The Science of Swimming Fast with Dr. Jan Olbrecht

Renowned coach and physiologist Dr. Jan Olbrecht discusses modern approaches to sprint training in swimming.

Dr. Olbrecht shares insights from his extensive research and experience working with elite athletes. He explores topics like individualizing training programs, aerobic capacity development, recovery strategies, and periodization models.

Dr. Olbrecht also examines how biomechanics and technique continue to evolve. Coaches will gain valuable scientific perspectives and practical guidelines that can be applied to optimize their athletes' sprint performance.

This interview provides actionable insights for implementing the latest research into swimming training programs. It's a must-watch for any swim coach seeking to understand contemporary methods for developing speed in the pool.

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00:00 Hello Jan Olbrecht
02:50 Sprinting Research
05:00 Capacity & Power
10:00 Volume
11:00 Training Aerobic Capacity Outside of the Pool
14:00 Building Aerobic Capacity Through Anaerobic Work
20:12 Skills & Drills
22:00 Stressing the Central Nervous System for Sprinters
25:00 Max Power 3 to 4 Practices Per Week
27:30 Recovery
30:10 Periodization
33:30 Racing During Training Cycles
36:00 Straight Arm vs. Bent Arm
39:40 How are we getting faster?
44:00 Comparing Athletics and Swimming
49:30 How should a swim coach learn?
54:15 Differences Between Men & Women in Sprinting
57:00 Thank You Dr. Jan Olbrecht
57:30 What have we learned?

[joaonogueira]

I wish I could find many more videos on exercise physiology applied to swimming like this and the one Brett did on the pool deck with Dave Salo a few years ago. So much learning from experts!

[arlo]

Around 46 Jan is mentioning the rest in swimming. The 30 sec rest, I still don't understand why in swimming we are used to these kinds of incomplete rest for Sprint sessions. Hard or soft environment, you still need to recharge your CrPh system to be able to give the amount of speed or power time after time.

[SirBread]

Love listening to Jan. Thanks, Brett, for bringing this to us.

[donaldduck]

Thank you Jan! Thank you Brett! This is so inspirational. Great insights.

[scotmoser]

Excellent information. Very interesting the comparisons to track. Great work Brett!

[canaldavodonelson]

Amazing interview Brett!! 🎉🎉 if you could would love to see more science appplied to swimming on your show ❤

[SultanSpin-swdm]

Would have been interesting to get sets to test each of the main aspects of aerobic and anaerobic capacity and anaerobic and aerobic power, plus sets on how to develop them within his model.

[roberthall]

Very interesting, thank you. Surprises: starting at about 46:35. Really, resistance training in the water (parachutes, chords, etc) has a relatively small impact? and Easy running has a higher muscle load than resistance sprint swim training?

[igorshlyonsky]

Great interview, a lot of interesting topics, a lot of information. At the same time, average DPS is a too high level a metric. DPS variability of individual strokes provides a lot of insights. The same applies to the speed change patterns during each of the stroke.

[osamamohamed]

What about having Brent Rushell
USRPT
It will be a great discussion
I enjoyed this one

[bill-smgu]

So sounds like he thinks aerobic capacity (vo2max) is very important for sprinting
But listenting to attia, the best way to build vo2max would be lots of easy swimming ( zone 2 ) and then sets where you do 4 minute hard intervals, with 4 minutes recovery in between

I can't imagine many sprinters doing hard 400yd intervals or grinding out miles of zone 2 ...
is there a different way to build vo2max in the pool?

[personal-coach]

What is his take on USRPT ?
Easy. He didn’t read the papers. They are too many and he doesn’t feel like going out of his aerobic paranoid bubble.
After Olbrecht, Maglischio and Bowman pass away I hope we will see a new light in swimming.
Meanwhile, my junior swimmers are improving times like crazy at 8K a week.

[SPEEDEVER]

DISAGREE - but very good to know that the endurance obsession which I went through as well for too many meters is still active !!! 1) want proof... go tell a 200m runner to plan on running 160k a week ... what would he say ??? Body weight more impact argument ... say the same to a track sprint cyclist - go ride 400k a week - he will say go ride the Tour de France but get out if 2) why are times dropping - he couldn't answer ???? thats soooo easy A) underwater fly B) suits and C) more speed in athletes -- easy to track and see ... easy easy way to see this ... also endurance ability is same as 40y ago - and aerobic power term is just silly.