5 Questions To Ask Yourself To Swim FASTER in 2015

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

Are you happy with the way you swam this year? Do you think there is more to be squeezed from your swimming, but you aren’t sure what the first step should be? Are you ready to throw down on your swimming goals in 2015?

Here are some questions to challenge you to capitalize on the success you’ve already had in the pool this year, while also encouraging you to open up and broaden your potential and performance next year:

What habits have I been holding onto that are slowing me down in the pool?

Very rarely do we find new ways to get in our own way. Our bad habits and hang ups are shockingly consistent. Our habits aren’t generally a mystery to us (especially the bad ones), but because they are so, well, habitual, we have come to accept them as part of our identity, as part of our swimming, just the way it is.

Can you think of a couple stinky habits that you have been lugging around in your swimming? Bad technique during warm up, pulling 6 times into the wall on kick sets, breathing to the same side for hours on end, and so on. Go a step beyond just thinking about them and write them down on a piece of paper to make it official.

What have I learned about myself this year that really works?

There is a mistaken assumption out there that success in the pool is based on an exact recipe. Do these sets, this many times, plus this specific dryland, and you will attain such-and-such times.

Everybody’s path and journey is different.

There are things that you inevitably learned over the course of 2014 that you can apply to your swimming next year. They don’t all have to be things you learned in the pool either. A trick you picked up on helping you fall asleep faster. A morning routine that finally works for you. A pre-hab routine that has helped you stay injury-free.

What were these things? While you seek to find other little tactics and tricks that help you perform better, remember to continue to apply the stuff that is already working.

Is my lifestyle outside of the pool reflecting what I want to achieve in the water?

To show up to the pool and give a solid effort at the pool is one thing (and let’s be honest here, “solid” is a fairly broad umbrella of a term), but to live your life outside of the pool in concurrence with your goals in the water is altogether another.

Does this mean that you should be thinking about your swimming every single second of the day? Of course not. But if you are sacrificing sleep because of poor time management, or eating poorly out of convenience, or not taking care of yourself than these things will reflect in your performance at the end of the season.

Take a look back over the past year and take stock of how your lifestyle matches up with your swimming goals, and see if there are any improvements you can make moving forward.

Who has got my back in the truest sense of the word?

Your support system is far more important than we give them credit for. That emotional support is invaluable when we are down, and they are the loudest voices in the stands when we are doing well. Through thick and thin, these people—whether family, friends, teammates, coaches—are our bedrock.

Make a point to spend more time with these people this year, err, next year, while also limiting the influence that those who don’t have your long term success at heart.

What is the most effective thing you could do with an extra ten minutes of training per day?

If you had just ten minutes per day to use, what would you fill it with? What would be the most effective use of that time that would help you see greater success in the pool?

For some, it’s staying ahead of the curve on keeping their shoulders injury-free. Others could use the time to really work on their starts. Or improve their feel of the water with sculling drills.

Just ten minutes a day doesn’t sound like very much, which is excellent because it makes it approachable, easy to do (after all, what’s ten minutes?), and also it forces you to really focus. You can’t do it all, so if you can only do one extra thing, that one thing that would put a huge dent in your swimming goals, what would it be?

Over the course of an entire season that wee little ten minutes totals a whopping 3120 minutes. What could you do with 52 hours of training to swim faster next year?

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

How To Swim Faster By Being a Rock Star Teammate

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

We have all had that one teammate. The one who shows up late, does half the warm-up, disappears for half-hour bathroom breaks, and then manages to find enough breath to waste it complaining during a hellish set.

Yeah. That one.

Over the course of my swimming career I experienced a few swimmers like this. And while the disinterest in the sport—it was abundantly clear they didn’t really want to be there—was one thing, the disrupting and toxic influence they had on the group was another.

It was impossible not to feel a little less enthusiastic about the workout at hand when this swimmer was spending every second between repeats griping or talking smack about the workout, the set, and how it’s all just so not fair.

HOW TO NOT BE THAT SWIMMER

Being a rad teammate goes beyond just helping others train and perform better. When you make the decision to make a positive impact on the training group you create an environment where everyone succeeds, and like a rising tide, everyone’s fortunes—yours included—improve.

Here are a few ways that you can help foster that training environment where not only your teammates are more likely to excel, but you are as well:

REMEMBER THE MISSION.

What are the goals for the team for the season? For the next meet? Or on a more day-to-day basis, what are the attendance targets for the squad?

Individual goals are important, but when the team is united behind a common cause there is an undeniable sense of cohesion and forward movement. The wake of one swimmer chasing excellence is strong, the wake of a pack of swimmers chasing a common goal is unstoppable.

“Our power as individuals is multiplied when we gather together as families, teams and communities with common goals.” Susan Scott

LEAD BY EXAMPLE.

By far the strongest leaders in a group are the ones who lead by example, who dive head-long into those tough sets, who volunteer to take down the flags after practice, who wait in the water after a long set and cheer on every teammate until they are done.

Saying you do it better and that you expect others to hold themselves to high standards is one thing, but when you take it upon yourself to set the standard than words become unnecessary and very often superfluous in comparison.

“The world is changed by examples, not by opinions.” Paolo Coelho

REMEMBER THAT YOUR POSITIVITY IS INFECTIOUS.

We like to think of ourselves as impervious to the influence of others. That someone else’s bad day won’t rub on us. That the swimmer in our lane complaining won’t bring us down (although for some people—myself included—hearing teammates complain and struggle during a tough set usually motivated me to push harder). Or that the social circle we carry outside the pool doesn’t influence us.

In reality, emotional states—both good and bad can be passed on to us via something that is called “emotional contagion.” While many of us know this from anecdotal experiences within our group of friends, research has shown that emotional states can even be transferred across social media. When Facebook users were shown only positive stories, their own posts were more frequently positive. The opposite was true when users were shown mostly negative stories.

While you won’t always be able to crowd out Connie Complainer, you can help to make a more positive training environment by seeking and accentuating the positive in challenging practice situations.

“Your enthusiasm will be infectious, stimulating and attractive to others. They will love you for it. They will go for you and with you.” Norman Vincent Peale

MARK THE TRIUMPHS—EVEN THE SMALL ONES.

To maintain a lasting sense of motivation and belief in the cause requires a series of consistent reminders that progress is being made and that it is positive progress. In other words, recognizing and celebrating the little wins.

Observing the little victories—and not merely brushing them aside because they aren’t ground-shaking or record-breaking—provides a continuous drip of enthusiasm towards the task at hand.

The group had 95% attendance for the week? No morning workouts were missed? Little Johnny dropped a best time for a 100 yard freestyle kick? These are things worth recognizing.

“5 small wins a day leads to 1,850 wins in 12 months. Consistency breeds mastery.” Robin Sharma

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

16 Tricks & Tips to Swim Faster, Train Smarter & Crush Your Goals

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

Swimmers are always looking for a way to get a little bit of an advantage over the competition.

We spend our tapers in a neurotic, heavily immobilized stupor, have prolonged staring matches with a tiled black line, and shave our bodies from head to toe, all in the hopes of getting that tiny sliver of an advantage necessary to separate ourselves from the competition.

Below are a list of 16 random tricks, techniques and strategies that will help you swim better and faster this year. They are all almost immediately actionable, and don’t require a ton of heavy lifting.

[You can also download the entire 16 tips as a pretty little PDF for daily reference at the bottom of the list. Or click here if you are feeling impatient.]

In other words, there is no reason you can’t put a few of these into place to make yourself a more sultry swimmer.

And here we go:

1. EMPLOY THE BUDDY SYSTEM.

Partner up with someone on your team and buddy up. Promise to hold each other accountable over the course of the season.

Whether or not this is someone you compete against is up to you, but you are probably better off picking someone you won’t be going head-to-head in competition to avoid any conflict of interest.

Stay on each other over the course of those long training cycles when it gets easier to slip up and miss a workout or two. By helping someone else stay on their goals it will remind you to stay on top of your own goals, and having someone that gets on your case (besides coach and your folks) can give you that little extra nudge to stay on track.

2. CARPE THAT DIEM.

You have goals. Big, greasy goals. So what are you doing not ruthlessly chasing them down?

Don’t wait to act on your goals, make today, this moment, the one that you are going to be the swimmer that you have always dreamed you could be.

How many times have you delayed fully committing yourself to your goals because the time wasn’t right, or because the conditions weren’t perfect, or because, well, taking the apathetic route was simply easier?

Don’t wait. Ever.

3. FEED THOSE MUSCLES.

Get into the habit of bringing snacks and a post-workout shake with you to workout so that you can kick-start the process of recovery moments after you get out of the water.

Not only will your muscles thank you, but you will bounce back faster. Aim to ingest some carbs and protein within 30 minutes of getting out of the water.

While this doesn’t seem to make such a difference when you are doing one-a-days, you want to be especially sure that you are refueling ASAP when you are training again later in the day, or again early the following morning.

4. GO INJURY FREE(ISH).

It’s natural for us to wait for fires to start before rushing to put them out. So often is the case when it comes to chronic injuries. We do our pre-hab for a while, than slack off, and kick ourselves when the injury returns.

Make this the season that you stay true to your pre-hab so that you can minimize the likelihood of missing training time due to those somewhat predictable injuries (shoulders, ahem).

Make it part of your daily routine so that after a few weeks you stop thinking about having to do it, and simply do it.

5. TAKE 5MINS A FEW TIMES EACH DAY TO IMPROVE YOUR FLEXIBILITY.

Hit your pecs, lats, shoulders, hamstrings, ankles and hips.

Doing 5 minutes of flexibility work a couple times every day will yield far better results than doing a stretching benders once or twice a week (or only when you feel an injury coming on).

Do it at night before you go to bed. When you wake up. After a particularly punishing workout. Make flexibility and mobility a keystone component of your swimming.

6. DO 15M/Y UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICK FOR THE ENTIRE WARM-UP.

Cal’s Tom Shields, who has one of the deadliest underwater dolphin kicks on the planet, related this fairly boring reason for why he has such an awesome fly kick– he starts off every workout doing 15m/y underwater for the entire warm up.

Use bucket turns if you have to, or even start at 10m/y if you need to, or do it every second length. Or even just start by doing 2 kicks off of every wall, and then 3, and then 4, and so on.

Like Shields simply make the underwater work something that is part of your swimming, and not something you only focus on during specific sets.

7. MAKE A HABIT OF BREATHING BILATERALLY.

Muscle imbalances suck. They often lead to injury, lead us to be imbalanced in the water, and it can be annoying racing against someone when your good side is away from them.

You don’t need to necessarily breathe bilaterally during your races, but in order to develop even muscle in your lats, shoulders and back (and even your kick) you should be making a habit of breathing bilaterally as much as possible in your workouts.

8. PLAN YOUR MEALS.

Panic-packing meals for the rest of the day at 5:15am used to be a common past-time of mine. Wanting every last minute of sleep possible I would more than often leave the house without meals for the rest of the day, meaning that I had to rely on the cafeteria (read: chips, chocolate bars and muffins) to get some form of sustenance over the day.

The days that I did have my act together enough to plan and pack meals for the next day I could put together a bundle of healthy food to smash after morning workout, at lunch, and before my PM workouts.

Making your lunch the night before gives you a heck of an advantage; you aren’t inflicted with the hungry-man food blindness that happens when you are famished and you will literally eat anything (which is often, for swimmers).

Allow cooler heads and smarter food choices to prevail by packing your lunch and snacks the night before.

9. CONSISTENTLY SEEK FEEDBACK FOR TROUBLE SPOTS.

We all have those areas in our technique that are a little dicey. We struggle to get it right, but without full feedback it is difficult to know for certain if we are doing it correctly.

Instead of waiting for your coach to come to you when he or she sees something going wrong, ask for feedback ahead of time so that you can do it correctly the first time.

Make sure that you are swimming correctly before you invest thousands of strokes and laps drilling in your stroke.

10. GET ONE EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP.

There is no doubt that proper rest is tied to performance in the pool. So why not make the easiest thing in the world to do to improve your performance a priority?

While we are sleeping we are not only fantasizing about mountains of pasta and snow days, but our bodies are hurrying to repair themselves.

Your body will pump out growth hormone while you are sleeping (especially during deep sleep), but if your sleep is delayed (read: you get to bed late) than peak growth hormone secretion is shortened, robbing you of some nice, effort-free recovery time.

Set a sleep schedule, be aggressive with managing your time, and create pre-bed rituals to get you into sleepy mode regularly.

11. RESPECT THE RECOVERY WORK (AND THE RESULTING BOUNCE BACK).

One of the weirdest things for athletes of any kind to get their head around is the notion of deloading and recovery.

In their minds they think that to improve they must give a flat-out, 100% effort every single day of the week in the pool. The idea of taking time off, to rest and gain recovery seems foreign and induces guilt (“Think of all the training I could be doing right now!!“).

Without periodic chunks of recovery your body won’t have enough time to embrace the new awesomeness from all the previous training, leaving you feeling perpetually tired, unmotivated, and stuck in a plateau.

Think of your recovery sessions in the pool (and away from the pool as well), as mini-tapers if you have to, but remember that they are essential in order to help you come back stronger.

12. ATTACK THAT ONE THING.

We all have it. The weak spot in our swimming that we avoid at all costs during practice.

For some swimmers it was their kick. For others, pull. Or breaststroke kick. And for others, it’s the stroke of butterfly (and by others I clearly mean a whole bunch of others).

Each session take ten minutes to work on it. If that means doing 5 minutes of vertical kicking after practice so be it. Or doing butterfly during warm-up. Or using pull sets as an opportunity to swim with killer technique.

Attack your weaknesses little by little, and chip away at them until they grow into something not so weak.

Doing so has a couple nice side effect:

1. You will quickly see improvement. Because they have been ignored for so long those weaknesses will be absolutely ripe for big jumps.
2. And the second is the resulting confidence that comes from seeing these leaps and bounds and mastering something you avoided for so long.

13. HELP CREATE A POSITIVE TRAINING ENVIRONMENT.

Swimming for hours on end, testing the limits of your physical abilities on a daily, often twice daily basis is challenging enough. Doing it while a swimmer in your lane complains and moans and reminds everyone else about how lame it is, how they don’t like the set, or how their stroke feels like garbage is even worse.

Be the swimmer that helps to motivate and encourage everyone else in the lane when the sets and workouts get challenging.

Not only will it contribute to a more positive atmosphere, but the positivity will actually give you a nice sense of control and actually encourage you to push yourself harder.

14. DEEP BREATHE YOUR WAY TO FASTER RECOVERY.

Deep breathing has a calming effect on the body. Literally. It decreases blood pressure, central nervous system activity and the big one, stress. The faster your body goes from an amped, excitatory state to a relaxed state the quicker the recovery process can kick off.

Incorporate some deep belly breathing (put your hand on your belly button, you want to move your hand and belly button with your breathing, not your chest and upper rib cage) at the end of your workout and relax while also impacting your ability to bounce back faster.

15. PICK OUT THE 3 HABITS THAT WILL HAVE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOUR SWIMMING.

Our swimming is made up of a collection of habits. Most of them you don’t even realize or think about (hence why they are habits).

If you could pick just three little habits that would improve your swimming by leaps and bounds, what would they be?

Pick ‘em, and take the first, tiny step to install that habit. And then do it again tomorrow. And again the day after that. And before you know it, those new fancy-pant little habits will be just part of the way you roll.

16. IMAGINE THE COMPETITION SWIMMING BESIDE YOU FOR AN EXTRA LITTLE KICK.

Visualization is no joke, and using it not only to help prepare for competition and even before a tough set can help you perform faster in the pool.

An added way that you can use this tool to swim faster is to visualize the competition in the lane next to you during those challenging sets and repeats.

Not only does it this help stoke the fire in your belly, but you are much more likely to finish like a boss if you imagine yourself roaring into the wall neck-and-neck with the swimmer you want to be more than anything in the world.

Download the full list for free as a lovely PDF and use it as a daily reminder to do it better and awesomer than the next swimmer.

9 Tips for Smarter Workouts in the Pool

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of yourswimlog.com

Here is what you need to know:

• Doing more isn’t always better when it comes to training.
• Slow it down in order to see where your technique stacks up.
• Train the way you compete, so that when race-time comes along you can rely on your good swimming habits.
• Form is everything.
• Keep a feedback loop open.
• Pick out goals for each session in the pool.
• Track and measure to leverage the things helping your training.

Swimmers pride themselves on their exceptional work ethic. Training ten times per week, two hours per session, plus dryland, for 11 months of the year would seem like insanity to the participants in other sports.

Swimmers wear this workload like a badge of honor.

Coaches like Mike Bottom (University of Michigan) and Dave Salo (USC Trojans) have been advocating a lower volume, quality-based approach for years, and this line of thinking has become more and more mainstream in recent years.

Simply because we are putting the hours in at the pool doesn’t necessarily correspond to good technique and optimal results.

If you aren’t training tactically, focused on improving your technique, and swimming mindfully, then you are just swimming mindless laps up and down the pool.

This might be okay for general fitness purposes, but if you are wanting to take your swimming to the outer reaches of your abilities, than you gotta start practicing a little smarter.

Here are 9 tips for unleashing a high-IQ practice the next time you head to the pool–

1. Start by visualizing what you want your perfect race to look like.

What does your goal race look like? What are the components and chunks that will make up the swim you want to unleash at the end of the year? Break your perfect race apart piece by piece, and start attacking each segment one at a time in workout.

The surest way to boredom in the pool is to have no purpose, no direction.

Getting specific about the areas you want to improve results in a more engaged workout, as it is difficult to be both specific as well as absent minded.

BONUS: Download this list of workout tips as a lovely little PDF for free. You can use it as a checklist to remind yourself on a daily basis to train smarter and better. Click here to download it now.

2. Slow it down.

Training fast is great, but training great with poor form? Not so much.

A great way to identify spots in your technique where you can make improvements is to slow it down, take your foot off the gas pedal and swim with slow, careful precision.

Feel where the water is slipping from your pull, or where your kick is slowing you down more than speeding you up, or where you are over or under rotating your torso.

Super slow swimming acts as a magnifying glass of sorts, exaggerating the errors in your technique, and gives you the feedback to make adjustments.

Once you correct the errors, speed things back up.

3. Identify leaks.

Strive to train the way you want to compete.

Why is this important?

Because the way that we swim come competition time is simply an echo of what we have been doing in training.

Knowing this, what will your swimming look like when you get ready for the big race? If you are breathing in and out of the turns in practice, you’ll do the same in a race. If you pick your head up at the wall at the end of every repeat, you’ll do the same at the end of a race when every little hundredth counts.

Train like you race, so that when you race when you train your good habits will take over.

4. Be aware of when form starts to falter.

There will always be a point where you will hit diminishing returns. Never heard of the Law of Diminishing Returns?

Here is an example: Your friend tells you a joke. You laugh. One minute later, he tells the joke again. You feign a chuckle. Again, a minute later, he tells the same joke. Crickets. At this point not only has the joke lost its original purpose and punch, but by the third time it has actually induced the opposite intended effect. Instead of laughing, you’re un-amused, annoyed.

At some point the same thing happens with your training.

There is always going to be a point where too much of a good thing become counter-productive. When your focus starts to waver, your technique starts to crumble, then this is your point of diminishing returns, and to continue on does you no good.

5. Start small.

If you are finding yourself being overwhelmed by things to focus on, break it down.Trying to do too much at once, trying to adjust too many areas of your swimming at one time waters down your efforts to the point that you are simply doing a whole bunch of stuff poorly.

Instead, summon some patience and work on your swimming, piece by piece.

Start with the catch, and work on it until your “perfect” catch is second nature. From there move to the pull, exit of the hand, trunk rotation, and so on. Perform each section perfectly until it becomes hard-wired into habit.

6. Make sure you are getting feedback from your coach.

Is your technique getting better? Are you swimming faster? Are you averaging faster times?

Without feedback and results we are flying blind, unsure if what we are doing is helping or hurting. We like to think that we know exactly what our swimming looks like, but often our brains deceive us. What feels like hand entry in front of the shoulder is actually in front of your head, and so on.

Get the feedback necessary so that you can improve and tinker with your technique in order to swim as efficiently as possible.

(Conversely, if you don’t have a coach, and are doing the process solo, consider getting some video analysis done of your stroke.)

7. Have Session-Based Goals.

This is my favorite trick for staying focused over the course of those long sessions in the pool. Before each practice I will choose one thing that I am going to absolutely crush. One day it will be doing perfect turns. Another it will be achieving a specific interval.

By consistently setting (and mostly achieving) little, session-based goals a recurring sense of confidence and pride develops from your training.

Give it a try for a week and see if it doesn’t have you more focused and more confidant in your abilities.

8. Adjust to the fact that more is not better.

The idea that doing less meters or yards produces better results seems mind-blastingly counter-intuitive. After all, our common reaction to when something is faltering – speed, technique – is to more, more, more. Stop looking at the overall number of yards you are doing, and instead track the overall number of quality yards you are doing.

9. Track your workouts.

The benefits of measuring your workouts and tracking your progress are plenty; improved motivation, increased consistency, and of course, a valuable feedback tool to explain habits and help build new ones. Logging your swim workouts can especially show you when you have plateaued and need to take a much needed deload.

Ready to unleash awesome all over your workouts? Download this list as a handy PDF that you can use as a daily reminder to make the most of your workouts.

Click the big saucy image below and get instant access to this article as a PDF today:

How To Have a Better Attitude at the Pool

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

It’s crazy how much of an impact our attitude has when it comes to the way we perform in the pool.

On days when we are riding high, with life seemingly bending to our will, even the toughest of workouts is met with an optimistic and determined front. And yet, when we feel bummed out, or pessimistic, the tough stuff in the pool becomes even tougher.

“Excellence is not a skill. It’s an attitude.” – Ralph Marston

Being positive-minded when you are going through those heavy bouts of training, where exams and assignments are piling up, can help make the challenging stuff easier to handle. When we are optimistic we are able to better brace ourselves for the difficult chapters in our swimming career, and perhaps most importantly for the team, you contribute to developing an environment where everyone – and especially you – are primed for success.

1. Get better at failing. If you look at the way you take and handle setbacks as a skill, something you can actively work on, than you are light years ahead of those swimmers that take every failure – large and small – as an indictment on their abilities. Look, setbacks are gonna happen. From the age grouper to the multi-Olympic, multi-gold medal winning athlete.What separates those from who allow failure to define why they quit and those who choose to make failure a re-direction in their journey is the outlook they have. Decide to work on improving the way you handle failing.

2. Journal some gratitude. By now there is no doubt that at least one of your friends on Facebook (perhaps even yourself) has taken some form of the gratitude challenge. (For the uninitiated, you write out 3-5 things you are grateful for on Facebook each day for a few weeks.) Research has shown that this actually works, and that redirecting your thoughts to the good stuff in your life that you have in your life increases happiness and decreases stress. You certainly don’t need to post it online for the world to see, spending a few minutes at home logging it into a notebook or log book works just as well.

3. Celebrate the victories. Especially the small ones. If you are like me, you tend to undervalue the impact of your small wins. Because they aren’t the big, life-altering victories that cause massive change, we gloss them over, ignore them and bypass them. Which is too bad. Although having three really good practices in a row, or doing bilateral breathing for the full workout, or doing every meter with awesome technique isn’t a world record or gold medal, it’s still worth recognizing and celebrating.

4. Be solutions oriented. It’s easy to point out the faults and shortcomings of not only ourselves, but of those around us. When things aren’t going our way the quickest route is to latch on to the problem and dwell on it. Rather than piling on to yourself (or others) seek a solution, a path forward and offer constructive criticism. When we seek solutions we are moving forward, making progress. Making excuses and offering criticism without guidance keeps us stuck in place.

5. Remember that attitude is a choice. We make a metric ton of choices on a daily basis. What we are going to eat for breakfast. Whether or not we are going to pay attention in class. Whether or not to unfollow or fully unfriend the chronic meme-poster friend on Facebook. The mental approach we take on, the attitude we carry around with us, is dictated by us as well. Simply thinking about having a better attitude can often be just the thing to have it improve. Being conscious of the fact that our chosen attitude is our prerogative is better than allowing our attitude to be influenced by others and left up to chance.

6. Don’t let the negativity of others infect you. This one is a little more sneaky. We don’t often notice how the people around us influence us until much later. Hang out with a complainer for the course of a day and you can’t help but latch on to some of that negative energy, catching yourself complaining by the end of the day. Hang out with positive-minded people, however, and you will find their optimism to be infectious. If, according the law of averages, we are the average of the five people we spend the majority of our time with, what does that make you?

7. In the words of Ghandi, be the change. When you are positive with others around you, supporting their goals, making for a more positively charged training environment, caring about your teammates, you cannot help be become more positive with yourself. Seeing the positive within yourself comes with seeing the positive in others. The effects of this may seem simple, but they are profound. When you choose to be the catalyst for creating a positive environment in training, and when you and your teammates encourage one another and foster an environment that pushes everyone to succeed, everybody wins.

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

How to Create a Devastating Plan for Your Swimming Goals

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of yourswimlog.com

We’ve talked about the importance of setting goals for your swimming (here and here), while also underscoring the need to create a flexible, yet durable plan for success. Hopefully by now you have had some experience with setting your own goals for your swimming, but maybe you aren’t seeing the results you want.

Setting the goal is the easy and fun part; it’s daydreaming, wishful thinking. Getting down to brass tacks and figuring out how to pull that dream out of the clouds into reality is a little more difficult, and often where people get stuck.

Here is a 7-step guide for creating your own bulletproof plan to crush your swimming goals:

1. HAVE A RESOLUTE, CLEAR IDEA OF WHAT YOU WANT.

Keep your main goal as clear and as defined as possible. Don’t leave any room or space for doubt or ambiguity.

Goals such as “I want to swim fast” are well-intentioned, but they set you up for failure. Why? Because it’s a subjective goal. “Fast” will mean something completely different for you six months from now.

Instead, zero in on a very specific, concrete number: “I want to swim 2:26.43 for the 200m breaststroke at Olympic Trials in 2016.”

Boom, now that is a goal! You have a very specific time, as well as a deadline to help push you into action.

2. WORK BACKWARDS.

If the path to our goals is a journey, so far we have only two points: the end (what we want to achieve), and the beginning (where we stand at this very moment).

It’s time to fill in the dots between.

Do the research and figure out which competitions you will be attending between now and your goal. Make a list of ‘em, and beside the name of each competition, write down the time you will have to swim that will mean you are progressing towards the end result.

(Keep in mind that not all of the meets will shave and tapered, so keep in mind that you will almost always be slower at in-season meets.)

With this list of meets and goal times we have the roadposts that will signify progress, and give us the shorter term goals to draw aim at.

3. TAKE STOCK OF WHERE YOU STAND RIGHT NOW.

It’s time to get honest with yourself, and to do a little more homework. (Sorry I’m not sorry!) Grab a piece of paper and pen, and on it write down the areas where you need to get better. Try to avoid generalities and make the things you want to improve as specific and measurable as possible.

For example, if you know that your kick has to improve, set a goal to drop time on your 200m breast kick time. Don’t write open-ended things such as “improve kick” without having a measuring stick beside it.

Aim to have 4-5 high impact components to improve, and no more. Once you get started on a list you’ll need to resist the urge to write out an endless laundry list of things to fix.

The fewer the better. Having a massive list will be daunting to the point of not knowing where to start, and more importantly, because your time is limited and your efforts are spread so thin the list will prove discouraging when you only see minor improvements among a couple of items, instead of profound improvements in a few.

(Besides, often times when you change one facet of your swimming, it radiates outwards. Improving your kick for example doesn’t just help your propulsion and balance in the water, it will also improve starts and turns as well.)

4. WRITE OUT WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO TO DOMINATE THOSE AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT.

Now that we have our hit list of the things we are going to strengthen, it’s time to write out a list of actionable items for each.

Here is an example:

Area of Improvement: Improve breast kick

The measuring stick: Kick 200m breaststroke in under 2:55

Actionable Items:

• Spend 10 minutes per day working on knee and ankle flexibility.
• Doing 10 minutes of vertical breaststroke kick 5x per week.
• Get video analysis of kick to check for any spots where propulsion is lost.

The list doesn’t have to be massive here either; generally 1-3 things is sufficient. What matters most here – and what will provide the most exceptional of results – is to execute this list consistently.

5. CREATE LAYERS OF ACCOUNTABILITY & ASSESSMENT

Swimming goals at their best are exceptionally clear cut. Fortunately for swimmers we have a coach and an endless number of variables to measure our progress. Use these so that you can develop a better sense of how quickly you improve (which will also help you set more intelligent goals moving forwards).

• Track your workouts and test sets. Doing so will give you feedback inside of training of whether you are progressing, and at what rate. Having this intel will allow you to see whether you are on track or not, and whether you need to heighten or temper expectations.
• Share your goals with your coach/parents. Having your coach and support system on board with your ambitions is paramount. Don’t feel that you need to chase your dreams down alone. We all like to think we can do everything and anything on our own, but admittedly, there will be days when you need a push. Letting your coach & family know what your goals are will ensure that they remind you when your motivation and efforts slacken.
• Regularly assess. Don’t wait until your next meet to see if you are progressing. Training offers a variety of indices to measure; from flexibility, to kick speed, stroke rate, stroke count, breath count, pull speed, get up swims, and so on.

6. BE FLEXIBLE, BUT DON’T BREAK.

There will be trying times. This I can promise you. There will be moments where you don’t think you are making fast enough progress, where your confidence falls through the floor after a bad couple workouts, or a sudden injury has you sidelined and on the outside looking in.

These moments are where you go back to your plan and make the necessary adjustments. The plan for your swimming goals isn’t made of concrete, it’s flexible as long as you are being flexible with the manner with which you continue to chase your goals.

Don’t misunderstand flexibility for wiggle room; being malleable with the way you achieve your goals is different from giving up on parts of your plan. It’s about finding a new direction when the old one isn’t working.

7. FIRST STEP ON THE PLAN IS SOMETHING YOU DO TODAY. NOW.

I cannot stress this point enough.

Don’t fall into the loop of putting things off until tomorrow, or next week, or when you feel you will be better suited to start down your path. There is no better time than this very moment, so make sure that the first thing on your goal plan is something you can begin immediately.

Acting now will get you in the habit of continually moving forward, of seizing the moment regardless of circumstance, and get you into the habit of being habitually active.

20 Habits of Elite Swimmers

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

While there isn’t an exact formula for success that can be applied to everyone, there are some typical traits and habits of those who have achieved success in swimming that are universal.

Make 2014/2015 your best year of swimming yet by embracing some of the following habits of elite swimmers:

1. They Don’t Allow Others to Dictate What They Are Capable Of. There really isn’t much more discouraging than someone you respect, admire or love telling you that your goal or dream is out of your reach, not within your abilities, or outside of the scope of your talent. Some people take this to heart, while others use it as jet fuel to light their motivation.

2. Be About It. Everyone wants to be successful; everyone talks about how they want to achieve so-and-so a time, or qualify for XYZ team. Talking about it is the easy part. But successful swimmers don’t stop at wanting or talking about it; they put words into action. You can say that you want to be a championship caliber athlete all you want, but are your actions reflecting this intent?

3. Being Elite Isn’t a Part Time Gig. You can’t be good and expect to be great. Likewise, you can’t be great once in a while, or part time. Elite swimmers show up every day, not when they feel like it, or when circumstances suit them.

4. The Journey is What Makes You Elite. Setting goals, and chasing them is about so much more than the final result, time or placing. The journey is what creates the elite swimmer, the final results are merely a symptom of what a swimmer has become by putting in work every day.

5. Elite Swimmers Have Unshakable Personal Integrity. How often do you commit to something and find that within a few days or weeks your resolve loosens, until the promise you made to yourself is broken and gone? Having personal integrity means that you not only keep your word and promises with others, but most importantly that you keep your word with yourself.

6. Embrace the Grind. Sure, it would be great if life came without friction. If things went according to plan and according to our wishes all of the time. In reality we both know this is not how things go down. Setbacks, detours and roadblocks will happen, and the choice is whether they are going to be exercises in character development or the reasons for quitting.

7. Unafraid to Plan. Success isn’t an accident; it’s the result of planning combined with focused action. Elite swimmers know to get to where they want to go they need to have a road map.

8. Look for Solutions, Not Excuses. While many swimmers will talk about achy muscles, excessive homework, or how they don’t feel up their best, your friendly neighborhood elite swimmer will find a way to be successful in spite of these same types of challenges.

9. Surround Themselves with Like Minded Athletes. How we perform is a result of the environment and the people we decide to surround ourselves with. Hanging out with naysayers and toxic people will rub off on us. Similarly, hanging out with athletes who are down to take things to the next level will only embolden and empower you.

10. Proactive. Elite swimmers take action before need necessitates it. They don’t want for things to happen to them; they go out and make it happen for themselves. They don’t hope for success to stumble upon them via luck or good fortune; they actively chase it.

11. Willing to Go the Extra Mile. This can mean that they will come in early, stay after practice for additional ab work/stretching, or step up and do a faster interval even when not prodded to do so. The adage “first one in, last one out” is highly applicable to elite athletes.

12. Set Higher Standards for Themselves. “Good enough” is not good enough. Don’t confuse this with perfection; elite swimmers understand the difference between striving for excellence versus chasing perfection (doesn’t exist!).

13. Possess a Willingness to Accept Constructive Criticism. Feedback from coaches isn’t taken personally or negatively. Elite swimmers listen to and assess criticism as objectively as possible.

14. Accept Ownership. Playing the blame game, or sugar-coating a bad swim with lame excuses is a disservice to yourself. Sure it may be an easy band-aid for your ego, but by explaining your performances away with excuses only means that you lose out on a valuable lesson and provides conditions for it to happen again down the road.

15. Take Pride in Hard Work. Hard work sounds, well, hard. And in a day and age where we expect instant results and instant satisfaction, it can be easy to cast aside hard work as something we don’t need to do anymore. Elite swimmers take pride in the fact that they work hard, that they are willing to do what others won’t.

16. Support Teammates. Whether it is cheering on teammates, helping out the youngsters, or being a friendly ear when someone is having a rough day, elite swimmers have a strong sense of compassion for their teammates and for the sport in general.

17. Make the Best of What They Have. Heaps of Olympians have come up through the ranks having trained in dark, dungy 25 yard pools. They know that all they need is a lane and a bathing suit and they are good to go. Conditions and your environment will never be perfectly ideal; the key is to maximize the resources you do have.

18. They Don’t Complain. They recognize that complaining doesn’t bring them closer to their goals. Getting bitter and dwelling on complaints and perceived unfairness only develops a negative and ineffective state of mind.

19. They Know They Deserve Success – Just Like Anyone Else. Most gaze star-struck at top-level swimmers and think of all the reasons that they will never be at that level. Elite swimmers look up and think of all the reasons why they will and deserve to be at that level.

20. Refuse to Wait. Sure, you could fully dedicate yourself to your swimming when you feel up to it. Or when you get that new suit. Or when your team gets a new pool. But at that point there will be a new excuse to delay action. Elite swimmers refuse to wait another moment to chase their goals and dreams. They recognize that starting tomorrow is a day too late.

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

What Is A Swim Team?

by Rick Madge of http://coachrickswimming.wordpress.com/

Every year, usually once or twice, I have to sit one of our groups of swimmers down and explain to them what it means to be on a swim team. Many times it’s because the aggressive and cliquish attitudes from school migrate over to the pool, but often it’s just that swimmers don’t understand what it means to be on a swim team.

The confusion comes because swimming overwhelmingly looks like an individual sport. We compete in our own lanes, following that black line up and down the pool, unable to hear or see our team mates, coaches or parents. It’s hard to get much more individual than that. But behind those competitive venues there is a thriving team-oriented training environment. We rely on our teammates in so many ways.

If you haven’t been on multiple swim teams, it’s hard to imagine how different swim team can be. You can see it in the way the swimmers interact with each other, and how the coaches interact with the swimmers.  You can feel it in the air, whether it’s all business or fun or adventure, or a place designed only to help the fast ones get faster.  It’s the coaches who set the environment, but its both coaches AND swimmers who determine what being on that team means.  It’s something to think about the next time you go to practice.

So what are the main benefits of being on a team?

1. A swim team is not like school.

This point always seems to take the longest for young swimmers to get use to. You don’t have to be friends with everybody on the team, but you have to acknowledge them and treat them with respect as team mates. Cliques, while inevitable at school, can’t be tolerated on a team. In fact, the coach has the right and duty to kick anybody off the team who is consistently and repetitively detrimental to the team environment. And this includes parents!

2. You can be inspired by team mates.

Sometimes others on your team can push the envelope. They can perform at a level you and they did not think was possible for them. And that will motivate you to work harder and achieve more.

3. A team provides a social environment.

You spend a lot of time with team mates, and often they become friends for life, especially when you get to a university team. (Almost all my friends that I still talk to from high school and university were swimmers.) A good team environment is positive and fulfilling. No bullying or cliques. In fact its often a safe haven away from the sometimes harsh environment of school.

4. There is a commitment to attend practices.

We all have bad days, and it’s so easy to put off working out if you do it on your own. Having a team practice starting at a certain time, and knowing that others are expecting you will often get you there even when you don’t feel like working out. Generally you’ll feel better afterwards as well, and the team benefits from your presence.

5. Swimming with others challenges you to become better.

There is nothing like swimming beside somebody to make you want to swim fast.  Even if they’re a close friend, you still want to beat them. And if they’re not really a friend, you want to beat them even more.  Swimming with others just provides the right environment for you to challenge yourself and push past your mental barriers.

6. You have a coach whose job is to help you reach your potential as a swimmer.

Ideally, coaches are trained and passionate about swimming, and have the knowledge and experience to bring out the best in their swimmers. But most importantly, coaches should have the well being of each of their swimmers in mind at all times. This partnership is absolutely key to getting the maximum benefit out of being on a swim team.

My own experiences mirror the above points strongly. During my high school years, my swim team was the place I was happiest. It was where I felt I truly belonged, and as a result I trained hard and loved it.  In particular I had one team mate who was both a good friend and a swimming rival, and in the water we would kill ourselves to beat each other. As a result, we both improved tremendously, were happy, and still stayed friends.

At the same time, you may have a teammate who you don’t particularly like. Believe it or not, they can be just as instrumental to your success. As with everybody else on the team, you train together and challenge each other. You don’t have to like them, but you do have to respect their role in your success. And you can expect them to do the same for you. When everyone works together, everyone benefits.

So what does it mean to be on a swim team?  It means finding a place where you can be yourself. It means challenging yourself and your team mates to become better and faster swimmers, while being surrounded by others who are doing the same. And it means making friends, some of whom you may end up keeping as friends for life.  All in all, a pretty good deal.

Are You Willing To Do What Is Necessary To Achieve Your Goals In The Pool?

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

Those first few days and weeks of when we set ourselves on a path towards a new goal are remarkably bittersweet. On one hand we are enthralled and exulted with a powerful new sense of direction. We have that shiny objective fixed squarely in our sights, and it’s far enough away that we sense the chasm of time between then and now will allow us the time necessary to put in the required work to achieve it.

But on the other hand, when we are taking those first few steps we generally aren’t very good. In fact, depending on where we are at – beginning of the season comes to mind – we might fully suck. So although we are fired up about where we want to be, where we are presently doesn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence.

Here’s a salty part of success that doesn’t get enough attention: No matter how grand your goals, the process will suck some of the time.

Understanding this is one of the drivers that demonstrates how willing we are to handle the tough patches and setbacks that inevitably arise.

THE SACRIFICE-FREE MYTH

Big time success requires sacrifice. The S-word has gotten a bad rap lately. Modern culture and media demonstrate that we can have our cake and eat it too. Common ad headlines such as the following should immediately come to mind: “Lose 25 pounds in 6 weeks eating whatever you want!” or “Get a six-pack without having to go to the gym!”

We are being told that we can have the best of both worlds. We can satisfy those short term pleasure drivers (eating McDonalds three times a day) while also getting the long term goals we want (excellent health, a six pack).

Don’t buy into this myth.

Anything worth achieving comes with a corresponding amount of sacrifice. Generally speaking the bigger the goals, the harder you will have to work, the more you will sacrifice.

If you want to crush your best time but you aren’t willing to show up to every workout it’s probably not going to happen. If you want to beat a long-standing age group record, but you aren’t willing to go above and beyond in training, then your odds of success decrease at a nearly hysterical rate. If you want to make the Olympic team, but don’t believe you have to live the lifestyle of a 24/7 athlete to do so, then I have some bad news for you.

DEFINING WHAT SACRIFICE IS — AND ISN’T

Let’s consider what the word sacrifice actually means. It doesn’t mean giving up something for nothing – even though for many people that’s the knee jerk definition that comes to mind.

If anything, it is the opposite. We aren’t giving up something we want for something we don’t want. We are giving up one thing in order to gain something greater.

The hard part about sacrifice is giving up the short term pleasure of something (staying out late with friends when you have morning workout) for the long term pleasure of something else (having a great workout that will lend itself to achieving your goals down the road).

When some swimmers see what would be required of them to be successful they balk. They stall. They can’t imagine themselves being comfortable with the sacrifices needed to swim to the outer reaches of their ability. And believe it or not – that’s okay. In fact, it’s normal. Being uber-successful in the pool is weird. It’s unconventional, and it requires going against the current.

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE?

Instead of listing the things you have to do to achieve your goals, write out the list of things that you are willing to endure, to suffer, and to sacrifice in order to punch your goals in the face:

• Will you eat a well balanced meal instead of mowing down convenience food?
• Will you stick through the workouts where your stroke feels off and your muscles and lungs ache?
• Will you show up to morning workout even though that bed of yours is calling out to you?
• Will you pass on a night out with your friends because you have a mammoth workout in the morning?
• Will you give up watching TV mid-week so that you can get your homework done and get the sleep you need to recover?
• Will you give up the temporary comfort to gain permanent success in the pool?

It’s easy to say what we are willing to do to achieve our goals, but take it a step further and think about you are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve your goals. Consider the questions above, think on the answers, and ask yourself if you are truly prepared to do what is necessary to achieve greatness in the water.

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

10 Tips For More Confidence In The Pool

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

One of the most frequent mental hang-ups of swimmers I trained with over the years was a low sense of self-confidence.

And oddly, this lack of self-belief was common with the swimmers who were committed, who showed up every day, put in the work, and yet, still struggled to have the self-belief necessary to perform at their peak when competitions rolled around.

There are things you can do. We are not pre-disposed with a certain type of self-confidence, and then tasked to deal with it for the rest of our lives. The intensity and amount that we believe in ourselves comes from our actions. It’s something we have control over.

Below are ten things or actions you can undertake to get that self-confidence moving in the right direction:

1. Stop thinking about the scary stuff. How often do we get wrapped up in all of the scary things that may happen with our swimming, but very rarely ever do? Avoid seeking out the possible consequences of a poor performance and instead focus on the things you can control. How you prepare, what you eat pre-race, your technique, and so on.

2. Take it one step at a time. Thinking about that big glorious goal at the end of the line is what keeps us motivated on those days when the last thing we want to do is bang out another 5k at the pool. But it can also create an intimidating shadow that can crush confidence – “I only have three months until Nationals? I’ll never get the work in necessary to achieve my goals.” Let those thoughts go and focus only on what is directly in front of you.

3. Create a new habit. Habits are insanely powerful things, and direct as much as 40-45% of our daily actions, so why not harness that power to do some good with your swimming and give you a nice little jolt of confidence along the way? It doesn’t have to be something massive either; something like packing your meals for the following day the night before. Or stretching for an extra ten minutes at home before bed.

4. Remember the times you kicked butt. We all have those days where we doubt ourselves, doubt our abilities, doubt everything we are doing with our swimming. In those moments sit down and write out a handful of times where – in spite of the odds against you – you were able to rise the occasion. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for, and sometimes you just need to remind yourself.

5. Aim for success. If we aim to carry out our swimming careers only aiming to avoid the worst outcomes, and not chasing after the awesome stuff, than we create a type of self-fulfilling prophecy. “Common sense” would suggest lowering the bar, or decreasing expectations in order to avoid becoming disappointed. Instead, aim towards succeeding, to perform well, and achieving big things with your swimming.

6. Focus on solutions. Stuck with your training and swimming? Not getting the results you feel like you should be getting? Direct your thoughts into finding a solution. Seems obvious, but it’s stunning how many swimmers would rather cross their arms and sulk about a predicament than seek to find a way out. You will be surprised at the creative superpowers that melon of yours is capable of when you redirect it from dwelling into finding a path forwards.

7. Do something better/faster every day. Each and every day at practice you should strive to do something better and/or faster than you have ever done before. It doesn’t have to be a best time, but it should be something that gives you meaningful confidence. This will give you a consistent and confidence-building string of successes and victories that will keep the fire in your belly burning brightly.

8. Master the details. Get lost in a couple of the details of your swimming. The way your hand catches the water. A breathing pattern. Doing 10m breakouts on every wall. Pick a couple things to completely and utterly nail, and you will find this devotion to excellence will naturally spread outwards to the other parts of your swimming. Excellence is contagious, and the geyser of confidence that will explode from mastering the technical elements will be huge.

9. Be positive. This is going to sound a little bit corny or cliché, but be a positive influence on the environment around you. Compliment your teammates on a good set. Help a youngster on the team with a technique hang-up. Be the one to stand up and volunteer when the flags need to get put up. Being positive isn’t just a set of thoughts, it’s a way of living. When you start acting positively, these actions feed into your energy and thoughts.

10. Decide the swimmer you want to be. Having principles is important in life. Surely you have a set of them for how you live your life. Your own code for how you treat others, for how you do things, for how you carry yourself. You can do the same thing for your swimming. Write out what kind of swimmer you want to be. Will you be the swimmer how shows up early? Or who will always do just one more rep on a seemingly impossible set? Write down the principles you want to have as a swimmer, and ruthlessly hold on to them.

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

5 Ways Swimmers Hold Themselves Back In The Pool

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

It’s often been said that we can be our own worst enemies.

I know that I have been my own worst enemy on more occasions than I can count, not only in the pool but in life outside of it as well. From missed opportunities to incomplete efforts, the effect of self-inflicted defeat is endlessly infuriating.

While we all have our idiosyncratic list of ways that we choose to sabotage ourselves, here are 5 of the common methods in which we hold ourselves back in the pool:

You isolate yourself from outside help.

Self-reliance is a critical thing to have. But when you embed this quality with such depth that it means you are pushing out the good advice as well than you end up knee-capping your abilities and growth.

We love to think that we have a grip on things, that we know with absolute certainty what’s best for ourselves and our swimming, but don’t let this pride shield you from advice and expertise that can propel you further than you ever could on your own.

You hold on to the past.

When we don’t know what the future holds we tend to look backwards to make some forecasting. While this can be helpful when reviewing past performances, some swimmers lock in on the exceptionally bad performances, and allow those moments of yore to define them swimmer they are now.

Use both the good and bad from your swimming career; the good should remind you of what you are capable, while the bad should provide you with fuel and a lesson.

You have trouble committing to your decisions.

There was a time where I was very fond of this tactic. Over the course of a weekend I would decide that I was going to do XYZ to improve my swimming. When things didn’t progress as fast as I thought they should, I would spend another weekend re-writing my goal plan.

Over and over again I would repeat this procedure that left me feeling more like a yo-yo, while also leaving me with the feeling that I was constantly stuck at square one.

Make a decision, commit to it, and don’t be willing to back off at the first sight of difficulty.

You are unwilling to accept that unexpected challenges will arise.

Nobody wants to sit around and consider the idea that something will go awry with our swimming. Our goals are perfect, glossy and shimmering; why should the steps it will take to get us there be any different?

There are a multitude of things that can go wrong. We all get injured, get sick, get demotivated. While it’s a little much to ask you to muse endlessly and exhaustively on what might go wrong, it is unrealistic to think that your swimming will always go perfectly according to plan.

You act like a part time athlete and expect full time athlete results.

We all want high performance results with our swimming. No matter how ambitious our goals, we all want to kick butt in the pool and test the limits of our abilities. Living the lifestyle of a part-time athlete – going out all the time, eating poorly, shorting yourself on sleep – and expecting to secure the results of a full time athlete is unrealistic.

Having these lofty ambitions without the foundation to back them up is a free recipe to being a pouty face on the pool deck. One of the great things about competition (and not just in swimming) is that it is the great equalizer – you can fake your way through practice, fake your way through a nutrition plan, but you can’t fake your way through on race day.

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

The Swimmer’s Guide to Creating Awesome Habits

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy (www.swimswam.com)

Going through your days and workouts trying to accomplish everything by virtue of willpower is not only mentally taxing, but comes with a cap. Willpower, or self-control, is much like a muscle in that it gets fatigued after it is used. Combined with the fact that it comes with a limited daily supply, it becomes necessary to find a way to insure that each day, each workout, we are unleashing our best and most intelligent effort.

The secret to making this happen is with habits. Habit takes the behaviors and actions – sticking to your 5-dolphin kick rule even when you are tired – and makes them routine, to the point that you hardly have to think about doing them anymore.

Similar to the way that we don’t have to think about how we brush our teeth, or put on our pants in the morning, you can imbed these positive habits to help you improve your swimming faster than you ever thought imaginable.

All it takes is application with repetition. Sounds simple enough, right? Here are some strategies and tips for installing those awesome, brand new habits:

Start so small that it is impossible to not start.

Wholesale habit-changing works for some people, while it is utterly disastrous for others. If you are like most (including myself), you need to work at a habit for a while before it sticks.

Let’s say you want to instill the habit of doing 5 dolphin kicks off of each start and turn. If you are currently doing none, than jumping from 0 to 5 is not only excruciatingly challenging to the point of being overwhelming, but keeping up that level of change over the long term is very untenable.

Chip away at the habit by committing to doing one dolphin kick off of each wall and no more. Once you are fully comfortable with that, and it has become an engrained habit (meaning that you hardly have to think about it), step it up to 2 or 3 dolphin kicks, and scale upwards accordingly.

When you fall off, jump back on quickly.

Momentum can be your best buddy, or the thing to send you hurtling backwards. When we nail off a series of victories we feel the wind behind our back and our confidence surges. Likewise when we hit a couple defeats in a row we panic, get demoralized, and tell ourselves that we are in an unshakable rut.

The common mental trap that ensnares swimmers when there is a hiccup is that they take it personally. They view missing the rep or workout as indicative of something that is profoundly wrong with them.

See, I don’t deserve success. I had a bad workout, I’ll never swim as fast as so-and-so.

Similarly, staying true to your new habit shouldn’t be a make-or-break proposition. View your habits as a work-in-progress, as something you are continually refining and improving to implement.

You’ll slip up. And it’s okay. It’s what you do what matters next that is key.

Piggyback current behaviors with your new habits.

Disrupting your current life and routines in the name of a new habit is difficult. Despite the sudden willingness to uproot our way of training (“Today is the day I become a championship swimmer!”), try making those things that are going to make you a championship swimmer fit into what you are already doing.

This will make the habit stick harder, and by combining the new habit with an old behavior, you are installing new and productive aspects to your training without completely uprooting your life. Partner up something you are already doing with your new habit, allowing them to become super friends, and the likelihood of the habit sticking will be greater.

Here are some examples, in which the first part is something you are already doing, and the second is the new habit you would like to attach to it:

• After I am done warming-down, I’ll stretch my hamstrings for 20 minutes.
• Once I finish eating dinner on Thursdays, I will do exactly 90 minutes of homework.

Make Fewer Decisions.

There is a lot of value in keeping things extraordinarily simple when it comes to not only your goals, but also your habits. By sticking with just the essentials, you are able to focus better and avoid the multi-tasking Kool-Aid that today’s society demands that we drink out of.

It is no different with our habits and willpower. The less decisions we have to make on a daily basis, the better equipped we are to make the right decisions with the ones that matter most. Even choices that seem simple or easy – should I hang out with so-and-so after school? What should I eat for lunch? – all things that are relatively necessary in our day-to-day life, but also drains the tank of willpower.

The solution? Routinize as much as you can. From the things you wear, to your meals, make all of those relatively mundane things routine so that you can devote your willpower to the things that will impact your life (and swimming) the most.

Prepare for the “what the heck” moments.

You’ve been there. I know you have. Because I have as well. It’s that moment, where you first begin to slip, where your fingers are loosening from the edge, and suddenly a resigned thought floats to the surface, “ah what the heck.” In a dizzying rush we release all of that bottled self-control and drop our new habit with remarkable speed.

Those glorious new habits, so fragile in the opening days and weeks, require some insulation from those moments where you find yourself inundated with thoughts telling you that it doesn’t really matter, that you can skip just one, that no one will notice.

The key in being ready for those moments – and they will happen – is to make things as easy as possible for the execution of your new habits. Any reason, any justification you will and have used in the past to skip out on staying true to your new habit should be minimized.

If you are having a hard time getting up in the morning, get everything ready the night before. Similar to the first point about keeping the starting steps as small as possible, align your life to help your habits have a chance to crystallize and stick.

The Next Step:

Pick 3-5 things that you want to improve with your swimming.

Improving your dolphin kicks. Not picking your head up in the finish. Keeping your elbows up in your catch when you are getting tired.

Pick out the things that will have the most profound impact on your swimming and vow to make these excellent new habits part of your day-to-day training moving forward.

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

ABOUT YOURSWIMBOOK

YourSwimBook is a log book and goal setting guide designed specifically for competitive swimmers. It includes a ten month log book, comprehensive goal setting section, monthly evaluations to be filled out with your coach, and more. Learn 8 more reasons why this tool kicks butt.

Join the YourSwimBook weekly newsletter group and get motivational tips and more straight to your inbox. Sign up for free here.

5 Tips To Help You To Discover Your Maximum Potential

By Vincent Tan of http://tinybuddha.com/

“You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you.” ~Eckhart Tolle

Don’t doubt yourself. You are more than enough.

You are good enough. If no one else tells you that, I will reaffirm you that you are good enough to do whatever you want in life. Life is too short for you to paralyze yourself with doubts.

I used to doubt my capabilities, and I was so unhappy and frustrated with life. I tried to bury myself in self-help books to find the answers to achieve success and happiness. One book after another, I kept reading, but I had little results to show for it.

The pain became unbearable, particularly when my friends made fun of the books that I read.

But I didn’t give up. I kept on searching for answers by listening to audio books, reading books, and attending seminars by revered masters in the topic of personal development. One baby step at a time, I started to apply the knowledge I had gained.

That’s when things started to change around me. Once I started applying what I learned, I:

• Created a popular personal development blog without any technical skills.
• Started exercising regularly, ate healthier, and lost thirteen pounds in the process.
• Wrote an eBook to help others to unleash their maximum potential.
• Completed two half marathons and registered for the full marathon at the end of 2010.

After I took action and saw results, I felt much happier and more peaceful with myself. My doubts slowly started to fade away. I thought to myself, “Maybe I am really good enough to achieve in life.”

I am good enough.

This is all any of us need to know. When you believe in yourself, your potential isn’t something you need to reach; it’s something waiting to be discovered.

I want to let you know you are capable of doing anything you want in life. You don’t need to suffer with your doubts.

Here are five ideas to help clear your doubts, build your confidence, and find the sleeping potential within you:

1. Make a conscious choice to pursue personal growth.

The decision to change and grow is a powerful tool that can help you move forward. Make a decision that you will start to pursue growth. Start reading books and blogs about stretching yourself, listen to audio books, or attend seminars with other like-minded people.

Materials and mentors are everywhere. There are many blogs, books, and podcasts on personal development. Tiny Buddha is a good place to start. Go read up the articles and quotes in this blog. There are many lessons and tips that can help you discover your inner potential.

2. Set a goal to work toward.

It’s easy to feel aimless when you don’t have a concrete goal you’re working toward. Narrow in on what you’d like to accomplish in the near future. Maybe it’s to get fit, start your own business, or clear your debts. The point is to get specific about exactly what you’d like to do and when.

Ask yourself, “If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I want to achieve?” Don’t drag out this process by trying to find the perfect answer. There is no perfect answer, and the only way you can find the answer is through trial and error.

When you delay action, you make it harder to identify the things you’d enjoy doing. The only way to learn is to jump into something that sounds right and make adjustments as you go.

3. Take baby steps.

Action fights doubts. By taking small steps, you’re building evidence to show your mind that you are more and can do more than you think.

Now that you have something to aim for, brainstorm for ways to get yourself to where you want to be. A good plan is to look to people who have already done what you’d like to do.

Seek them out and learn from them. You can find out whether they have blog, coaching programs, or books that you can read. Having a mentor will help you accelerate your growth progress. They can help point out what you need to do and avoid to follow in their footsteps.

4. Keep a success list.

We all need reminders that we are good enough. You are more than capable enough to achieve whatever you want to achieve, but you might forget that when you hit an obstacle. A success list can help to remind you why you shouldn’t let go of your confidence.

A success list is the collection of all your accomplishments. Get a book or create a personal blog. Record all accomplishments regardless it is big or small. Here are some examples of what you can record in your success list.

• Completed all your tasks in your to-do list
• Workout for three days in a week
• Jogged around your block
• Created your own blog
• Attracted 10 subscribers to your blog

Don’t worry about whether your accomplishments are big or small. If it is an accomplishment, just record it down in your success list.

When you start to doubt yourself, go get your success list. Look at all of the positive things you’ve done. Remind yourself that you are capable and you have the evidence to prove it.

Large accomplishments are really just a collection of small accomplishments. Your confidence will also grow when you are aware that you are accomplishing something.

5. Set your own bench mark.

Don’t ever think that your accomplishments are too small to be proud of. It may seem that way if you start comparing yourself to other people. Even if you complete a marathon, there will be others out there who completed an iron man race. It’s an endless cycle when you compare yourself to others all the time.

Set your own benchmark. Be proud of yourself if you’re making progress. Some people progress faster than others will. That’s okay. Life is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.

Focus on what you can do to improve yourself instead of comparing yourself to other people. Keep growing, setting goals, and moving forward, one step at a time, and you will continually impress yourself.

It doesn’t matter how slowly we go. What matters is that we keep going.

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About Vincent Tan

Vincent writes at HealthMoneySuccess, a personal development blog that teaches you how to change your life and design your desired lifestyle. Get his free ebook, Unleash Your Maximum Potential by signing up for his free personal development newsletter. You can subscribe to his blog to receive his latest updates and you can add him on Twitter @vincent_tan

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Mental Endurance Is As Important As Physical

By Seeley Gutierrez

"The longest distance in any race is the 6 inches between your ears."

Although this quote is originally attributed to a golfer, I think it applies most accurately to any distance athlete. Swimmers, cyclists, runners, triathletes — individual sport athletes whose primary goal is to get to the finish line as quickly as possible.

And when we're in the middle of a race or training session, when we feel as though our head will explode and our legs can't move any faster, how do we find the persistence to press on? It all comes down to mental toughness, an often overlooked but extremely important component for anyone serious about reaching their potential.

Perhaps the most important strategy to improve mental toughness in race situations is making a connection in every workout to how that workout will help you achieve your long term goals. Prior to each workout, take a moment to think about how that session will help you on race day. For key workouts, like interval sessions or long runs, this may seem obvious. Using this strategy on recovery days is also beneficial, as it can serve as a reminder to take it easy or focus on technique.

Don't be afraid of mentally pushing yourself during workouts. Entering "the pain cave," as some refer to it, during sessions can help you develop strategies for how to deal with similar feelings during a race. When you feel the lactate building in your legs during a track session, think about how you will handle a similar feeling on race day. Will you slow down so your legs don't hurt as bad, will you start beating yourself up for running so slowly or will you acknowledge the discomfort and move on, perhaps stating a positive affirmation, such as "the faster my legs go now, the faster they will go on race day"?

If you allow yourself to start down the path of self-pity or negative talk, your performance will most likely suffer. Oftentimes when you find yourself in this downward mental spiral, you are focusing on things out of your control, like the weather, water conditions or your competitors.

The key to success in endurance sports is to stay relaxed. If you allow yourself to get worked up over things out of your control, you are using valuable energy you will need to get you to the end of your race. Instead of focusing on the negative event, try shifting your focus to your breathing pattern. Even if you are at your max effort, try to consciously calm your breathing. This should help move your focus from whatever is causing you stress to something you are able to control.

Another stress reduction tip you may want to utilize is to perform a full body scan. Start by relaxing your face muscles. Just relaxing the muscles in your face can cause other muscles to relax as well. Continue relaxing your muscles downwards through the tips of your toes. Not only will you get the benefit of performing in a less tense state, you will also stop the negative chit-chat going on inside your head.

Experiencing ups and downs in endurance is a part of the sport, but how you deal with them is up to you. Developing strong mental skills will help you perform consistently through training and racing challenges.

Seeley Gutierrez is a social worker by day. She has been competing in triathlon since 2001.

7 STEPS FOR POWERFUL SELF-CONFIDENCE FOR SWIMMERS

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy of swimswam.com

We all have those moments, both as athletes and as individuals, where we feel like we are stuck going nowhere fast. We aren’t progressing fast enough in the pool, our goals aren’t coming together as planned, and we are having trouble figuring out why the success we desperately crave is not happening for us.

The elite swimmers in our midst don’t seem to be afflicted by these doubts, do they? At least not outwardly. But rest assured, everyone experiences crises of confidence. The difference between those who rise to meet the limits of their abilities and the rest is not that they don’t have moments of low self-confidence – they are human, too – but they have an ability to bounce out of them quicker.

Like quicksand, low self-confidence slows us, keeps us in place from moving forwards, setting us in a panic and a frustrated resolve that we will simply not be successful, we don’t deserve to be successful and so on.

Why Self-Confidence Matters

Seems obvious, but it is worth quickly going over the advantages that present themselves when we are feeling like a boss—

• You are more likely to chase opportunities that present themselves.
• Gives you greater degrees of certainty when decisions need to be made. Limits second guessing.
• Confidence keeps you moving forward, always looking to increase momentum.
• Swimmers with high levels of confidence chase down their own goals, not those of others, or the dreams that others dictate upon them.
• Self-confidence gives you the courage and enthusiasm to take risks and chase the outer reaches of your limits.

Symptoms of Low Self-Confidence

• Constant need for outside approval or recognition.
• Resentment and jealousy towards competitors and teammates.
• Acute fear of failure, of coming up short.
• Overly critical of personal image.
• Over-reliance on how others perceive you.
• Difficulty in letting go of mistakes and failures.
• Resistant to trying new things.

How do we start turning these thoughts and feelings around so that we can get moving in the right direction again? Just like any other skill, self-confidence is something you can work on, hone, and eventually wield when you need it most.

And here we go:

1. Act positive.

Thinking positive is good stuff, and has been shown to provide a heap of health benefits including lower rates of depression, increased well-being and even increased life span (I’ll take two, please!).

Take this a step further and employ positive action. The steps don’t have to be massive or life-changing; quite often it is the small actions, the little steps that get the ball rolling, until eventually you’ve got so much momentum that the big stuff starts to come down with little effort or thought.

When chasing self-confidence, remember that you will only find it at the end of goals that are important to you, and not necessarily those you have to or should do.

2. Get to the root of what makes you bursting with confidence.

Think back to the last time you experienced an episode of gut-busting self-confidence. When you felt in control, your emotions in check, and your swimming was steady and effortless.

If it was a moment where you had a great race, think back to the circumstances that led to that amazing race and focus on emulating those, and not necessarily the race itself. When you identify the things that lead you to feeling confident in yourself it becomes possible to replicate the scenarios in order to get that feeling on demand.

3. Stretch yourself.

The most comfortable place in the world to be is your comfort zone. Within our little sphere of safety we clutch on to our familiar habits and attitudes, even it they are detrimental to our long term success.

Doubt and insecurity are generally what keep us in there, and in order to bust out and gain traction on our goals we have to be willing to stretch our boundaries and seek out challenges.

Nothing grows legitimate confidence and destroys self-imposed limitations faster than doing something you’ve never done before. The resulting confidence will grow on itself, spurring you on to chase even more challenging limits.

4. Stop caring so much about what others think.

How many times could you have stepped up in practice or a workout but you were too timid or scared? Odds are good the reason you stayed in the shadows has nothing to do with ability, and more about harboring a concern of what others might think of you.

In an age where we are constantly checking our smart phones to see if anyone has texted us, liked our Facebook status update, or retweeted our gem of a comment, it’s a refreshing and freeing moment when we stop seeking validation from others.

Putting yourself first, and above the expectations you believe others to have of you, is not selfish or brash. It’s empowering, not only for yourself but also the people that surround you. Don’t waste a moment chasing someone else’s dreams; make your goals completely and uniquely yours and motivation and resulting confidence will pour forth.

Once you stop putting too much stock in what others say about you, or what others think, you liberate yourself to chase the things you truly love.

5. Failure will not destroy you.

Being wrong isn’t a game-ender, and neither is failing. No matter what your overactive imagination or others will say, the sky will not fall down if you stumble.

Failure becomes an invaluable learning tool once we decide to use it as such. In the immediate after-math of a stumble, take a breath, and then look around and figure out where the lesson is. (There is always a lesson. You just have to open yourself to looking for it.) Not only will tripping up occasionally make you mentally stronger, you’re gaining valuable experience that couldn’t otherwise be appreciated, while also getting one step closer to your goals.

Once the sting and timidity of stumbling is removed, and you learn to value them for the lesson and direction they provide, you can charge forth after your swimming goals with confidence and purpose.

6. Get to know yourself.

How much do you know about your main competitors? In the age of social media and instant results probably a fair bit. But how much can you say that you truly know about yourself? What motivates you? Where you keep falling short?

When you have a clear idea of who you are, what you want, and what you are capable of, a lot of the extraneous stuff gets filtered out, leaving you centered, focused and confidant.

7. Don’t wait.

Starting is always the hardest part. The first few steps are always going to be challenging, because to do nothing, to sit on your hands and not act is the path of least resistance. It is also the route that limits your ability to develop a deep and meaningful sense of self-confidence.

At the end of the day you should not be waiting on an outcome or result to give you confidence. Doing so will leave you feeling shortchanged and be anti-climactic. Instead, find confidence in yourself and your abilities within the process, by acting with immediacy and consistency.

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

ABOUT YOURSWIMBOOK

YourSwimBook is a log book and goal setting guide designed specifically for competitive swimmers. It includes a ten month log book, comprehensive goal setting section, monthly evaluations to be filled out with your coach, and more. Learn 8 more reasons why this tool kicks butt.

Join the YourSwimBook weekly newsletter group and get motivational tips and more straight to your inbox. Sign up for free here.