Swim Session

Saturday Swim Session: Gale Bernhardt’s Endurance 7 Workout

Endurance is a critical component of fitness for triathletes and long-distance open water swimmers. This is a great session for triathletes and open water swimmers to do to build their sustained speed.

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.

The inspiration for today’s workout comes from Swim Workouts for Triathletes written by Gale Bernhardt and Nick Hansen.

Option A

  • 200m WU;
  • 200m K;
  • 2x 150m Easy 10sec RI;
  • 150m K FAST;
  • 2x 150m Mod 15sec RI;
  • 150m K Mod;
  • 2x 150m FAST 30sec RI;
  • 150m K Easy;
  • 100m CD (1,850m)

Option B

  • 300m WU;
  • 300m K;
  • 3x 150m Easy 10sec RI;
  • 200m K FAST;
  • 3x 150m Mod 15sec RI;
  • 200m K Mod;
  • 3x 150m FAST 30sec RI;
  • 200m K Easy;
  • 100m CD (2,650m)

Option C

  • 300m WU;
  • 300m K;
  • 4x 150m Easy 10sec RI;
  • 200m K FAST;
  • 4x 150m Mod 15sec RI;
  • 200m K Mod;
  • 4x 150m FAST 30sec RI;
  • 200m K Easy;
  • 100m CD (3,100m)

Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) swimming 200m (Option A) or 300m (Options B & C). During the warm-up have a good stretch between reps and take as long as you need to get ready for the second rep.

Next up is either 200m (Option A) or 300m (Options B & C) of Kicking. Feel free to use fins and to practice maintaining body position, avoid using the kick board like demonstrated in the video below.

The main sets start with two (Option A), three (Option B), or four (Option C) reps of 150m of easy swimming. Take a ten-second Rest Interval (RI) between reps.

Next up is a rep of 150m (Option A) or 200m (Options B & C) of FAST Kicking.

Follow this with a set of two (Option A), three (Option B), or four (Option C) reps of 150m of moderate intensity swimming. Take a fifteen-second Rest Interval (RI) between reps.

Next up is a single rep of 150m (Option A) or 200m (Options B & C) of moderate kicking.

Follow this with a set of two (Option A), three (Option B), or four (Option C) reps of 150m of FAST swimming. Take a twenty-second Rest Interval (RI) between reps.

The final set is a single rep of 150m (Option A) or 200m (Options B & C) of easy kicking.

For the Cool Down (CD) swim 100m. 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.

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