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- Do you ever head to the pool for a swim
and stand on the edge of the pool and wonder,
"What on Earth should I be doing?"
Well, don't worry.
You are definitely not alone.
So many swimmers just jump in the pool
and swim back and forth without a plan.
But if you're really serious about trying
to improve your swimming and improve your performance,
then this is definitely not the way you want to be training.
You want to be following a structured and specific workout
with a clear goal in mind.
So today I'm going to be helping you with designing
and structuring your own swim workout.
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Now as a very simple overview,
a swim set should include all of or some of the following.
A warmup, a pre-set or drill set, a main set, a post set,
and a cool down.
But for most of us out there,
and particularly, for those time crunched amongst us,
at a very minimum, you want to be including a warmup,
a main set, and a cool down.
Now many of you out there are probably used to heading
to the pool and knowing that you need to cover,
say, 2,000 to 3,000 meters,
but that's about it very often.
Now actually just plodding up and down and covering
that distance isn't going to make you the best swimmer
that you're capable of.
You want to be having structure in your session
and really focusing on key areas such as your speed,
your strength, your technique, and so on,
all in the most efficient way possible to really maximize
that use of all your precious time.
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So let's begin with the warmup.
So the aim of the warmup is, surprise, surprise,
to warm the body up.
Also to mobilize the joints, wake the body up,
and really get the muscles ready for that workout ahead.
This is, obviously, going to result in better performance
during that workout and going forward.
But also it's going to reduce the risk of injury.
So with that in mind,
it's really important that you ease into warmups.
In fact, before you even get in the water,
on the pool deck, I'd really advise you
to do some arm swings just to mobilize those joints.
Simple things like a single arm swing
or even a double arm swing as you wrap your arms
across your chest and outwards again.
And then when you are ready, jump into the pool,
but ease yourself in.
Build into it really gradually.
Far too many people start off way too fast in a warmup.
In terms of what you actually do in your warmup,
well, I'd really advise you break it down into nice
bite-sized chunks, rather than just jumping in
and trying to do 1K straight.
So something like 200 meters freestyle,
take a 20 to 30 second rest,
200 meters pull, take a similar rest,
100 meters kick, rest,
and then finishing with 100 meters drill of your choice.
So that gives you a 600 meter warmup.
But note this; all that in easy easy aerobic pace.
The pull work there is to isolate the arms
and make sure that they're really warmed up
and ready for the workout ahead.
The kick is the same.
The technique work is really there to enforce good technique
prior to the main set, and hopefully make sure you'll
be carrying that technique forward
into the rest of the workout.
Now honestly, 600 meters is plenty
for most people out there,
particularly if you're doing 2K or less
for the entire workout.
But if it is still quite punchy for you,
then do, obviously, feel free to break that down
into slightly smaller chunks and slightly shorter reps.
But if on the other hand, you are planning on doing
some slightly longer workout, 2K or more,
then you're going to want to do a slightly longer warmup,
something around 800 meters or so.
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Right, now into the meaty bit, the main set.
But before we do so, just give yourself a minute
or so to collect yourself.
We're going to make sure that you're prepared,
you know what you're doing and what your goals are.
Now I like to break these goals down
into four different types.
We've got your aerobic endurance distance sets.
We've got those speed sets, threshold sets,
and then, finally, we've got the technique
and strength sets.
Now I'm not saying that you need to be doing
all four different types in one week,
but I would really advise that you're mixing things up
and each swim has a different goal and a different focus.
But, of course, if you are planning on swimming three,
four, or more times per week then, of course, yes,
you are going to start repeating yourself.
So what you actually decide to focus on and pick
depends on a few things: your current fitness level,
the time of the year, maybe the time of your season
if you are competing, and your strength and weaknesses.
So say, for example, you're fairly new to swimming
or maybe just not feeling that confident in the water
at the moment, then you're going to want to do aerobic swims,
you want to do technique swims,
and maybe strength swims for good measure.
But if you are focusing on an event and it's getting close
to that race, then you're going to want to do a threshold swim
in your weekly training schedule.
That's going to really help you hone in
on those race intensities.
But if you have identified a weakness,
perhaps you can swim at a nice aerobic pace all day long,
but you lack that top-end speed,
then you want to include a speed workout
to really knock that top-end speed up.
So that's really interesting,
but how do we actually structure a workout?
Well, let's start off with a typical aerobic set.
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So this might look something like one times
400 meters with 25 seconds rest.
Then into two by 200 meters with 25 seconds rest.
And then finishing off with four lots of 100 meters,
also with 25 seconds rest.
So as the name suggests, this should be aerobic.
You shouldn't be breathing hard through this set.
In fact, it's somewhere around 65 per cent of your maximum.
And if you are looking to achieve or do longer distances
in your swims, then this is the kind of set
that you can start increasing incrementally.
A good example that I've always enjoyed doing myself
is 16 lots of 25 meters as every fourth 25, maximum effort.
And then all the others, an easy aerobic pace,
taking 30 seconds recovery between.
Then 12 lots of 25 meters as every third, max,
taking 25 seconds recovery.
And then eight lots of 25 meters as every second, max,
taking 20 seconds recovery,
and then finishing with two lots of 25, all max effort,
taking 15 seconds recovery.
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So all in all that's a 950 meter main set.
And it's quite fun because it really focuses
on that quality max effort with a nice,
long recovery to start off with.
And then it reduces that recovery over time.
But if you are starting out with the speed reps
or something, maybe, you lack,
then I would recommend something for nice, short reps.
You really do get that quality
and really unleash that speed.
We're now on to the threshold sets,
and these are, possibly, the least enjoyed
because they really do push the body.
The idea is that it's getting you to work
at your body's threshold for a sustained period of time.
And typically, we refer to a threshold in swimming
as your best pace over 20 minutes.
Now, of course, you can get an exact number
for this threshold pace doing things like the CSS test,
or you can just take a bit of a punt
using some of your old times.
Now I would add, if you are fairly new to swimming
or you just plan on swimming for fun,
then this is not for you.
But if you are looking to improve your performance
and further your swimming, then I would
highly recommend doing these sets.
A classic threshold set example is four lots of 100 meters
at threshold pace, taking a relatively short recovery
of 15 to 20 seconds.
Then into one 100 meter easy, taking a longer 30 to 40
second recovery, and then repeating the set through one,
two, or even three more times.
Now you notice that the recoveries were quite short
in this set, and it does make it really quite tough.
But providing you are working at your threshold pace
and you're not going beyond that,
it really should be doable, although I will warn,
it does bite a little bit towards the end.
And finally, we're on to
the technique and strength sessions.
Now this is an opportunity to focus on your technique
for an entire session.
Now as I mentioned earlier, I really recommend
with technique work to just break this down
into nice bite-sized chunks,
nice short reps to focus on good quality technique.
And then you can just reset after those reps
and then off you go again.
Also, the strength work, this is great
during the off season.
I like to do a lot of this.
I'd include some pool work
to really isolate and work the arms.
And then you can also include paddle work,
and that will really emphasize that
and really work on that strength.
And finally, to finish a set we have the cool down,
which is a bit, I know a lot of people skip out.
I know that because I used to do it a lot, myself.
But honestly, it is so important to include.
The reason being, it actually keeps the blood flowing,
and that helps to remove some of the waste products
like lactic acid that can really pull in the muscles.
And in turn, that's going to help improve your recovery
and allow you to back up those sessions day after day.
Now it doesn't need to be long.
At a very minimum, 200 meters.
I typically advise something like 100 meters kick,
followed by 200 meters swim.
All right, I know that there's a lot of information
to take in there, so if you do have any questions,
please do drop them in the comments section below
and I'll do my best to answer them for you.
But a final little tip for you here is that
when you do have that main set or the whole workout,
write it down on a piece of paper,
bring that along to the swimming pool.
Actually, you can stick that to a kick board by splashing
a bit of water at it, or alternatively, onto a swim block.
But just make sure you do remove it
at the end of the workout because that will annoy
the pool staff quite a bit.
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If you'd like to see or how it's performed, a CSS test,
you can see that by clicking just down here.
And if you'd like to see our "How to Swim Freestyle" video,
you can see that by clicking just down here.