Workouts

One-Hour Workout: Aerobic Endurance Form Swim

Improve your swim technique as well as your aerobic fitness with this relaxed pool workout.

November 9, 2022 Emma-Kate Lidbury

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This is the perfect time of year to really slow it down in the pool and focus on your form, while also keeping your aerobic engine ticking over. This week’s One-Hour Workout helps you do exactly that. Don’t be afraid to swim at a relaxed and leisurely pace so you can really concentrate on your stroke. Ideally, you’ll have a coach or trusted training buddy video some of your swimming so you can see what you’re doing right—and what might need some improvement.

Begin the workout with a warm-up of 400 as: 100 swim, 100 kick, 100 pull, 100 drill (choosing a drill that relates to a weakness in your swim stroke technique).

The main set involves a mix of 100s and 200s, all of which should be easy in intensity—think RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) 4-5/10. Swim 6 x 100, taking 30 seconds rest between each 100, followed by 4 x 200, again taking 30 seconds rest between each 200. On each 100 and 200 here, focus on one aspect of your stroke and really work to improve it. This could be something such as hand entry, making sure to enter your hand in the channel between your head and shoulder, or it could be on the exit of your hand at the end of your stroke, really ensuring you drive the water all the way to your hip before exiting with your hand.

You’ll then halve those distances, so 3 x 100, on 30 seconds rest, then 2 x 200, also on 30 seconds rest, but these are to be done at a slighty higher effort (RPE 5-6/10), working to incorporate all of the parts of your stroke you’ve just been focusing on while also upping the intensity just a little. As you start to fatigue you’ll notice it gets harder to keep your stroke mechanics intact.

Wrap it all up with a 200 easy cool-down. If you do have video content from the session, be sure to analyze it with the help of a coach or experienced swimmer to get feedback on how best to keep improving your technique.