Tag: Muni

Aerobic Capacity and Aerobic Power with NOVA

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Alex Muni, NOVA of Virginia

A key part of this practice was education—helping swimmers understand the difference between aerobic capacity and aerobic power (VO₂ max).

  • 100s (Aerobic Capacity Focus):The goal was to hold the same effort on both freestyle and IM swims while progressively reducing the rest across each block of six. Ideally, swimmers were expected to keep the same times on free and IM repeats, while rest was cut by two seconds per block. If rest drifted above 15–20 seconds, swimmers were told to push a little harder.
  • 75s and 50s (Aerobic Power Focus):The first rep came off short rest, serving as active recovery while keeping the heart rate elevated and shifting gears toward harder swimming. From there, swimmers were asked to maintain ~90% effort—sustainable but very challenging—with no fewer than :30 rest between repeats. If their rest fell below :30, they were instructed to increase intensity slightly, but not push all the way to maximum effort.

This combination gave the group exposure to both capacity and power early in the season, reinforcing how each system feels and how to manage effort and rest accordingly.

Aerobic Capacity & Power Hybrid:

6X100 Swim P.T. [O: Free E: IM] @ Guys: 1:24/Gals: 1:26 – SKILLS

4X75 #1: Choice #2-4: Free [#1: Build HR^ #2-4: Hold Best Maintable Average] @ 1:15

6X100 Swim P.T. [O: Free E: IM] @ Guys: 1:22/Gals: 1:24 – SKILLS 

4X75 #1: Choice #2-4: Free  [#1: Build HR^ #2-4: Hold a FASTER Average] @ 1:15

6X100 Swim P.T. [O: Free E: IM] @ Guys: 1:20/Gals: 1:22 – SKILLS 

6X50 DESC 1-3 to RED Hold 4-6 –  #1+2: Choice / #3-6: One Stroke @ :55

6X100 Swim P.T. [O: Free E: IM] @ Guys: 1:18/Gals: 1:20 – SKILLS 

6X50 DESC 1-2 to RED Hold 3-6 – #1: Choice / #2-6: One Stroke @ :55

Middle Distance Free with NOVA of Virginia

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Alex Muni, NOVA Senior Assistant.

LCM

Today’s focus was threefold: we worked on steady-state cruising, negative pacing, and descending. All the 50s were on :45 (LCM) and served as active recovery while maintaining a moderate heart rate. As the number of descending 100s increased, so did the rest—allowing swimmers to actually achieve a descending effort. 

Since negative splitting is essentially an even split, I decided to go all in on fractions and include 3/4 and 2/3 splits as well. Additionally, the longer straight swims were on a consistent interval base of 1:30. 

We wrapped up with a broken 500, with the goal of holding a near-200 effort throughout—not necessarily an all-out sprint, but also not paced like a typical 400/500/800 distance swim. It was challenging, but it kept them moving and got them in a good training rhythm.

NOVA Speed Endurance & Lactate Tolerance Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Coach Alex Muni, NOVA, Richmond, VA

For this one, I wanted to change things up with our athletes by loading the legs early and then going off the block with different broken reps. The idea is for them to finish the kick, hop out, get about :30 or so to get set and then send them on their way for a max effort swim. Two max effort reps in a row, one kick and one swim should spike their heart rates and blood lactate levels and force them to cope with the elevated levels for the remainder of the set. Between rounds, they should be getting anywhere from 30 to 45 seconds of rest following the recovery swim. 

NOVA of Virginia Short Burst Speed and Speed Endurance

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Coach Alex Muni, Nova of Virginia

DKOB= Dolphin Kick on Back

“We are using different equipment to get different feel for the water and emphasizing/amplifying the use of different limbs to generate different speeds. In this set, I have the group descending 50s kick to a max effort and then going into a sustained speed group of 25s – they are trying to maintain tempo and overall effort under different fatiguing conditions which will help them adapt not only within an individual race, but in different races. The yardage isn’t high, but the effort and thought going into each effort should be.”

Mid Distance Set with NOVA of Virginia

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Coach Alex Muni, Nova of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

This set (SCY) offered a lot of variety to our national mid-distance group. It allowed for a freestyle mid-to-high aerobic progression and pace with the addition of some descending prime stroke work. We finished with a broken 200 OTB with 30 seconds of total rest. For the fourth week of the season, the swimmers approached this workout with impressive focus. 

High Octane with Nova of Virginia

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Alex Muni, Assistant National Coach – NOVA of VA Aquatics

For this one, we were targeting 100 pace and 50 speed. For the 50s off the block, swimmers were instructed to treat the race portion as they would a 50 (rate, power, and breathing (if free or fly)). For the 50s with equipment, we wanted them to get full reach and grab as well as getting as high out of the water as possible with assistance. There was a lot of race pace efforts, so active recovery was built into each swim/rep.