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How do you build your swim workouts?
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This is a question for the fishes here.


Disclosure: I am AOS swimmer, started with triathlons in my late 20s. I completely sucked at swimming, so it used to be my least favorite part of triathlons and of course as a result didn't swim train consistently (yes I know ...). Some years later I swam for a few months with a master's swim team which I liked a lot (shout-out to RedTide Masters). That's where I saw what real swim training was like. Unfortunately they no longer swim in the only pool that was convenient for me to attend.

Now in my early 30s with 2 young kids and no real pressure or enough time to train for triathlons I finally discovered the real joy of swimming and jumping into the swimming pool during lunch break. I would really love to commit to becoming a good swimmer.

My question is how do you build your swim workouts? Compared to bike or run workouts, the swim workouts I see posted in the swim threads by the fishes or the ones I used to follow with my former swim team seem so much more complex, elaborate and full of variations and little details. Short intervals, long intervals, variation in swimming styles, number of repeats, number of sets, pull buoys, paddles, etc. no single workout ever looks the same. Any advice on how I can approach this is appreciated.

So far I've been swimming consistently for the past 3 months. I've been mostly focusing on upping my mileage and trying to maintain good technique without obsessing about times too much yet. I swim in 25m pool, I currently swim ~2200m per workout in ~45min, 3-4/week hoping to start doing 5/week consistently soon and up the mileage per workout further. I've definitely felt improvement, starting from 2:10 3 months ago to 1:40-1:45 on my 100m repeats. I feel my body has become more fit and I want to keep progressing. I started incorporating some paddles and pull buys as of a week ago.

So far my workouts have been pretty basic: 300-400 warmup, usually 1 but sometimes 2 main sets, and some cool down (all freestyle, with some 50 kick thrown here and there (I am a terrible kicker))
Main sets have been pretty basic as well, like
100/200/300/400/500 ladder
1500 at threshold on occasion
multiple 200s swim
3x 200pull+paddes/200pull/200swim
10x100 with 10-15sec rest
6x25 as second main set
combination of 200s 300s 400s or 500s swim/pull/or pull+paddles

I've been reading through some of the swim threads, and what I can deduce is that I should probably incorporate sets for both technique (short interval lengths, e.g. 25/50 with a lot of rest) and endurance and fitness (100/200 and higher)

How do you determine:
# sets,
# repeats,
how much rest between repeats or sets
what mixture of interval lengths

Other questions:
Is there benefit in me learning to flip turn? (I swim open turns only so far)
Should I incorporate other styles? (can do breast, have a terrible backstroke and no clue how to do butterfly)
Last edited by: dbg0: Jun 27, 19 21:16
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Re: How do you build your swim workouts? [dbg0] [ In reply to ]
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How to build a set? There’s really soooo many ways to do it.

My favourite way is to let someone else do it for me (eg masters or tri club). That’s most of the workouts I post, and tbh they’re the more creative ones. Other times I’ll see something online that jives with what I want to accomplish and do that.

But, when I do have to create something on my own, First 2 things are goals for the day, and how much time do i have. And what does experience tell me that I need and can handle.

For me, I typically have time for about 3k and I need at least 800 to warm up and 200 to warm down. I almost always do the same basic warmup. So that leaves 2000 for the main set

If it’s a distance day, then I’ll just pick an interval length whatever I feel like on the day. That’ll drive the number of repeats. Then I’ll see if I can add some twist to stave off boredom. And on top of that, unless it’s a test set I like it to be something I’ve never done before. Making the set a mathematical progression is always a bonus.

Sprint / lactate days are a little different. I typically want to do at least a couple of different strokes, so I need to decide that. I need a lead in activation set after warmup (kick is great here) to get ready for some intensity. And then it’s a matter of deciding how much pain I’m prepared to handle (usually not that much compared to when I was younger)

And on top of all that, the practice needs to fit into whatever point in the season I’m at. Summer is off/preseason for me, so it’s more about technical refinement and trying to maintain fitness. Fall /winter is the swim season, with championship meets in April / May.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: How do you build your swim workouts? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you for your reply, there was some good info for me.

My schedule allows me to swim only by myself during lunch time these days, so getting team workouts is not an option unfortunately. Otherwise I agree it being my favorite option too :)

I hope you don’t mind if I ask a few follow up questions.

What is the typical amount of rest you incorporate between different length intervals and between sets?

How do u make a swim day easy? (Eg if I’m feeling too tired from previous day). Is it simply a matter of adjusting pacing or a different more aerobic workout altogether? Or reducing the volume for that day?

If I want to reinforce good technique every workout, do I swim short intervals where I can focus on mechanics, with a lot of rest in between? What is the best part of the workout to include something like that? (Right after warmup?)

I’m pretty much focused on freestyle at this point, but would including other strokes have any benefits on improving my freestyle?
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Re: How do you build your swim workouts? [dbg0] [ In reply to ]
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Some may disagree, but I firmly believe incorporating other strokes, flip turns and even kicking will ultimately make you a better freestyle swimmer.

What works for me is a combination.

Warm up
Short drill set (extended warm up)
Main set 100’s, 200’s sometimes combinations
3-400 kick (I like kicking)
Secondary set time and energy permitting incorporating other strokes
Cool down
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Re: How do you build your swim workouts? [dbg0] [ In reply to ]
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dbg0 wrote:
Thank you for your reply, there was some good info for me.

My schedule allows me to swim only by myself during lunch time these days, so getting team workouts is not an option unfortunately. Otherwise I agree it being my favorite option too :)

I hope you don’t mind if I ask a few follow up questions.

What is the typical amount of rest you incorporate between different length intervals and between sets?

How do u make a swim day easy? (Eg if I’m feeling too tired from previous day). Is it simply a matter of adjusting pacing or a different more aerobic workout altogether? Or reducing the volume for that day?

If I want to reinforce good technique every workout, do I swim short intervals where I can focus on mechanics, with a lot of rest in between? What is the best part of the workout to include something like that? (Right after warmup?)

I’m pretty much focused on freestyle at this point, but would including other strokes have any benefits on improving my freestyle?

I had a really good well thought out response, and then my browser glitched and I lost it all, so you'll have to do with this.

1) rest between intervals varies wildly, I wouldn't say there's a "typical" amount. Basically, I rest "enough" to achieve the training goal for the day, which I'll typically define as a goal race pace. By goal race pace, I mean I'll want to hit 100 race pace, or 200, or 400, or 800/1500 pace. Hitting 100 race pace requires more rest between intervals than 1500 pace. Sometimes the goal is to overexert and be unable to hit the target paces (e.g. lactate tolerance sets), so there are a lot of factors.

2) Too tired? I usually make those days into technique days.

3) Warmup is where you want to establish the technique, then try to carry that through to the rest of the practice. I don't usually do specific technique sets (except as in point #2)

4) Other strokes (especially backstroke) are fantastic for improving your freestyle. backstroke will magnify body position errors, encourage rotation and stimulate core engagement. Remember to keep your hips up and chin up so you're looking at the ceiling, not your feet. Breast and Fly are good too, but most triathletes swim those strokes so poorly that I'm not sure that the benefits are quite as strong.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: How do you build your swim workouts? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you, including backstroke does seem like a good idea. Now I need to learn to do it properly :)

A couple more questions. I apologize if some of them may seem silly.

What do u consider technique intervals? Is it the length, the pace, and/or the rest? E.g. today I did some 50s at controlled but hard pace with enough rest to not get gassed and get my stoke out of control while paying attention to some stoke aspects. Would that be technique interval even though it felt hard? By same extension can 200s or 400s be technique intervals if I do them slowly enough that I don’t break form?

Does it matter if I swim on fixed repeat times or with fixed rest between repeats?

Should I include paddles and pull buoy in every workout? Before or after the main swim set?

How important is kicking? I barely do any and I see most of your WOD workouts have some reasonable amount incorporated into them (e.g. as past of swim-kick-pull sequence)
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Re: How do you build your swim workouts? [chriskal] [ In reply to ]
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Any suggestion on easiest way to learn to flip turn?
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Re: How do you build your swim workouts? [dbg0] [ In reply to ]
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Practice... I was a non swimmer and didn't do flip turns for a year or so but then just started the process. You will be terrible at first but over time you improve. As you fatigue it gets harder and different pools become a challenge but just start doing them otherwise you will never learn. If you can have someone critique you would help but I never had that luxury...
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Re: How do you build your swim workouts? [dbg0] [ In reply to ]
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My suggestion would be to go to the fishes thread, and pinch the workouts that appear to meet your goal needs, and the ones that look fun. I do that all the time, read what someone does, and then do it, or a modification of it. All of the ex swimmers have a good grasp of what they should be doing, our job is to make it interesting and fun for us, so that we don't get bored.

But you do see a lot of AOS types doing almost the same exact same things each day, probably have coaches. They think they are mixing it up, but doing 2x1000 or 2xx100 with 5 seconds rest, are basically the same workout. And yes, you are fast enough now to use some paddles and buoy, and do some kicking. And throw in some strokes too, it all helps you get body awareness, what a lot like to call feel for the water..

My standard day begins right with a set, easing into it as the warm up. Then some main set, some kicking, some pulling, some stroke, and done between 2000 and 4000 yards. I usually kick 20 to 25%, pull 25 to 50%, and swim the rest free or in strokes, depending on what I'm training for. Short rest is the norm, as it is OW distance swims we mostly are swimming for, but occasionally there is a swim meet that requires very short swims, on long rest. Something all swimmers should do regardless, speed gains trickle up to longer distances over time..
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