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Swim Workouts for Swimmers - Descending Distance, Increasing Pace Repeats

The Swim Workout

By Mat Luebbers, About.com

    1 x 400 (:30 swim as desired, include some technique work
    8 x 25 (:20 Drilling (swimming technique work)
    2 x 200 (:20 Pull - focus on the arms/pull. Options: use a float between legs.
    4 x 100 (:20 Kick - focus on the legs/kick. Options: hold a float/kickboard with arms, wear flippers.
    Take about 30-seconds extra rest
    4 x 25 (:45 Fast efforts
    Take about 30-seconds extra rest.
    Round 1
    1 x 150 Steady Effort(:15
    1 x 125 Last 25 Fast Effort(:15
    1 x 100 Last 50 Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 75 All Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 50 All Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 50 Easy Effort (:30
    Round 2
    1 x 150 Steady Effort(:15
    1 x 125 Last 25 Fast Effort(:15
    1 x 100 Last 50 Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 75 All Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 50 All Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 50 Easy Effort (:30
    Round 3
    1 x 150 Steady Effort(:15
    1 x 125 Last 25 Fast Effort(:15
    1 x 100 Last 50 Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 75 All Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 50 All Fast Effort(:30
    1 x 100 Easy Effort (:30
    WELL DONE!
    TOTAL DISTANCE = 3,200

About's Swimming Workouts

This swimming workout features three rounds of shortening distances from 150 to 50, increased effort as that distance decreases. You can vary this same workout by following different patterns of shifting efforts and by altering the distance of the repeats.

This workout is designed to take between 75-minutes and 90-minutes. If that is too much time or distance, then cut things out, but do not always cut out the same thing every workout. And never skip the loosen at the end of the workout. Use that as one last bit of technique work before you leave the swimming pool at the end of the workout.

There is nothing special about these swim practice sessions, other than what you bring to them. Lots of freedom here. You control how hard or fast you swim and what swim strokes you want to use while swimming the workouts. Normally the amount of rest per swim will limit your top-end speed on a workout, but that does not mean go as fast as you can all of the time. A few guidelines:

  • The more rest you get, the faster the swim.
  • The early parts of a workout should always be easy to moderate and very deliberate. Use your best swimming technique.
  • Stop the workout if you are too tired, go for it again in the future.
  • You get to be a better swimmer by recovering from the workouts you do, not by doing more and more swimming without resting and recovering from that swimming.
  • Have fun with the workouts.
  • Change the strokes you are doing from time to time, try new things, and don't get caught in a rut.

Each workout has:

After the description of the set there is a number in a half-parentheses, like this - (:30 - that is how much rest you get after each swim. For example, 6 x 100 (:30 means you are to swim a 100 (yards or meters), rest 30-seconds, then repeat six times.

Swim On!

Mat

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