Although the Utah swim and dive team may not be competing, it is still preparing for the next season and several members have a slate full of their own competitions.
A few swimmers have secured a place in the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska (Jun. 26-Jul. 3), but some are still on the hunt. To help them prepare, strength and conditioning coach Deniz Hekmati has a few things in mind.
“I separated the swimmers into two groups for this spring season, with doing some functional work in one group while putting on muscle in the other group,” Hekmati said.
For the ones in the muscle group, Hekmati started them on a training cycle called hypertrophy so they could put on more muscle. This process isn’t identical to the one during the regular season, however, so it’s a bit of an adjustment for everyone involved.
“The energy system in the way the muscles are being targeted is different,” Hekmati said. “There is a lot of demand being put on the muscles so it is a different demand over a longer sustained period of time because they don’t have the wall halfway through.”
Hekmati found it beneficial to start his swimmers off similar to what he did at the beginning of the year. The week leading into finals, Hekmati decided that the swimmers needed some pure recovery. He wanted to recover their muscles and central nervous systems to help them refocus, recharge their batteries, finish up school and start off the next phase the right way — refreshed and ready to go.
“I have individualized it more to some people after spring meetings to fit their needs better,” Hekmati said.
This has been a big change for the swimmers and the difference lies mostly in power. During the new year, Hekmati had his swimmers focus on power work, but has put power on the back burner for the time being. He wants to emphasize other areas, not just ones centered around weight-training.
Physiologically, Hekmati wants the swimmers to feel stronger than they have ever felt before, something that has previously produced positive results. Mentally, however, it’s not something the team is familiar with.
“We are trying to unite the team a lot more,” Hekmati said. “I want this phase to prep them mentally to perform and help them stay more consistent as to how we approach each workout, thinking that each workout will be the determining factor if they get to swim at the championships or not.”
Hekmati created a circuit similar to his earlier circuit and called it the Metabolic Spring Circuit:
Station 1) Glycolytic sprint run – 2-2:30
Station 2) Medicine ball wall ball + slam – 10/8/6/4/2
Station 3) Arms: skull crushers + presses 20/15/10/5 x 50/ jump rope between each set
Station 4) Core x3 – 50 prone flutter kick/10 alternators/10 leg raises-2-hips lifts/10 knee raises
Station 5) Suicide sled relay push/pull – 10/20/30 yards
“These five weeks of training have been a tremendous stepping stone for our next season,” Hekmati said. “We have come a long way from where we were in February, so I am wanting to keep the main foundations that we have been working on for the last two years and just build on it a little bit more.”
As the team adjusts to all of the new workouts, sophomore Brandon Shreeve likes how everything is looking.
“Deniz is really attentive while we are working out,” Shreeve said. “Whenever I have asked him for help, he has always given me good insight. He is a great coach.”
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