Dr Greg Wells Keyano Workshop
On Monday, November 12th, Dr Greg Wells, a former high level competitive swimmer, world renowned sport scientist and Olympic TV personality walked 39 EKSC swimmers and their coaches Derrick Schoof, Scott Wilson, and Chris Nelson through a compelling session of self discovery, motivation, and action plans for personal and team high performance success. His engaging blend of personal experience, heroic success stories, multimedia, active participation of all attendees, and focussed interaction created a fantastic environment for enjoyable learning in this 3 hour workshop.
His observation (gleamed especially from hours and hours of observation at the Vancouver and London Olympic Games) has been that all successful athletes exhibit very specific and similar behaviors. He stressed that they all did the same things and that these were actions that all athletes can learn.
Dr Wells taught the swimmers what top performers do to achieve high performance success when performing in the most stressful competition environments such as an Olympic Games. He described “The Zone” - the physical, emotional and mental activation state that the highest achievers are able to find for themselves to maximize performance when it is needed most. He described how the zone can be different for different athletes and different types of events, but most importantly, Dr Wells guided Keyano athletes through the process of finding what their individual zone would be and practice methods to learn how to get there on demand.
Research demonstrates that less than 10% of athletes performed best times in Olympic competition due to the effect of stress hormones interfering with the performance hormone expression required for ultimate preparation.
Swimmers were shown how to ACT THINK FEEL in that sequence to help create successful high level performance characteristics. This will overcome the tendency for stress to define negative action behavior. Dr Wells taught that the Act Think Feel sequence can also be utilized during a race in very specific ways
This was followed by a session of Goal Setting, beginning with Dream Setting (the ultimate achievement for each athlete) and then specific goal setting strategies to be worked on with individual coaches. Emphasis was on immediate goals achieving specificity/measurability, timelines, in positive statement formats. In other words these goals should be seasonal, attainable, specific and measurable.
One thing that was heard loud and clear was: DREAM SETTING AND PUBLIC STATEMENTS OF BIG GOALS IS A BOLD AND SOMETIMES SCARY EXPERIENCE. The “average” person may have trouble accepting the boldness of such statements and the dedication required to achieve them. But average people do not do exceptional things because to do exceptional things requires courage, dedication, and specific high performance behaviors. A team of athletes with common goals and positive training habits can support each individual’s dreams.
Swimmers were asked to state their personal specific dreams out loud and to share them within this group of like minded, supportive athletes and teammates.
A short discussion of how to achieve specific goals through the use of TECHNICAL SKILL development, POSITIVE ATTITUDE creation, and POSITIVE BEHAVIORS followed. Technical Skill Development was demonstrated by the example Ryan Lochte, who radically changed his dry land program in the four years between the Beijing and London Olympics to create specific strength patterns that had been deficient in 2008.
Swimmers shared their specific technical goals with the entire group.
So, in summary, Dream Goals require Seasonal Goals which require positive Action Steps in technical, attitudinal, and behavioral domains.
PERFORMING UNDER PRESSURE is a huge and difficult topic and Dr Wells gave some insight into how to interpret the body’s reaction to the stress of the moment. Breathing and body awareness exercises were performed by the entire group and related to different competition situations. An emphasis was placed on how teammates can help each other be ready to perform. He described the positive effect that Victor Davis had on his teammates at key moments in big events like the Olympics because of his huge belief and amazing energy combined with his willingness to share.
Dr Wells shared his personal story of recovery from a broken neck and the effect it had on his personal journey as a competitive swimmer. He was told by doctors and other experts that he would never compete as a swimmer again, nor should he try. He set personal swimming goals despite the “advice” and spent 14 months preparing for the Olympic Trials. To support his efforts he decided that he needed to live within a perpetually positive environment and would not tolerate negativity around him or from within himself. Thus were developed his personal Rules of Positivism:
1. NO COMPLAINING
2. NO GRIEF - No bad mouthing, talking behind people’s backs or displaying negative attitudes directly to others.
3. NO EXCUSES - Your performance is in your hands. Eg If you are late it is your fault for not getting your parents organized. If your snack is not what you need, it is because you didn’t prepare it correctly.
He made the point that when things get tough and we feel like saying, “I can’t” what we are really saying is
“I won’t.”
Lessons for FOCUS described strategies around identifying pre-race distractions and how to deal with them. The use of very specific CUE WORDS was discussed. Cue words will create the ACTION we desire in the race and can direct STRATEGIC, EFFORT, TACTICAL, or TECHNICAL aspects of the race. Pre-planned cue words can change throughout the course of a swim and are often different for each 50.
Dr Wells discussed STRESS and its effects on high performance. He asked swimmers to provide examples of what they find personally stressful. They were then shown a simple method of identifying controllable and non-controllable stressors and coping strategies for each. For example, a school test may be a stressor but it is unavoidable. However, you can control is how you prepare for the test. Study properly and write a good exam. His advice... CONTROL THE STRESSES YOU CAN CONTROL AND LET GO OF THE STRESSES YOU CANNOT CONTROL.
Pre-race stress control require focus and activation skills and breathing exercises to get you to the Zone. The athlete must recognize “What is your high performance zone?” and “How do you get there on demand?”
It was recommended that the swimmers spend 3 ½ minutes each day listening to a music passage without letting the mind wander away from the music (VERY DIFFICULT) as a means of developing better concentration skills.
There was an excellent section on RECOVERY AND REGENERATION. He described Michael Phelps’ R and R management in Beijing where he required 17 swims to win 8 gold medals as the highest form of achievement. He managed his energy through the perfect combination of rest and nutrition and made history. According to Dr Wells, “There were no mistakes!”
Swimmers who fail to manage Recovery and Regeneration will burn out and suffer substandard performances.
Dr Wells issued this challenge to our swimmers, “HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE YOUR ABILITY TO RECOVER FASTER?”
He stressed the fact that high performance swimmers are 24 HOUR ATHLETES and that while balancing school, life, training, and competing they must maintain healthy habits that allow for excellence in all areas.
Every day starting from the moment the hand touches the wall at the end of the main training set, there is a sequence of requirements for Recovery and Regeneration:
1. HYDRATE A key fact: For every 1% of dehydration there is a 5% decrease in muscle strength. There is also a decrease in brain function.
2. ACTIVE RECOVERY (Warm down)
There is actually an ideal swim speed for lactate recovery based on a swimmer’s best 100m time. Swimming 19x50m at this perfect pace will provide best recovery – either after workout or between competition swims. The correct pace will enable a complete blood infusion to all muscles pump blood to all the muscles to flush lactate but with no additional lactate production.
3. EAT Swimmers must eat within 30 minutes post workout while the body tissues are still receptive to nutrition. Post swim the ideal ratio is 4:1 Carbohydrate to Protein. Post weight room workouts the ratio is 1:2 Carbohydrate to Protein. This is because of the different demands of sugar utilization in the pool versus protein requirement in the gym. Many of the swimmers were dismayed to hear that the theory behind chocolate milk as a post workout essential may be flawed due to the high sugar content and hard to digest proteins in the milk.
4. COLD TUBS Two periods of 5 minute cold tub soaks have a regenerative effect on tired, physically stressed bodies. This is very common now in the world of track and field.
5. STRETCHING Stretching as activation is different from stretching for recovery. Both are important. The different styles were performed by the swimmers under the direction of Dr Wells. Dr Wells also strongly recommends Yoga to his athletes.
Dr Wells discussed IMMUNITY with the swimmers. He described how immune system nutrients can get shifted to the muscles when they are under work stress. This is particularly evident after travel, major meets, and training camps, when there are the greatest demands on the system.
SLEEP is a critical component of recovery and illness prevention. Dr Wells recommended a minimum of 8 hours per night with as much consistency as possible for bedtimes and wake times to maintain balanced circadian rhythms. This will ensure that all 5 sleep phases are completed.
He also recommended that we avoid screens (TV, computers, smart phones,etc) for ½ hour before bed. When the brain is stimulated by light it inhibits the release of an important sleep hormone (melatonin). Reading is a recommended pre-sleep activity.
Further, and to some disappointed groans, he also reported that video games can be detrimental to training, especially during taper and competition periods. (THERE ARE ALWAYS SACRIFICES TO REACH GOALS)
This excellent and challenging session was well received by swimmers and coaches. The swimmers were actively engaged and participated well. Dr Wells ended the workshop with the following two thoughts:
1. INSPIRATION He has observed how athletes can push themselves to incredible levels of effort and performance. He has seen the best in the world repeatedly push to “the absolute limit!” He has seen how this inspires others to do the same. He challenged our swimmers to push themselves
and inspire each other.
2. AGGREGATE OF 1% GAINS Dr Wells challenged our swimmers with, “CAN YOU DO 1% BETTER EVERY DAY OVER THE COURSE OF AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME?” IF YOU CAN THE RESULTS WILL BE INCREDIBLE!
Recommended reading: Superbodies Dr Greg Wells, PhD
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Sean Covey