I’ve been working on a new Fitness Swim Training Plan to improve your swimming for over 8 weeks. The sessions for this programme are between 1,500m and 2,100m long and there are three sessions each week. I’ve got variations of the training plan for people who can complete four or five swims each week, as well as for people who can only fit two swims per week. As well as a 12, 16 and 20-week variation of the programme. These are the sessions for the second week.
Each Saturday I will post a Swim Session, most weeks I will load three options up for you to do. Option A is for swimmers who are after a workout between 1,000 & 2,000 metres. Option B is for swimmers who are after a workout between 2,000 & 3,000m and Option C will be greater than 3,000m.
I will be launching the training plan for purchase in the New Year. If you are interested in starting 2021 with commitment and making some dedicated improvements in your swimming, complete the form at the end of the article.
Session 04
- 200m WU;
- 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 150m Easy swim focusing on Tech;
- 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 150m Easy swim focusing on Tech;
- 200m CD;
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) start with 200m of Freestyle (F/S). During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
Next up is a drill set of eight repetitions of 50m Drill/Swim, where you do a drill for the first 25m of the repetition and then normal swimming for the next 25m swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing the drill/swim set. Do the drills below twice through:
I wrote an article about swimming drills previously. Click here to read and watch it.
Next up is a set of four, 50m reps completing them in Individual Medley (IM) order. The first rep will be butterfly, the second backstroke, the third will be breaststroke and the final rep will be freestyle. If you can’t do any of the strokes give it an honest attempt for as many strokes as possible before reverting to freestyle. Take a 20-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
The next set involves swimming 150m nice and easy focusing on your technique.
Repeat both of the previous two sets a second time to round out the session.
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which had the stroke detailed, the cool down (like the warm up) can be any stroke you wish to swim. You can also stop and rest after any length. I encourage you to stop and stretch during the cool down.
Session 05
- 200m WU;
- 6x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 8x 100m 20sec RI;
- 4x 50m on ½ T-Time + 10sec;
- 200m CD
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) start with 200m of Freestyle (F/S). During the warm up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
Next up is a drill set of six repetitions of 50m Drill/Swim, where you do a drill for the first 25m of the repetition and then normal swimming for the next 25m swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing the drill/swim set. Do the drills below:
I wrote an article about swimming drills previously. Click here to read and watch it.
Next up is a set of eight, 100m reps. Swim these with a 20-second Rest Interval (RI).
The final set is of four, 50m reps. Swim these on half your T-Time plus ten seconds. Use the T-Time you worked out in the first session last week. For example, if it was 1:55, half of that is 0:57.5. Adding ten seconds makes it 1:07.5. Round that to the next five-second block means you start each rep 1:10 after the previous. Taking that a step further if you swim the 50m in 50 seconds you get 20 seconds of rest. If it takes you 65 seconds to swim the 50m you only get five seconds of rest.
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which had the stroke detailed, the cooldown (like the warm-up) can be any stroke you wish to swim. You can also stop and rest after any length. I encourage you to stop and stretch during the cool-down.
Session 06
- 400m WU;
- 8x 50m Drill;
- 100m Easy swim focusing on Tech;
- 8x 50m Drill;
- 100m Easy swim focusing on Tech;
- 200m CD;
This session is very similar to Session 04.
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering 400m (Options B). During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
Next up is a drill set of eight repetitions of 50m Drill/Swim, where you do a drill for the first 25m of the repetition and then normal swimming for the next 25m swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing the drill/swim set. Do the drills below twice through:
I wrote an article about swimming drills previously. Click here to read and watch it.
The next set involves swimming 100m nice and easy focusing on your technique.
Repeat both of the previous two sets a second time to round out the session.
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the cooldown (like the warm-up) can be any stroke you wish to swim. You can also stop and rest after any length. I encourage you to stop and stretch during the cool-down.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi Coaching.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
Share this post so your friends can benefit as well.
If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published 12 months ago.
These sessions can be found in my new Fitness Swimming Training Plan that is being launched in time for New Year. If your New Year’s resolution involves swimming faster with limited time to train. Complete the form below and get more information about this great plan.