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Brendan's Training Program
In his rise to the top of the breaststroke, world record holder Brendan Hansen has nailed down a near-perfect routine: he busts it in the pool, he goes hard in the weight room, and, mentally, he pushes himself to the max, continually drawing on his desire to better himself.
Each day he awakes, he does so with a title: Fastest in history. It's a designation that describes Brendan Hansen's connection to the breaststroke events. It's a distinction that has been made possible by countless hours in the pool, tiring dryland workouts and a mental toughness found in a miniscule percentage of athletes.
It was only four years ago that Hansen was dealt a devastating blow, a punch that has floored other athletes. But Hansen climbed off the mat, determined to become the fastest breaststroker of all-time. Today, Hansen owns that honor despite just missing individual Olympic gold in Athens. His world-record performances in the 100 and 200 meter breaststrokes from July's Olympic Trials still stand. Those swims, simply, were rewards for years of dedication and the adherence to a diversified training program. Here's a look at the well-rounded training of Brendan Hansen.
Breakout Party
Remember 2000? It was the year that brought Hansen heartache in the form of a pair of third-place finishes at the Olympic Trials. Is there a worse place to finish? No.
At the time, Hansen was a fresh-out-of-high-school phenom with a world of potential. Four years later, Hansen is the fastest breaststroker ever to walk the planet, his results from the 2004 Trials still difficult to comprehend.
The past few months have been a whirlwind time for the 23-year-old. Tabbed as the individual with more to prove than anyone in Long Beach, Hansen used the Olympic Trials as his springboard into rarified air. He used the Trials for redemption. The week also vaulted Hansen into the stratosphere.
As the University of Texas product stormed down the stretch, the clock seemed to lie. No man is capable of that type of time. On the touch, a double-take was required. Then, it registered: 59:30. Hansen had just obliterated the world record of 59.78 set by Japan's Kosuke Kitajima in the 100 meter breaststroke a year earlier.
He didn't just shave a few hundredths from the book, the norm in a world-record swim. Instead, he hacked a half-second off the former standard. Immediately, the question surfaced: what can Hansen do for the 200 breast?
How's a 2:09.04 effort sound? It was another swim that seemingly laughed at the 2003 mark of 2:09.42 set by Kitajima. Quickly, the pain from 2000 had dissipated. Hansen stood on top of the world, literally and figuratively.
"I think as an athlete, you know what your potential is, and the decisions you make in your life will determine how much potential you use," Hansen said. "I've tried to make the best decisions in my life and make the little things come together, and that's what happened. I took something (2000) that was a disadvantage and made it into an advantage when I went into workouts."
Six weeks after his mind-numbing escapades in the Golden State, Hansen added to his legacy with a three-medal haul during the 28th Olympiad in Athens. Call it a hat trick, for Hansen exited the Athens Games with a medal of each color.
Coming off the emotional drain of Trials, Hansen nailed down silver in the 100 meter breast before snagging bronze in the longer discipline. A few days later it was all capped by a gold-medal showing in the 400 medley relay, where the United States set a global standard.
Now, he wants to do it again.
"I'm going to do Beijing." Hansen said, just after the completion of the Athens Games. "I'm looking at 2008. I'll be more experienced, and I know I can get better. I still think I have a lot to prove. This is what I love. Why wouldn't I want to do this again?"
Pool Power
Each day Hansen strolls onto the deck, mystery surrounds the hours ahead. What does Eddie Reese have in store? Typically, Hansen is unsure of the workout he'll tackle. What he does know is this: Reese, the legendary coach at the University of Texas, is going to beat him up. It's a formula that works.
When Hansen enrolled at Texas after the 2000 Olympic Trials, he was eager to embrace a new page in a growing career. And while his personal book has added countless chapters of success, he admits to a four-month transition period. These days, Hansen is familiar with the demands of training in Austin.
"Brendan is a hard worker, which sounds simple and old-fashioned," Reese said. "But the great ones have those virtues. He's a great human being and a great team leader. He has all the attributes."
During peak training, Hansen adheres to a program that includes nine swimming sessions a week - double workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and single sessions on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The double days usually feature a 5,000-6,000-yard workout in the morning, followed by a 6,000-7,000 yard dose in the afternoon.
For the single days, Hansen has become accustomed to 6,000-7,000 yards on Tuesday and Thursday, with 7,000-8,000 yards slated for the Saturday morning get together. It all adds up to weeks of 50,000-60,000 yards. Still it's not all about the yardage number.
"We believe in quality over quantity," Hansen said. "Some of my hardest workouts have only been an hour. I think we go harder than most people. We feel like we're better trained than anyone else, and that's important. When Sunday rolls around, we just want to sleep."
During a mid-season workout, Hansen will open a session with a 1,500-2,000 yard swim, albeit a set that relies on descending time. Some days, the breaststroke standout will open with a pair of 400s (5:00/4:50). Followed with a duo of 300s (4:00/3:50) and conclude with two 200s (2:45/2:30) and a pair of 100s (1:20/1:15). Hansen, too, recalls 20 minute kicking sets, with each minute alternating between fast and easy.
Otherwise, he has difficulty pin-pointing specifics. Sure, he handles days of other kicking sets and pulling sets. And there are days dedicated to straight swimming and stroke work. But, ultimately, it's nearly impossible to break down a workout, except that it's likely to include efforts on descending time.
"In my four years with (Reese), I don't think I've ever done the same workout twice," said Hansen, who mixes in individual medley work with his breaststroke focus. "I don't even think I've done the same set twice. Eddie is so great about mixing things up and going off how we feel. He has a plan in his head, but we'll come in and it'll be a crapshoot as to what we're doing."
With the likes of Aaron Peirsol and Ian Crocker alongside Hansen, workouts at Texas may be the most competitive in the world. That competitive spirit also brings out good-natured challenges, such as a faceoff between Hansen and Peirsol in the breaststroke.
The double Olympic champion in the backstroke events, Peirsol challenged Hansen to a 100 breast race last year. Ah, but there was a caveat: Hansen was forced to don a T-shirt and shorts, elements that would create significant drag. As soon as the gauntlet was thrown down, Hansen bolted for his clothing.
"That's the kind of stuff that breaks it up and gives you a balance," said Hansen, who won the battle with Peirsol. "When Aaron challenged me, I was like, ‘All right, let's go.' It's fun that way. In a long season, there are going to be call-outs. That's good for the team. It raises the practice level and keeps you from going insane."
At the same time…
"I've thrown kickboards, cursed and yelled. That all comes with the territory," Hansen said. "Training comes down to making each other better. There's a difference between being at practice and actually showing up at practice. The intensity level needs to be high."
Land-Locked
Although Hansen's water workouts vary on a daily basis, his dryland slate tends to be a mixture of familiar exercises and routines. Don't be mistaken, though - those exercises are conducted in a manner that also provides a freshness and forces the body to adjust continually.
Hansen's dryland regimen is, basically, a three-part animal, featuring a weightlifting program, an abdominal routine and a running/hop program that works its way into the rotation at various points during the year.
In the weight room, Hansen mainly relies on a six-exercise program - scheduled three times a week - that works the core strength of the body. Aside from turning to a bench press, lat pulldowns and squats, Hansen also benefits from the use of curls, triceps extensions and dips. Through it all, Hansen mixes the routine between repetition days and sessions dedicated toward explosiveness.
Aside from Hansen's program with the weights, his training includes a 20-minute abdominal routine that works the muscles through an organized series of cruches. That demanding session stresses conditioning to each of the abdominal regions - upper and lower, along with the oblique muscles.
As for the third portion of Hansen's dryland routing, the breaststroker follows a Tuesday-Thursday running program, and a hop program that comes into play for a five-week stretch during the year, primarily in November - a month Hansen refers to as a hellish period.
"if it's in the pool or in the weight room, (Reese) is so innovative," Hansen said. "You leave a workout knowing you pushed yourself. He just knows how to get the best out of people. That's why he's been that successful. He knows how to push the limit."
Mental Magic
When Hansen climbs atop the starting block, he possesses an overwhelming confidence, a belief that he'll reach the wall before his competition. As much as his physical prowess, that mental strength is a major factor in Hansen's training.
Sure, there are days when Hansen is beaten down, his body battered by the grueling sessions dictated by Reese. But the mind is a powerful tool, and Hansen has learned to use his toughness to block out the pain and realize it's all for a reason. Call it the greatest form of training trust.
"It's huge to know and believe that you've outworked the people in the lanes next to you," Hansen said. "The first couple of weeks I was at Texas, it was crazy. It took some time to adjust to what (Reese) wanted us to do. It was something different than anything I knew before."
Before leaving Pennsylvania for Texas, Hansen honed his skills at Suburban Swim Center under Charlie Kennedy, a nationally recognized coach who has guided the likes of Grace Cornelius, a top sprinter in the late 1980's, and Eugene Botes, who represented South Africa at the Athens Games.
Increasing Hansen's workouts to double-sessions in the spring before the 2000 Olympic Trials, Kennedy stressed a mixture of endurance and speed workouts with his pupil, who averaged 50,000 yards during peak training. Kennedy, too, is the man who introduced Hansen to the weight room.
"He would always go 100 percent," Kennedy said. "We didn't start doubling until he was ready, knowing that his better days would be in college. I didn't want to burn him out. But when he started with the doubles, he accepted the challenge. He never had a bad workout."
To this day, Hansen pays tribute to Kennedy, as he routinely takes the time to recognize the impact of his age-group mentor. In Athens, Kennedy was present, sharing in the greatest accomplishment of Hansen's swimming days.
"(Kennedy) was great about giving me the mental aspect of things," Hansen said. "He made sure I had a strong head on my shoulders. At this level, it's important to have that mental game. You can't have any doubts in yourself. You have to believe there are no boundaries. (Kennedy) helped me with that."
The Future
With three Olympic meals stashed in one pocket and a pair of global standards tucked neatly in the other, Brendan Hansen could walk away from swimming tomorrow as one of the greatest breaststrokers in history.
Yet, that's not Hansen's style. Instead, he's already looking ahead, designing a game plan that will carry him to greater heights. He's eagerly awaiting greater results in the water. He's anxious to hit the weight room with enhanced fervor. Mentally, he's a runaway locomotive, confident that he will plow through the competition.
"I'm still motivated," he said. "There are things I want to do in this sport that I haven't done yet. I know I can be faster. There's a lot left for me."
By John Lohn for Swimming Technique Magazine
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