TRAINING PROGRAMS
When you are training for an event or to improve your swimming fitness sometimes it can be hard to know what to do when you get to the pool.
WaveCrest can develop a personalised training program just for you to help with this. Below are some free examples of training sessions you can try out. If having a personalised program is something you are interested in please get in touch.
Durations 40-60mins
Standard warm up
10 mins of continuous swimming, have a focus on including good technique.
If you can include a section of pull or kick and mix in other strokes to ensure you are fully warmed up.
Your heart rate should be about 120-150bbm at the end.
Preparation sets
Choose one of the following:
Speed endurance prep set
6 x 50 meters with 20 seconds rest after each repeat.
Aim to increase your effort each 50m for 3 repeats.
1st 50m 6/10. 2nd 50m 7/10. 3rd 50m 8/10.
For the last 3 x 50 meters hold at 8/10 pace.
Take 30 seconds rest, then swim 50 meters super slow focusing on reducing heart rate and work on technique, before starting main set.
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Technique Prep set.
Use this set before endurance and recovery sessions.
8 x 50 meters focusing on counting strokes per 50.
Start of slow, 4/10 effort, then increase your speed by 2 seconds every second 50m, even though you are getting faster, you should try to hold stroke count as low as you can. Finish by swimming 50 super slow focusing on reducing heart rate and work on technique, before starting main set.
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Main sets
Choose one from the following.
Speed endurance set
2x 50m, 2x75m, 2x100m with 45 seconds rest after each repeat.
Swim 100m super slow as active recovery, try and get heart rate under 100bbm.
Then repeat 2x 50m, 2x75m, 2x100m trying to beat the times of the first set.
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The aim of the session to swim hard, if possible it should be at around +85% effort.
The length of the session should be maximum 20-25mins of hard swimming. If you feel the set is too long there are two options,
1. You can only swim one repeat of each distance, 1x50m, 1x 75m, 1x100m twice through.
2. Only swim the set one time though and finish after the 100m recovery.
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Developing endurance
Choose from:
4/5/6 x 200m
8/10/12 x 100m
The rest period is up to you, however to get the most from the session it should between 5 and 30 seconds.
Aims of the session: 70%effort
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Distance timed swim
Once a month:
Swim continuously at an even and maintainable effort for 15mins.
The number of lengths completed are recorded, and used as a monthly guide of fitness/endurance and endurance.
It is important to record if you were fatigued going into the test set, as stress and tiredness can have a negative impact on your results.
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Active Recovery sessions
Active recovery is very important, but you should not just ‘switch off ‘your brain just because it is an easy session. I would recommend you should focus on technique.
In the recovery sets you can get some longer repeats into your training.
Make it fun by Mixing it up! All the following add up to a 2km set.
10 x 200m
6 x 200m + 800m
5 x 400m
4 x 500m
2 x 800m + 400m
On recovery swims aim for 50-60% effort.
If you enjoy these sessions and want to learn more about how WaveCrest can take your training to the next level send us an email.