Favorire swim workouts

with 1:28 being your fastest pace, I would have work out like this: 3k

Warm up :600
200 Swim
200 Kick
200 Pull
Endurance set :1000

10 x 100 @ 1:35

Speed Set: 1000

4 x 1 x 100 Free Swim on 1:25
1 x 75 Free Swim on 1:05
1 x 50 Free Swim on 0:45
1 x 25 Free Swim on 0:25

Cool Down: 400



Edited by GotBackup 2013-06-10 9:20 AM

40x50 on an interval that will give you about 5s rest through the set.

16 with every 4th fast
12 with every 3rd fast
8 with every 2nd fast
4 all fast

Shane

^^^THIS^^^ A very good main set. I do it every other week.

Just swimming. And I will NEVER be able to swim that fast in my life.

Another favourite:

30x50 on 1:01; start on the top of the clock and you always need to be back by the top but you leave on the :01, then the :02 and so on. Starts easy and then progresses to hard and eventually brutal.

Shane

That looks so masochistic. Ugh! Adding to the "someday I'll give it a whirl" book.

I am still very new to swimming but most times I can understand the terminology of what to do in the sets, but never heard "16 with every 4th fast" before. What exactly is going on when that is being said?

Nevermind, I think i understand. Was actually over thinking it quite a bit. So the first 3 x 50's would be at a quick pace but the 4th 50 would be almost near 100%. Then repeat again with 5 thru 7 being quick and 8 being near 100% Sounds right?

Edited by spiderjunior 2013-06-10 2:28 PM

You're going to swim 40 50's. You start out swimming 3 easy 50's then one hard 50. So 1,2,3 are easy, 4 is fast, 5,6,7 easy, 8 is fast... 16 is fast.
Then you drop down to every 3rd 50 is fast: so, 17 and 18 are easy, 19 is fast, 20 and 21 easy 22 fast...up to #29.
Then it's every other 50 is fast.
Then it's 4 fast 50's.

It's not too hard to keep track since you're swimming 4 fast 50's in each block. So I count, 1,2,3,1: 1,2,3,2: 1,2,3,3: 1,2,3,4: 1,2,1: 1,2,2: 1,2,3: 1,2,4: 1,1: 1,2: 1,3: 1,4: 1,2,3,4. Try doing them on an interval. It'll seem easy to make it in the beginning, but it snowballs quickly. This as not as hard as the "decreasing the send-off's by one second" set above, but it's close.

Another good set is swim a 400 at your T-Pace, at the 300, quickly get your time and finish the 400. Rest 60'. Swim a 300, stop quickly at the 200 to get that time, then swim the 300 faster that the 300 of the 400. Rest 45". Swim a 200, stop quickly at the 100 and get that time, finish the 200 faster than the 200 in the 300. Rest 30". Then swim a 100 all out to beat the 100 time from your 200.

Thanks a lot for this set. I will try to do it soon, although I will have to adapt it to my speed. I don't think I can do 100 yards in 1:25. My all time fastest is 1:28, but it only happened once. Being more realistic, I will have to say that may 100 yard time is around 1:35.

Shane, thanks for both of your workouts. They are definitely challenging. I will try them both soon and see where I am at, and I will definitively incorporate this one into my weekly or bi-weekly training.

By the way, I see that most of you recommend sets with multiple shorter distance swims (25, 50, 100 yards) with a short rest in between rather than swimming less times a longer distance (400-500 yards). Why is the reason for this? If I'm training for a long course, shouldn't I be swimming long distances?

One set that I was doing was 5 x 400 with every 4th fast. Will I get more benefit if I change this one for the 40x50 workout that Shane recommended or they are complimentary giving me different benefits?

Thank you in advance!

Cool way to accomplish that set. Thanks for the great idea.

I approach getting into swimming shape (I am a fishy) a bit differently. At the beginning of the season I just want to get yards in. I would typically do something like a 5 x 1000 for two weeks straight. When I was just swimming that was 6x/week. Now as a triathlete I would cut that in half to 3x/week. I am not really concerned about wear and tear on the body. If your form is good you will certainly be tired but swimming is not as rough on the body as the other two disciplines IMO. The rest between each 1000 will depend on your conditioning but 30-60 seconds is a long time.

Then cut each swim down to 8 x 500 yd for another two weeks. By this time your swim cardio should be sound and you have a good foundation for the season. Once I have this base down I will begin structured workouts.

Remember I am a fishy so this may be too much for some but I think the concept is sound. It's not really any different than getting the base miles in running or cycling except far less impact on the body.

I always thought it was a great workout but always dreaded the day it was written on the board.

Shane

Not really; the body doesn't know the difference between 10x100 with 5s rest and 1000 straight. However, it is quite likely that you will swim the 10x100 faster and with better form and therefore it will be a more beneficial workout for the vast majority of athletes.



Probably - the overally training stress of the 40x50 should be great as you will be swimming harder and the short rest will allow you to maintain good form deeper into the workout. This will help you build both fitness and technique.

Shane

FWIW: The body absolutely knows the difference between 10 x 100 with :05 seconds rest and a 1,000 straight. 10 x 100 with a low rest will increase lactic acid much quicker than a 1,000 straight will, holding at the same pace.

Both have their ups and downs: 10 x 100 will increase endurance in the sense that you'll start feeling the burn around #6, whereas a 1,000 straight, you'll feel the burn around #6, but that'll FORCE you to maintain your pace, and be better prepared for a longer distance in open water. Not only does a 1,000 straight force you to keep your mind occupied for 10, 15, 20 (whatever) minutes at a time, but it also forces you to maintain good technique, thus increasing your endurance. It's much easier to get sloppy in 10 x 100, IMO, since when your body hates you around #6, your technique will get sloppy if you're not an extremely experienced swimmer and can handle the pain.

Now, if you were to do, say 10 x 100 on a certain interval where you are forced to hold the same pace for each one in order to get 5 second rest, that's much more beneficial than the just "take 5 seconds rest between each one". THAT is about the same as doing a 1,000 straight.