The Daily Swim - FREE SWIMMING WORKOUTS

Boost_Swimming · February 25, 2013, 7:30pm

Welcome to the Boost Training System free workouts for the week of February 25th. If you are going to jump into this training system for the first time, start by reading the Boost Training Guide, do the test workout, download the Boost Pace Chart and input your results to calculate your paces and base interval. Most days, there will be a specific goal for each repeat in the main series that will add accountability and make the workouts fun, purposeful and effective.

If you have questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers!

-Jeff

Workouts for the week of February 25, 2013

Workout #1

 Yards    Set Description                                 EGY 
======    =============================================== === 
   200    1 x 200 on 1:00 Warm up                         REC 
   800    16 x 50 on :15 alternate IM order                F1 
 1,600 1x{16 x 25 on :10 Fly alternate recovery/fast x 25  S3 
         {8 x 100 on :15 back/breast x 50                  F2 
         {16 x 25 on :10 free alternate recovery/fast x25  S3 
   750    6 x 125 on :15 kick w/ fins 75 recovery/50 fast  F2 
   300    3 x 100 on :15 recovery                         REC 
       3,650 Yards

Workout #2

 Yards    Set Description                           EGY 
======    ========================================= === 
   200    1 x 200 on 1:00 Warm up                   REC 
   600 2x{4 x 50 on :15 Descend 1&#8209;4; hold OSC        F2 
         {4 x 25 on :15 Speed play choice of stroke  S3 
   200    1 x 200 on 1:00 recovery                  REC 
           SCORE TRAINING set 
           (50's=1pt., 100's=4pts for 24 total) 
 1,200 3x{4 x 50 on :20 Choice of stroke FAST        S3 
         {1 on 1:00 Extra minute rest 
         {1 x 100 on 1:00 Choice of stroke FAST      S2 
         {1 x 100 on 1:00 recovery                  REC 
   900    3 x 300 on :BI Pull brth 3/5/7 x 100       F1 
   300    3 x 100 on :15 recovery                   REC 
       3,400 Yards

Workout #3

 Yards    Set Description                                EGY 
======    ============================================== === 
   200    1 x 200 on 1:00 Warm up                        REC 
   600 3x{1 x 100 on :15 free 50 6ks/ 50s                 F1 
         {1 x 100 on :15 IM                               F1 
           SCORE TRAINING set 
           Each F1=1pt, F2=2pts, F3=3pts for total of 18 
 1,800 1x{1 x 100 on :BI free                             F1 
         {1 x 100 on :BI free                             F2 
         {1 x 100 on :BI free                             F3 
         {1 x 200 on :BI free                             F1 
         {1 x 200 on :BI free                             F2 
         {1 x 200 on :BI free                             F3 
         {1 x 300 on :BI free                             F1 
         {1 x 300 on :BI free                             F2 
         {1 x 300 on :BI free                             F3 
   800    4 x 200 on :15 50 fr/ 50 br w/ paddles          F1 
   300    3 x 100 on :15 recovery                        REC 
       3,700 Yards

Workout #4

       12:00 PM  Start 
 Yards    Set Description                                EGY 
======    ============================================== === 
   200    1 x 200 on 1:00 Warm up                        REC 
   600    1 x 600 on 1:00 Free 50 right/50 s/50 lft/ 50s  F1 
           SCORE TRAINING SET 
           each F3=1pt for total of 10 
 1,950 1x{4 x 150 on :BI                    free                         F3 
         {1 x 150 on :BI+:05 free                         F1 
         {3 x 150 on :BI     free                         F3 
         {1 x 150 on :BI+:05 free                         F1 
         {2 x 150 on :BI     free                         F3 
         {1 x 150 on :BI+:05 free                         F1 
         {1 x 150 on :BI free                             F3 
   500    5 x 100 on :30 kick no fins fastest avg.        S1 
   600    6 x 100 on :15 recovery 50fr/ 50bk             REC 
       3,850 Yards

Workout #5

 Yards    Set Description                                    EGY 
======    ================================================== === 
   200    1 x 200 on 1:00 Warm up                            REC 
   600    4 x 150 on :15 25 kick on side/ 25 free             F1 
           SCORE TRAINING SET 
           (each F2 swim=1pt for total of 20) 
 2,400 1x{1 x 100 on :BI free recovery                       REC 
         {2 x 100 on :BI free                                 F2 
         {1 x 100 on :BI free recovery                       REC 
         {4 x 100 on :BI free                                 F2 
         {1 x 100 on :BI free recovery                       REC 
         {6 x 100 on :BI free                                 F2 
         {1 x 100 on :BI free recovery                       REC 
         {8 x 100 on :BI free                                 F2 
   300    12 x 25 on :30 All FAST                             S3 
           14 up and outs (or 2 more than you did last week) 
   300    3 x 100 on :15 recovery                            REC 
       3,800 Yards

www.boostswimming.com

Jeff’s Bio

RandyS · February 25, 2013, 9:11pm

Maybe it is because I don’t have a swim background but these workouts are the most complicated I have seen. I tried to decipher them from your guide & pace chart but I’m at a loss. The pace chart doesn’t seem to be editable (or rather, I can’t get the spreadsheet to treat the pace time as a time in mm:ss.##). The numbers already in the pace chart indicate a base interval of 1:30 while the various speeds list the slowest (F1) as a 1:18.

Also, I thought that convention would interpret a set such as 1x200 on 1:00 as that the 200 & rest period would total 1:00 (i.e. 5x100 on 2:00 would mean do five 100s with a send off every 2 minutes or if you did the 100s at 1:30 then you would have a 30" rest interval). Shouldn’t your example be 1x200 with 1:00 RI?

Boost_Swimming · February 25, 2013, 10:10pm

Randy,

I’m not sure why the pace chart isn’t editable for you. You should be able to enter your fitness test time in mm:ss.0 format. If you pm me your numbers, I can input them and send you your chart.

For the rest intervals, we use two different formats:

A rest interval based on a specific amount of rest (independent of the time it took you to swim the repeat). So, if it reads:“1 x 200 on 1:00 Warm up”, this means you do a 200 warm up, rest one minute, and then do the next set. So, you had it right when you interpreted it as a “RI”. For most of the warm up, speed, kick and pull sets, the interval will be set as a specific amount of rest.
A variation of your base interval (BI).So, if it reads:“10 x 100 on BI Free”, this means you take your base interval that was generated in the pace chart and apply that. This is the total amount of time for your swim and rest. This just gives you a much more specific amount of rest based on your most recent test. Once you do the test workout and input your numbers, you will have a base interval and pace to work with on each of the freestyle main sets.

Thanks for asking as I’m sure there are others that have the same questions. This system is a bit more complex than what is probably standard, but it’s proven and effective. Hopefully, it’s worth the extra effort to understand.

If I can be of help, feel free to contact me via pm.

-Jeff

NordicSkier · February 25, 2013, 10:46pm

Have any sets geared to triathlon?

Boost_Swimming · February 25, 2013, 11:26pm

Nordic,

This is a high intensity week (week 3 of our 4 week cycle), so the distances are shorter and there is more speed work. Some weeks have more high volume repeats. All of it is important if you want to get faster in my experience.

-Jeff

NordicSkier · February 25, 2013, 11:40pm

Nordic,

This is a high intensity week (week 3 of our 4 week cycle), so the distances are shorter and there is more speed work. Some weeks have more high volume repeats. All of it is important if you want to get faster in my experience.

-Jeff

It’s not about the intensity or volume, it’s the style of the workouts. These are “swimmer” type sets.

mattbk · February 26, 2013, 1:25am

Nordic,

This is a high intensity week (week 3 of our 4 week cycle), so the distances are shorter and there is more speed work. Some weeks have more high volume repeats. All of it is important if you want to get faster in my experience.

-Jeff

It’s not about the intensity or volume, it’s the style of the workouts. These are “swimmer” type sets.

Here you go:
Swim 4k straight and slow; repeat a couple times month until your last race, then stop swimming until spring…

Seriously though…good triathlon swimmers and open water top guys swim like swimmers, because they swim…

RandyS · February 26, 2013, 2:36am

Here you go:
Swim 4k straight and slow; repeat a couple times month until your last race, then stop swimming until spring…

Seriously though…good triathlon swimmers and open water top guys swim like swimmers, because they swim…

So is your argument that you should train the same way as if your main event is 100m free or 3.8K? If so, that seems of dubious logic. Sure, a top 100m swimmer will beat the goggles off the non-swimmer even in an ironman but that doesn’t mean that we should all train as if the goal is a fast 100. People who bother to read this (and similar) thread probably don’t think that just swimming LSD all the time is the best approach.

To OP: I will have to look at the guide in a bit more detail but it would be insightful to know how this fits into the overall plan and what the goal of that plan is (e.g. fast Olympic or if it varies based on the athlete’s need & goal). Personally, I need to know the goals & general approach of a plan before I’m willing to go “all in” and follow it. Of course, that’s just one opinion. Thanks again for posting & sharing your wealth of experience.

mattbk · February 26, 2013, 2:56am

He said this was a high intensity week. There will be distance focus too, i assume. I do not suggest training for the 100. A triathlete swimmer should look to train like a 1500 guy/gal…

fulla · February 26, 2013, 3:10am

He said this was a high intensity week. There will be distance focus too, i assume. I do not suggest training for the 100. A triathlete swimmer should look to train like a 1500 guy/gal…

which is pretty hard to do when most triathletes are not swimming more than 5kms a session…

duffman · February 26, 2013, 3:32am

For most triathletes, improving pace in the 100 m free will translate directly to improvements in longer swims…

mattbk · February 26, 2013, 1:19pm

He said this was a high intensity week. There will be distance focus too, i assume. I do not suggest training for the 100. A triathlete swimmer should look to train like a 1500 guy/gal…

which is pretty hard to do when most triathletes are not swimming more than 5kms a session…

Style, not yardage. Swimming in triathlon is not some other sport. Look at what the fast tri/ow swimmers do for training. They swim like swimmers. Lots of reps in the 100-300 range. Want to make it like a long ride/run? Use short rest…

atasic · February 26, 2013, 1:43pm

This is very nice, very good job. I just stumbled up on this, have no idea when you started posting these and what lead to it. It represents good variety and will brake boredom for sure. There is also a great danger that may lead to some improvement among triathletes too.
Just like anything on ST, it has to turn into semi argument- argument and second guessing. I would disregard it. In the end very nice of you to make this public. Workouts are very sound.
All this is coming from an age group swim coach, take it as a compliment. Triathletes are developmental swimmers, most are developmentally at or below the level of 10 and under, this is more than appropriate.

ajthomas · February 26, 2013, 1:59pm

Yeah this is a nice workout series. For those doubters out there, the op, was a National Champion in the open water 10k. He probably has “some” ideas of merit.

RandyS · February 26, 2013, 2:23pm

Yeah this is a nice workout series. For those doubters out there, the op, was a National Champion in the open water 10k. He probably has “some” ideas of merit.

I haven’t seen anyone post on this threat who would be a “doubter”. Both I and NordicSkier asked some questions about the goals (e.g. was this geared to triathletes and if so what distance). The OP promptly clarified some of the points. If we don’t ask, we will never improve our understanding. There are many national champions & high level swimmers out there and they have slightly different approaches. That doesn’t mean any of them would be wrong. But when Mattbk suggests that we should all just swim 4k at a slow pace, he’s not helping the discussion and obviously wants to just come across as an arrogant dick.

mattbk · February 26, 2013, 2:39pm

Yeah this is a nice workout series. For those doubters out there, the op, was a National Champion in the open water 10k. He probably has “some” ideas of merit.

I haven’t seen anyone post on this threat who would be a “doubter”. Both I and NordicSkier asked some questions about the goals (e.g. was this geared to triathletes and if so what distance). The OP promptly clarified some of the points. If we don’t ask, we will never improve our understanding. There are many national champions & high level swimmers out there and they have slightly different approaches. That doesn’t mean any of them would be wrong. But when Mattbk suggests that we should all just swim 4k at a slow pace, he’s not helping the discussion and obviously wants to just come across as an arrogant dick.

I typed it with a a winking face Relax dude… Then I added a serious comment. You are being an asshole. My joking slow 4k response was to nordicskier, because he was implying that triathlon requires special triathlete sets for swimming. I have provided insight and info…all you and nordic have done is bitch…

mattbk · February 26, 2013, 2:41pm

Yeah this is a nice workout series. For those doubters out there, the op, was a National Champion in the open water 10k. He probably has “some” ideas of merit.

I haven’t seen anyone post on this threat who would be a “doubter”. Both I and NordicSkier asked some questions about the goals (e.g. was this geared to triathletes and if so what distance). The OP promptly clarified some of the points. If we don’t ask, we will never improve our understanding. There are many national champions & high level swimmers out there and they have slightly different approaches. That doesn’t mean any of them would be wrong. But when Mattbk suggests that we should all just swim 4k at a slow pace, he’s not helping the discussion and obviously wants to just come across as an arrogant dick.

Nordicskier:

“It’s not about the intensity or volume, it’s the style of the workouts. These are “swimmer” type sets.”

tigerpaws · February 26, 2013, 2:43pm

Good grief this thread didn’t take long to degenerate. Sorry for that.

Let me be first to thank you for the sets they look like a hoot. I appreciate the resource this will get used this week…that is if this monsoon storm moves off in time!

Oddly the more I swim with swimmers and swim swimmer workouts the faster I swim from 50’s to 500’s to…gasp…open water times. Hmmmmm.

ajthomas · February 26, 2013, 2:44pm

Fair enough, though my comment about doubters was more general than specific. I found his 4k straight comment to be no less sarcastic than your “train like a 100m freestylesr”. neither were dickish, just hyperbole to illustrate your point of view.

Your 100 free comment did pique my interest, though. I was a solidmbut well below national caliber 50/100 freestyler. (24.3 50m before tech suits). Training for the 100 looks nothing like any of these workouts. Maybe the 12x 25 set, but really a good 100 free set is something like 8 x75s on 3:00 at threshhold followed by 16 x 25s on 2:00 off the block with a flip and blastoff the wall on the opposite end.
If you have a better understanding on how to train someone for the 100, then maybe you will understand that the sets above actually fit someone preparing for a longer open water or tri swim quite well. Especially if it is a speed focus week.

NordicSkier · February 26, 2013, 2:50pm

Yeah this is a nice workout series. For those doubters out there, the op, was a National Champion in the open water 10k. He probably has “some” ideas of merit.

I haven’t seen anyone post on this threat who would be a “doubter”. Both I and NordicSkier asked some questions about the goals (e.g. was this geared to triathletes and if so what distance). The OP promptly clarified some of the points. If we don’t ask, we will never improve our understanding. There are many national champions & high level swimmers out there and they have slightly different approaches. That doesn’t mean any of them would be wrong. But when Mattbk suggests that we should all just swim 4k at a slow pace, he’s not helping the discussion and obviously wants to just come across as an arrogant dick.

I typed it with a a winking face Relax dude… Then I added a serious comment. You are being an asshole. My joking slow 4k response was to nordicskier, because he was implying that triathlon requires special triathlete sets for swimming. I have provided insight and info…all you and nordic have done is bitch…

That’s unfair. I got your joke. I was not bitching either.

I don’t think the OP takes into account that triathletes bike and run and carry that fatigue during swim training.
As well triathletes race predominantly in a wetsuit doing front crawl only, in a pack of swimmers.
These factors change how to structure swim sets for a triathletes.

These swim sets are fine for getting swim fit. I think they could be tweaked to be a better fit in the context of a triathlon program.
My opinion… flame away.