One-Hour Workout: Breathing Pattern And Pull Work

Every Tuesday we’ll feature a different coach’s workout you can complete in 60 minutes (or less!).

This week’s swim workout comes from John Murray, a USAT Level II-certified coach and co-founder of Team Multisport Performance Institute (TeamMPI.com). This workout has a two-part focus: working on your breathing pattern and your distance per stroke. “Turning your head to breathe has the potential to make your legs sink and disrupt your rhythm,” Murray says. “For this workout, focus on keeping the head aligned with the spine for smooth and effortless breathing.”

RELATED – Ask Coach Sara: What Is A Normal Breathing Pattern?

One-Hour Workout: Breathing Pattern and Pull Work

For the breathing pattern swims, swim four lengths, switching breathing pattern from one breath every two strokes the first length, to one breath every three strokes, then to every four and finally every five. Focus on exhaling briskly underwater, keeping your arms moving continuously and keeping your head aligned with your spine.

Let’s begin to count arm strokes with this workout. A swimmer with low drag and great hold on the water is efficient and covers more ground with each stroke. We call this maximum distance per stroke (or Max DPS). As you swim these sets, begin to get an idea of how much distance you can cover with each stroke or note how low your count can get.

Warm-up
400 easy warm-up mix or about 10 minutes of easy swimming. You can include drills, kicking, etc., as long as it is EASY.

Main Set
Take 1–2 minutes between each set
300 easy kicking w/ fins (on your back or front, with or without a kickboard)
4×100 easy (breathe every 2, 3, 4, 5), rest 15–20 seconds between each 100
8×25 swim (Max DPS), rest 10 seconds between each 25
4×100 easy (breathe every 2, 3, 4, 5), rest 15–20 seconds between each 100
8×25 swim (Max DPS), rest 10 seconds between each 25

Cool-down
200 easy recovery

Total yardage = 2100

RELATED – One-Hour Workout: Simple Swim Drills Plus Pacing

More one-hour workouts.