Swim Speed Workout: Speed, Technique And Aerobic Swimming
This swim workout focuses on speed, technique and aerobic swimming with breath control.
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Swim Speed Workouts is a deck of waterproof cards of workouts, drills and dryland exercises that are carefully designed to develop a fast freestyle technique. We’ll be featuring a few workouts from the deck over the next few weeks. Look for the book in bookstores or online.
Swim Speed Workouts For Swimmers And Triathletes: Week 1, Workout 3
Purpose: Speed, technique, and aerobic swimming with breath control.
These send-off intervals are from my training log. Note the effort level and rest descriptions, and adjust the interval to be right for you. All sets are important, so if you need to reduce volume, cut the number of repetitions. Avoid eliminating any set entirely.
Warm-up
2 × 400 @ 0:20 rest 60–65% effort
1st 400: 100 free / 100 kick / 100 drill / 100 free
2nd 400: 100 fly / 100 kick / 100 drill / 100 fly
If you don’t know how to do butterfly, substitute another stroke.
9 × 100 pull with buoy @ 1:30 70–75% effort (rest was 0:15)
3 rounds:
100 breathe every 3 strokes (1.5 full stroke cycles)
100 breathe every 5 strokes (2.5 full stroke cycles)
100 breathe every 7 strokes (3.5 full stroke cycles)
Breathe from your diaphragm. If 5 or 7 strokes are too much, try one or two 25s at that pattern sometime during the 100. Add extra rest if needed between repeats to remain calm and controlled.
Main Set
8 × 75 @ 1:30 (rest was 0:35)
Odds: 25 Tarzan drill fast 90–95% / 50 easy 60–65% effort
Evens: 25 fast 90–95% / 50 easy 60–65% effort
The 25s focus on quality, so take at least as much rest as I did
Download the PDF version of the workout here.
More excerpts from “Swim Speed Workouts.”
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