Rest between swim intervals

Typically for 100yd intervals sometimes its 5 seconds sometimes its 1 minute, depending on when the interval falls in my workout and how close it is to my next race.

Try doing them with a 10 second rest, for me that worked well when I first started swimming.

I think you could go one of two ways on your interval sets:

1.  Drop down and do your hundreds on 2:15 rather than 2:30.  15 seconds is usually a decent rest interval.

2.  Stay on 2:30 but work on swimming faster, so you're getting higher intensity with a longer rest interval.

Edited by tjh 2010-03-02 3:51 PM

If you can tell by your heart rate...do that. You don't want your heart rate too much below the 60% range. If I do my 100m at 75%, it'll take my heart rate about 15 seconds to get back down to 60% if I come to a dead stop. This way you keep it an aerobic workout the whole time.But then again...guess it depends on your goal for that workout.

Your rest intervals are something you'll need to figure out for yourself, but you should be giving yourself enough time to recover that you aren't dropping off noticeably, but also not so much time that you are recovering completely. 

The hard part about intervals is pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, because doing them hard is pretty darn uncomfortable.

Also, as a general rule of thumb, the shorter the intervals, the higher the intensities. I.e. if your doing 25 free, they are probably all out sprint, and you may need :10-:20 seconds for recovery, vs a 200 free, which is still a strong effort, but might only need :30 for recovery.

x2  The main thing when doing intervals is to make sure you are rested enough between each so that you can go all out on each one.

As someone above said, it depends on the intensity.  If I am doing 100s and am going to be taking 30 seconds rest, I will be doing those 100s at a pretty high intensity.  If I am going to be taking 10-15 seconds rest, the intensity will be a little lower, like about 5 to 7 seconds/100 slower.

It depends on the goal of your workout.  I've used pre-designed workouts that have allowed anywhere from 10 sec to about 30 sec rest.  I'm sure there are some out there that provide longer rests, but I don't remember ever using them.  If I'm just "winging it" for a workout, I'll normally allow myself about 20 sec.

There are some recent examples in my training log.

Edited by TriMyBest 2010-03-03 12:18 PM

Thank you to the original poster and all the posters who provided feedback.  I am just starting to incorporate intervals into my training and this information is very beneficial.

i think this is hard to determine at the beginning.  doing a Time Trial helps....

swim 1000 yrds at a good effort see what your time is for 100 yrds.  lets say you come out to 2:10.  this would give you a better time to judge.

like others have said, recovery is important but not too much recovery.  if i do 200's i tend to recovery 20-30 seconds.  20 seconds on a slower pace 3:05 for 200, 30 seconds on a faster pace 2:53...

I wish there was a simple answer too. I've only just started finding the right interval time for myself.. basically hard enough that the first few might feel easy, but the lasts few I feel like I can't make the time, but still am completing the set in the desired range. 

I've had some epic fails trying to do 10x100's on 10sec of rest after I was able to do 10 @ 1:55 (swimming 1:45/100).. I tried to immediately drop to 10 @ 1:50 before trying to do 10 @ 1:55 on 15 seconds rest (both swimming 1:40/100)  I might be messing up my terminology though. 

Wow people here are giving themselves tons of time to recover.

My recommendation is swim a 100 and get a time.  Don't sprint, but do something that gives you a decent workout.  Then add a few seconds to that time and make that the interval.  In general I go for about 10 seconds maybe 15 for rest after the first one.  The last one I may only get a few seconds.

For instance, after warming up and doing a few sets, I'll do a 100 on 1:15 which doesn't leave me short of breath or tired at all. So I do 5 to 10 x 100s on the 1:30.  The more sets I do the longer the interval.  If I'm only doing 3, I might set my interval on the 1:20, or 1:10 depending on how exhausted I am.

My advice - kick your own .

(unfortunately I've been having lat pain and the last 2 weeks I just try to finish about 1500 yds and then get out)

Do 10 x 100 with 10 sec recovery. You should be going "nearly" full out, just out of a total sprint. If your times are increasing (i.e. you can't maintain the pace), increase the recovery period to 15 sec the next workout, if you still can't maintain the pace, increase it to 20 sec next time etc, until the times are all basically the same for every interval 1:12,1:14,1:13.... , then you know you're in the right area.

I only just started back swimming after 6-7 years a few months ago, so my conditioning isn't great, but I sprint 100scy full out 1:03 or so atm and my interval times for 10x 100 are 1:12-1:14 when i'm rested and towards the end of the week they go up a few sec due to fatigue 1:15-1:16. I go on 1:30 and I basically go full out, just off a full sprint.

If you're hurting and panting hard between each interval then you're in the right area.

Edited by ex-buzz 2010-03-03 4:27 PM

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies.  Back in the pool this morning, I dropped it down to 2:20 for my intervals.  I think my pace for each 100 yards slowed by about 5 seconds or so.  I basically went from giving myself 30 seconds rest down to 10 to 15 seconds.  I made all six.  Maybe next week I'll dial it down again.  As I understand it, the goal is to give yourself just enough rest to allow you to make your next interval but not so much that your not getting the benefit of the cumulative swim. 

Again, thanks for the comments.

start at 20 sec rest and ten go down by 5 secs