(electronic music)
- With the swim being the first leg of the triathlon,
getting a good swim can completely change your race.
So standing on that start line, with confidence,
like Heather is showing just here,
can make you feel a lot more relaxed and happy.
Unfortunately it is gonna take a little effort.
So today we are here at the Best swim centre
in Majorca to share a few of our
essential workouts to help.
An aerobic session is as it says on the tin,
is a session that works the body aerobically.
It shouldn't be long bursting,
but it does train the cardiovascular system and muscles.
- These aerobic sessions allow you
to cover the distance you would
in a triathlon swim.
It'll build the physiological base that you need
as a foundation for adding that extra
intensity and specific training on top.
A good example of a main set is
five lots of 400 metres
at 60- 75% of your maximum heart rate,
with 20 to 30 seconds of recovery between each interval.
So that's a total of 2000 metres
broken down with a relatively short rest
between each rep.
- Threshold swimming is just a quick way
of saying lactate threshold.
They're the same thing.
Anything above your threshold,
and your body will start to become
overwhelmed with lactic acid.
So you can calculate this threshold pace
by doing a critical swim speed test,
or better known as the CSS test.
This is simply a 400 metre
followed by a 200 metre,
best effort time trial
with around five minutes recovery
between each efforts.
Threshold sessions are tough
so breaking them down into 100 metre reps is a good start.
Do four lots of 100 metres at threshold
with 10 to 20 seconds recovery between each rep.
Followed by 100 metres easy with 30 seconds recovery.
Then repeat this block four times through.
- Just as you would use the track session
to improve your running speed,
you can do a sprint session in the pool
to improve your swim speed.
Now, the key to this type of session
is going all out on the fast bits.
So you should see a noticeable difference in your pace.
And with these type of sessions,
it's important to have a good recovery between reps.
So to focus on your top end speed,
you can try this session.
Three lots of 50 metres.
Split into 25 metre maximum effort,
followed by 25 metres easy,
and then the fourth 50 metres should be all easy.
Repeat this whole set twice through.
- Technique is so often forgotten,
especially when we're limited for time.
Ironing out your technique can
make your stoke more efficient,
meaning more speed for no extra effort.
Break the stroke down to focus on the individual areas.
Hand entry, catch, pull, rotation, breathing, kick,
and so on.
This is where drills come in,
they focus on these specific areas
to steady and controled pace.
Now, if you're not able to devote
a whole session to technique,
we advise trying to fit a little bit
of technical focus into your other swim sessions.
You can include four lots of 50 metres
into you warmup or warm down.
Split the 50 metres into 25 metres drill
straight into 25 metres swim
with a good technique.
So there you've got four great
and very different workouts
that will have you swimming faster.
Now try and approach these sessions
focused with a good plan and structure in place
to really get the most out of them.
- To subscribe to the
Global Triathlon Network for free,
click on the globe,
and for the workouts playlist,
click here,
and if you want to find out more about GTN,
then click here.