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Off Season Swim Workouts: Month 1

author : Tri Swim Coach

comments : 3

The first month we will be pressing the "reset" button. We'll start the month with some drill-focused sets and endurance building.

Welcome to the off season! For the next three months, we'll be adding weekly workouts geared towards getting the most out of the part of the year when Fall races wind down and many triathletes are left asking the question, "What's next?"

*These workouts are NOT for the new swimmer. You should have a season of sprint or olympic distance races to easily transition into this. If you are a beginner, see our Learn How to Swim program.

The first month we will be pressing the "reset" button. It's likely that you didn't keep up on drills all summer long, and your stroke could use some touch-ups. We'll start the month with some drill-focused sets and endurance building.

The second month we will move into some cross training, including dryland exercises and other strokes besides freestyle, in addition to endurance building.

The third month we will incorporate some sprinting into the workout plans, and use some equipment like paddles to get your stroke off in the right direction to prepare for your regular season training.

These are set up as four workouts per week where you will repeat the series of four workouts every week until the next moth of new workouts. The idea is that if swimming is your weakest of the three triathlon disciplines, this will help you make big gains at a time when you don't need to be as focused on everything else. Feel free to scale it down to three days as you become busy. Missing one of these workouts is no big deal, but if you drop down to two workouts per week, don't expect to make as big of improvements. Feel for the water can start declining in a few days, so try to do at least three of the four workouts each week to see results.

Good luck and comment below if you have questions or want to report your progress!"

Workout #1

WARM UP: 4x100’s. Each 100 is 25 Kick/25 3/4ths Catchup Drill/50 Free

MAIN: 4x200

Maintain Pace (either check your time after each 200 or check heart rate) :30 Rest between each
The last 200 is build to fast
300 Free, breathe every 3-5 Strokes by 50s

WARM DOWN: 150 Choice

TOTAL: 1650

Workout #2

Purpose: Basic balance & kicking reset.

WARM UP: 300 Choice (you choose)

DRILL: 8x50s

Odds: Kick on your side (fins okay)
Evens: Shark Fin drill
Do 20 seconds of vertical kicking in between each 50.
100 Stretch out

MAIN: 7x200s

#1-3: Build within each 200. :30 rest between 200's
#4: Count your strokes. Stay long.
#5-7 Descend (get faster). :30 rest between 200's

WARM DOWN: 200 Easy

TOTAL: 2400

Workout #3

Purpose: Learning or resetting the high elbow catch.

WARM UP: 300 Choice (you choose)

DRILL: 4x75’s: 4x(25 Kick/25 Catchup Drill/25 Swim) with :10 Rest

With the catchup drill, focus on the first part of the pull: extend, bend elbow, then pull.

MAIN: Twice through this set:

3x150s :20 rest
2x75s :10 rest
2x50s :05 rest

Your only goal on this set is to keep your focus on the pull. Keep your elbows high. Try to avoid dropping your elbow at the beginning of the pull. Don't worry about how fast you go or if you get off track, just get right back to your stroke and keep on it.

WARM DOWN: 150 Easy swim

TOTAL: 2150

Workout #4

Purpose: Bilateral breathing/Stroke balance

WARM UP: 300 Choice (you choose)

MAIN (drills included):

400, breathe every 3-5 strokes on odd lengths
300 breathe every 3 strokes throughout
200 Breathe every 3-5-7-3 strokes by 50
100 Breathe only on your weaker side

Repeat!

WARM DOWN: 200

TOTAL: 2500

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date: October 9, 2013

Author

Tri Swim Coach

I'm at http://www.TriSwimCoach.com- a resource for beginning through intermediate level triathletes looking for help with swimming. The site features a free email newsletter offering tips and articles on triathlon swimming. I have also written an electronic book titled “The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming” and created "The Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD", both available on www.triswimcoach.com.

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