Swim Workouts 101

Triathlon Forum
1

My goal here is to get at least 3 possibly 4 days in the pool. My plan is to, maybe incorrectly, base my workouts on a schedule similar to running, with a Long, Speed and tempo type workout. I want to keep things simple because It’s easier for me to acomplish “X” number of “Y” then it is 400 different things in one session.

My “Speed” day’s I typically do 50’s and 100’s. Tempo day is 100’s and 200’s adn LSD day 400’s & 500’s. My problem comes in when trying to figure out how hard and how much recovery I should be taking.

So what are some standard recovery times and efforts for some standard distances in the pool? Does the recovery time go up as the effort goes up? Or should you be doing repeats at an effort that you need “x” amount of recovery?

For example, no laughing I’m a crappy swimmer, I can do an All out 50yd in around 35-40 seconds. But after that effort I would need significant recovery, say 30-40 seconds to be able to even attempt to get close to that again. OTOH If I do one at time of 50’ish I can do several, 5-10, on a minute. Although I’ve not done many all out attempts at 100’s, 200’s etc the same trend seems to appear throughout the distances, which makes sense.

The other question is how should the efforts compare to each other? Obviously I can’t hold the same effort for teh 500’s as the 50’s, but should the effort be such that the RI is the same or shoudl the RI be a percentage of the total time of the interval?

If the above questions make any sense whatso ever any help would be appreciated.

~Matt

2

There seem to be a lot of questions in there, but here goes:
First, you need to figure out what a good pace for you is going to be. For example, if I can cruise 100’s on 1:20 (maybe roll in at 1:15 and get :05 rest), that’s a good starting point. Knowing a good cruising interval is good. That way later you can try to push that interval, and also keep track of progress. I’ll say for this that mine is 1:20.

So for a “tempo day”, stick farly close to this interval. Perhaps try to push it a little. If I’m doing 100’s on 1:20 and am comfortably holding 1:10’s, I might drop it down and go on 1:15. The point (as I see it) of a tempo workout is to hold the same or similar speed. Although somehow I always manage to get faster for the last few. Competitive nature I guess.
Example set: 2x{4x150 @2:00, 100 EZ @ 1:40]

I’d think actually classify distance days pretty close to tempo days. The big difference between the two is the distance of your swims. 400-500 yds instead of 100, 150, 200. Again, assuming I can comfortably swim on 1:20 base, I’d be looking to hold for my 100 splits within a few seconds of what I’d do for repeat 100’s during tempo day. Unless it’s truly LSD day, in which case I’d just do the swims on rest (20 seconds or so), moderate effort. I personally lke doing long swims with a pull buoy and sometimes paddles.
Example distance tempo: 3x300 @4:00, 2x400 @ 5:10, 500@6:20 (probably trying for :20 rest each time)
Example LSD: 2x(500 pull (smooth and relaxed) @ :15 rest, 200 IM kick/drill)

Speed days are the fun ones. Fast swimming, longer rest, etc. When we’re really sprinting hard, I’d say we rarely do anything faster than 1:00 per 50 (and we’re usually rolling in around :25 or so when we’re really sprinting). I don’t know how much effect that would have outside of a competitive swim team though. For triathlon, I’d say “speed day” would be more of lactate threshold day. Faster intervals than tempo day, just trying to hold on. 5 seconds rest for each 100 you do is plenty. That kind of thing.
Example speed set: 3x50 @ :50 hard, 200 EZ @3:00, 2x50 harder @ :55, 200 EZ @ 3:00, 1X50 balls out @ 1:00, 200 EZ @3:00
Example LT set: 4x100 @ 1:20, 3x100 @1:15, 2x100@1:10, 1x100 @1:10 (end of set, doesn’t matter if you make it, just go for it)

I hope that helps. There’s probably a lot more I could say for each one, but it’s bedtime. Gotta race tomorrow morning. Hopefully it doesn’t snow…

3

MJ,

Interval training is actually based on pulse rate. The harder you swim the higher your heart rate goes and the longer recovery time you need. The slower you swim the lower your heart rate and threfore your recover faster.

One of the indicaters of your physical condition is how fast your pulse rate drops and that is an individual thing.

After each swim check your pulse when it drops to where you want it to be take off again. Let your recovery pulse be your guide not the clock.

Most swimmers do not recover long enough between repeats. As you get into better condition you pulse will drop faster and therefore you need less recovery time.

Do some test swims and check your pulse. Only check it for 10 sec. and multiply by 6. Note how long it take to drop.

The pace clock is your friend. Learn how to read it and use it.

DougStern

4

Step 1: Find your aerobic threshold pace by doing either a 30 minute or 3000 yard time trial. Find your average speed per 100. This will give you a starting point for setting up intervals of different types.

Go to http://www.wolverineswimcamp.com/WSCDownloads.html and download the aerobic pace charts. (requires an Excel viewer)

You got your T-30 average pace from the time trial. Use that to find your training pace on the white, red, and blue tabs/cards at the bottom of the chart. The charts also will tell you how much rest per 100 you should be getting.

Once you’ve finished with warm-up, I’d set up practices like:

25% of yardage at white tab paces. This is your long slow distance part of the workout. Not quite as fast as your T-30 pace, but still moving at a decent pace. It’s a good spot to really work on technique. 10 seconds rest per 100 rounded up to a 5 or 0 to make sendoffs easy to deal with.

55% of yardage at red tab paces. This is what the runners would call tempo- slightly faster than your T-30 pace, but you aren’t killing yourself. 10 seconds rest per 100 rounded up to a 5 or 0 to make sendoffs easy to deal with. If you’re a distance swimmer, this is the bread and butter zone to be in most of the time you’re in the pool.

20% of yardage at blue tab paces. This is your speedwork. You’re getting 30-40 seconds of rest per 100, so move at a decent clip. Notice how you have to change your stroke to swim faster.

And remember you can do a distance day entirely of 50s, 75s, and 100s, and an anaerobic day with lots of 200s.

5

Good idea to base it off of your running style of workouts. I do something similar with (when really motivated) 4 swims a week. Speed, Tempo, LSD, wetsuit. With the wetsuit swim being mostly a semi-LSD semi-tempo type swim. Speed would be something like 1000 WU, 20-30x100’s, then pull and WD. Tempo would be a little bit longer with 1000 WU, 5 to 8x- 400’s (m) or 500’s (y) working on negative splitting and descending the times throughout the set and making sure that the effort is above that which i would actually experience in the race. LSD is usually my brain fart day when i just cant think of anything and just feel like getting in and at least doing something. 4500 straight. Similar to a base ride or base run. Simple. I try not to stop when performing this. My goal is to swim at least as long as I would in my races without stopping. This is great for preparing both the body and the mind for the task at hand should you be doing a full IM. If doing a Half or Olympic 30 minutes should suffice.

Good luck!

6

Thanks for the info. I think by combining these suggestions I can get a solid idea of how hard, how long and how much recovery I should be taking. Now alls I hav to do is do it and see if I actually get any faster…

~Matt

7

interesting that a “crappy swimmer” can do a 50 in 35 seconds. I can do a 50 in 50s on a good day, let’s talk crappy!

Right now even less because recovering from herniated disk, last week I did 6 * 50 on 2:00 and was beat at the end.

I agree the idea of speed one day, distance one day, tempo one day is good, also agree the time trial to establish base pace is good, then establish pace for each type of workout.

I also like “Swim Workouts in a Binder”.

8

" interesting that a “crappy swimmer” can do a 50 in 35 seconds."

That’s 1 and only one certainly not repeats…That’s probably with a tailwind and downhill too. I suppose I could do two if I had 3-4 minutes rest between. Considering some here are doing 100 repeats on an interval similar to my actual MAX swim speed for half the distance…well that’s pretty crappy.

I really am pretty crappy. Not really BOP of BOP but definately BOP. Hoping to claw my way up to MOP this year though.

I think Workouts in a binder is a good idea. Maybe I’ll make some up and break them up into, “Speed”, “Tempo” and “LSD” workouts.

~Matt

9

Workouts in a binder has a sample swimming schedule in it. It will give you an idea when to do which type of workout.

I’ve got mine here and can scan it for you if you need it.

jaretj

10

I think you need to plan your workouts based on your race goals. What distance are you racing and when? Are you in base or build phase?

If you’re in build, I think tempos are good, but I’d hold off on 50 and 100 sprints till you’re 4 weeks from race day. This is assuming you’re going longer than sprint distance tri.