Simple Advice From a Star: Make Your Workout as Productive as Possible

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Get Fit With Olympians: Kate Ziegler

Olympic swimmer Kate Ziegler has simple advice for anyone who wants to get fit: Set small goals and work to achieve them in each workout.

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Ziegler is also her own best competition. In such disciplines as swimming and running, the distance of an event affects the pace. Tyson Gay's blazing 9.68-second performance in the 100-meter dash at the Olympic trials would equate, for example, to running a full marathon in about 68 minutes.

That distance-pace relationship holds true even when comparing two short distances. But Ziegler consistently tries to push the physical limit, jumping from a time of 1 minute 58 seconds in the 200-meter freestyle to 4 minutes 4 seconds in the 400-meter event, just a few seconds short of her 200-meter pace.

The same idea of trying to attack longer distances without losing speed can be used to set exercise goals at any level, whether in the pool, on the bike or on the trail (either walking or running). If walking a mile in 15 minutes is challenging, for example, strive over time to do two in half an hour.

In the pool, rather than a steady swim of 45 minutes, spend some time racing yourself: Swim a fast 50 meters, rest, then see if you can match the pace over 100 meters.

"It's self-evaluation," Benecki said.

Adding mock races to an exercise session has another benefit: working the body's different energy systems. A long, steady swim or run will primarily rely on aerobic energy. Break that up into sprints, with a couple of minutes' rest in between, and you are training your anaerobic system, which you rely on when you walk up the stairs.

Coaches like Benecki work to design training sessions that manipulate those systems in different ways, but even for casual exercisers the idea can apply: At least once a week or so, work at an intensity that is hard to sustain for more than a few minutes (perhaps as little as one or two).

The idea, Benecki said, can be simplified with a question that works across the board: "How do I stress myself?"

Adding intensity, structure and some shorter ranger goals "beats just getting in the pool and swimming your 2,000 yards."

Or running your six miles or biking your 50K or doing the same round of weight machines month after month.

And who knows where that will lead?

London, 2012?