Swim Workout

Saturday Swim Session – Broken 400’s for Both Speed & Endurance

Broken 400’s provides the benefits of both speed and endurance, by combining both within the same workout. Great for developing your threshold swimming pace, this session is good for triathletes, as well as open-water swimmers.

Each Saturday I will post a Swim Session, and 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.

Option A

  • 400m W/U;
  • 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 400m Swim, 60sec RI; 4x 100m, 20sec RI
  • 100m C/D (1,700m)

Option B

  • 400m W/U;
  • 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 2x (400m Swim, 60sec RI; 4x 100m, 20sec RI)
  • 100m C/D (2,500m)

Option C

  • 400m W/U;
  • 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 3x (400m Swim, 60sec RI; 4x 100m, 20sec RI)
  • 100m C/D (3,300m)

For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 400m swim. 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. There are eight 50m repetitions made up of 25m Drill, then straight into 25m normal swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set.  Do the drills below twice through:

  1. Kick On Side (KOS) left side 
  2. Kick On Side (KOS) right side 
  3. 6/1/6 
  4. 6/3/6

The main set is made up of one (Option A), two (Option B), or three (Option C) Broken 400s. Each Broken 400 is actually 800m long, made up of a 400m steady swim, followed by four, 100m sub-reps swum fast. Take a 60-second Rest Interval (RI) after the full 400m and take a twenty-second Rest Interval (RI) after each 100m sup-rep (including the fourth sub-rep before commencing the next 400m for Options B & C).

For the Cool Down (CD) swim 100m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the Cool Down (CD) (like the Warm Up (WU)) 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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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.

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Prior to using these plans, you should be able to complete swim sessions of 1,500m in distance.

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