan Bullock Well this opened a whole can of opinions…..! do you need to learn them to do an OW swim of course not. Like Tri Bars or a disc wheel on a bike, they could make you faster but they are not essential and any old wheel will do. Just like any old turn...

Building Endurance  Swimming is almost dull in that to swim faster you need to repeat with great accuracy the same movements repeatedly. The pathways, the same degrees, the same movements at the joints. Timing, breathing patterns, the number of leg kicks. If anything ‘fades’ in terms of no longer holding the same distance traveled with...

By Dan Bullock Technique swim tips for beginners, some Q&As How important is technique when you are learning to swim? Swim technique is harder to change later in life so the fewer mistakes made earlier when learning the more effective you will be later in your swim career. If you’ve never had swimming lessons/coaching, does...

By Dan Bullock The Others… There are many reasons for learning and developing your ability to swim the 3 other competitive strokes within your swim training. If you are well versed with the FC technique and looking for new ways to spice up your training this might help. Just like the Flip Turn article from last...

By Dan Bullock During the current fortnight you might have been asked to swim as far as possible in 10mins and record the distance. If not this week then certainly next week at the SFT fitness sessions. This is so that the coaches can nip off and refill coffee cups from next door. Along with this...

Sleep is one of the most important factors in maintaining our health. It’s just as important as exercise and sticking to a healthy diet. Never have we been more aware of how important sleep is, yet people are getting far less than they did in the past. This is primarily down to an increase in...

By Dan Bullock Single arm variations– At our Mile End & WF fitness sessions this week we played with the differences between the following variations on one of my favourite drills. A – breathing away from the pulling arm, as we have traditionally taught – + Easter to perform slower, keep the head still, watch the pulling ar

By Dan Bullock I had the good fortune to work with Susie Rogers last week. She often drops into the occasional London Disability Swim Club session that Michelle and I host. Post Gold in Rio Susie has announced her retirement but is still keeping fit and we have discussed wetsuits for maybe some OW swimming. It...

Yoga has been practiced in some cultures for hundreds of years, but more recently it’s become increasingly popular all over the world, with all kinds of people. Yes, whilst many like to dismiss yoga lovers as ‘those bloody hippies’, it’s no longer just the preachers of peace and love who swear by it, now so...

Written by Chris Taylor Sporting events the world over have ground to a halt. Six Nations fixtures were the first to fall, then mass participation marathons and indoor competitions, swiftly followed by international athletics, domestic team games, anything with ‘world tour’ in the title and, eventually, begrudgingly, apologetically, the Olympic

Marathon running is no mean feat. On average, it’s around 3-5 hours-worth of pure grit (if you’re running faster than that then you’re a bit of a big shot…). During these 3-5 hours, your body goes through some serious challenges whilst hauling itself around the 42km course, and if you don’t pay particular attention to...

By Dan Bullock How they started. If you do too much of something it is well known its benefits can diminish. With swimming the accuracy of a certain movement will fade and its effect limited as we fatigue. Not just physically tire of performing the movement but also the psychological fatigue as when we engage...

Humans are interesting creatures; we’ve become the dominant species on our planet, explored all seven continents, and now, turned our endless curiosity to technological developments. Despite all of this impressive exploration, we tend to stick to what we know in everyday life. Most of us will run the same route most days, or do the...

By Dan Bullock Making timekeeping and length counting easy The big round thing at the end of the pool? Maybe to the side of the pool? Do you see it? Usually decorated with a blue/red bar across the middle? The bar usually moves in circles, through 360 degrees. Maybe now? Divided up into 5-sec increments around...

Training through pain. Is it a good idea? Training is not something professionals see as an everyday activity. It is a habit and a way of living and breathing. That is why whenever an injury kicks in, most people ignore it and keep training toward their goals. This often results in worse issues than only...

By Dan Bullock I was at the London Marathon Medical Seminar ahead of the big race and it was quite fascinating. A big revelation for me but it kind of makes sense if you think about it… there was research on how people while training improved performance if they smiled & frowned less. The lecturer...

Resistance bands have somewhat of a bad reputation amongst gym keen beans; their garish colours are most often associated with ‘boxercise’ classes, or something along the same lines, and it’s questioned how much they can really help you to add muscle mass… Well, whilst Chris Hemsworth probably didn’t build arms the size of tree-trunks for

By Dan Bullock  “Float like a canoe, Breathe like a dolphin,…Swim better in 10steps. What your swim coach, who means well, is not telling you or can’t tell you.” Is your  FB timeline getting clogged with the likes of these gems? mine is and some are quite enticing. My favourite comes not from a swim coach,...

Great Britain’s Olympic diver Leon Taylor was hyperactive and labeled a ‘problem child’ by the family GP. Leon’s parents tried to tire him out rather than use medication, and that’s when his love of activity and appreciation of the benefits began. During his competitive career and in the past 10 years as a mentor and..

By Dan Bullock I have been fortunate enough to conduct a concentrated block of submerged filming recently of nearly 40 swimmers. When this happens patterns are easier to spot and it was easy to see how few managed to set a good arm position to assist propulsion when breathing. It really is a tough one to...

Have you ever wondered, “what should I drink when I exercise at the gym?”. The more we learn about nutrition, the more we are able to feed our bodies the right fuel to remain fit and healthy. There are so many products out there these days, and so many multi-coloured concoctions we see people inhaling...

“I can maintain 90secs for a 100m FC swim with a short rest over and over in the pool but am struggling to break 40mins for 1900m in Openwater (OW) What is happening?” This is a question that comes up a lot in lessons and at the lake. Considering we are not turning each 25m/50m,...

By Dan Bullock Had a client get a little upset during his lesson as we revisited an earlier part of the FC swim stroke. ‘But we did the catch a few months ago.’ Don’t be frustrated by the seemingly endless circle of swim drills! It might well seem they are never-ending but that is how it should be....

Fancy doing an ultra triathlon race? here we have some practical tips from nuppu hepo-oja, the first female siberman in the world.  Siberman 515 Ultra Triathlon race passes along unique Siberian locations, The Sayan Mountains, The Steppes of Khakassia, and Real Siberian Taiga. The distances are Day 1: 10 km swim + 145 km bike Day 2:&

Have you ever noticed at the pool the fastest kickers tend to also be the fastest swimmers? not an exact science but next time if/when you are at the pool have a look at the people in the faster lanes. For us who coach, with multiple lanes to observe ie our London Bridge session it...

An ironman triathlon is widely regarded to be one of the toughest single-day sporting events in the world, and for good reason. Perhaps you know already what it feels like to swim 3.86km, cycle 180km and then run 42.16km. Do you know what’s really going on inside your body? The average ironman competitor burns around...

Race day is coming up, you’ve put the hard work in, covered the miles, ticked off the equipment list and now you have been told it is a good idea to taper. But what does this mean? How do you approach it? And is it essential? What is a taper? A “taper” is a block incorporated into...

Triathlons and Your Body What happens to your body during a triathlon? Well, of course, it depends on the length of the triathlon, doesn’t it? Some sprint distance triathlons (400m swim, 20km bike and a 5km run) can take the fast boys just over an hour or so. Whereas the more extreme triathlons (an Ironman...

When you’re putting in the hours with your swimming lessons, you really want to make sure that you’re doing the things in and out of the water that is going to make the biggest impact on your technique. Learning the secrets to stroke development and upping your swim fitness in our swim coaching classes is...

By Kelly McLay With races and events being canceled or postponed, gyms closed, and all exercise moving to virtual or solo practices, it’s incredibly hard to set goals. This virus has had a global effect on athletes. These are tough times; on so many levels. But these losses pale in comparison to the greater losses...

We have a theme for our fitness sessions this week as race season is getting closer. Especially for those who have booked the early season 70.3s in Mallorca etc. ‘An increase in volume of metres swum while still swimming with an effective distance per stroke will be challenging but ultimately help your speed.’ Think about...

Do you have a non-wetsuit swim this Autumn/Winter, Kona even? should you factor in a swimskin from the likes of…. https://huubdesign.com/collections/swimskins http://www.wiggle.co.uk/zone3-swim-skin-suit/ https://www.blueseventy.com/products/pz4tx ?? When I went to watch Kona in 2015 everyone was in the Roka suit but they were loaning them o

Some of us like to go to the beach, lie down and relax, others like to shop, or go to the movies, and then there’s are the select few amongst us that like to inflict pain upon themselves for ‘fun’, by attempting tortuous bike rides that might even have satisfied Genghis Kahn’s lust for brutality....

“You live the words you tell yourself in your mind.” — Dr. Magdalena Battles We all have that inner voice which provides a running commentary be it positive or negative. This voice combines conscious thoughts, with unconscious beliefs and biases. Given this commentary happens all day long its a wonder we get anything done at all!&nb

For many of us out there, fitness is a huge part of our lives. Training isn’t a chore, it’s a habit, something that we can’t live without, and it can often be harder to have a rest day (and we mean proper rest) than continuing to train as normal. We might feel guilty. Either that...

Catch up is a drill. A good basic all round drill that gets utilised a lot in warm ups and general swimming since we all know about it. Sometimes when learning to swim some go too far and it becomes their swim technique. Think about it – alternating single arms. One arm at a time,...

You’ve been training hard all year for the big event – it could be a marathon, a cycling race, or any long and hard fitness challenge – and the glycogen-loading plan is in place. But let’s not forget about hydration because it’s an equally important part of race day preparation and you’ll need to create...

One of our groups swam a T10 test set recently. This is where the athletes swim as far as they can in 10 mins. After the session I had some inquiries along the lines of, “why haven’t I improved?” and “how do I get faster?’ My response was, are you sure you aren’t faster? “Well,...

Perhaps you’re looking to build up your endurance as you train for a marathon or an Ironman, or maybe you just want to be able to chase your dog around the park for longer without needing to sit down with a stiff drink in hand. Either way, we’re not here to judge – you do...

“What is the key to sustainable high performance?” asked Hintsa’s Chief Innovation Officer, James Hewitt, as he addressed the audience during the Nordic Business Forum conference. “We’re never resting. We rarely focus. We can’t always be ‘on’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnIAoZDGq-U Much as the Tour De France push

Written by Brad Welch– Guest Article Brad Welch is a former Royal Marines Commando turned strength and conditioning coach. He specialises in strength training for endurance athletes and is a keen ultra runner himself. 15 May 2020 Brad Welch is a strength and conditioning coach specialising in training for endurance athletes. Alongside T

A short term low-FODMAP diet can be beneficial for athletes who suffer from stomach issues during training and racing.  There are certain “rules” to follow when it comes to avoiding gastrointestinal issues during training and racing. How important it is to adhere to these rules is highly individual, but athletes who are prone to GI

              High Performance               Proof of the KOTWF concept at the pinnacle of elite sport. KOTWF’s core principles and coaching has come from our experience in professional sport. It is combination of experience, intuition, education a

              High Performance               Proof of the KOTWF concept at the pinnacle of elite sport. KOTWF’s core principles and coaching has come from our experience in professional sport. It is a combination of experience, intuition, education

Good luck if you are racing this weekend, hope it goes well. Arrive early. Actually perhaps even earlier. Take your time putting a wetsuit on. Try not to work up a sweat, they get harder to put on. Flush and ensure your wetsuit is comfortable. https://www.facebook.com/SwimForTri/videos/602023729913867/ Don’t forget body glide. Read all literature

You have lined up your big event, and now you are focused on peaking for it. This might be six months away, four months down the line or it could even be something in the 2020 race calendar. A question which is often asked is whether you should race in the build-up to an ultramarathon...

Mindfulness has its roots in ancient Buddhist teachings and has been around for thousands of years, however its practice has only become mainstream in the last decade or so. As more and more best-selling mindfulness apps emerge, its curative powers appear more wide-ranging and its interested parties more diverse — from the NHS to NASA,...

So, your shoulders or knees are sore, or your back is tight, but you haven’t done anything out of the norm – you’ve trained the same way, your week has been the same and you can’t work out why this has happened. Sound familiar? If this is you, then there’s a good chance that your posture...

Know where the limit is.  Gain self-awareness of where your body, your mind and your life is at to help sustain optimal performance during competition and maintain the work/life balance. Awareness is an education and it allows an athlete to understand where they are at physically and mentally in competition and life. We want to...

Of course, having an exercise routine is great; you can get into the same habits each day, each week, and ensure you remain fit and healthy. However, sometimes routines can become mundane and more significantly, can cause your fitness to plateau because your body is too accustomed to the training and is no longer challenged...

Habitual high performance.                             A focus on the importance of sustained training and lifestyle changes for athletes. Developing high-performance behaviors to become habitual and a driver of sustaine

By Matti Kontsas Science and Development Director Behaviour change is highly relevant for your health and performance, as more than 50% of illnesses are caused by human behaviour. If you find yourself struggling with change, don’t worry, you are not the only one. But why is it so difficult to change your ways? Recent research has...

When I was a competing athlete I absolutely hated ice baths. I was told I had to do it, it would help me recover. Train, ice bath, compete, ice bath, and so on. I’d have done anything to get out of it. Now, you’ll find me enjoying daily dips in the English Channel in December...