The Evolving Swimmer- Workouts for Endurance
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Focus on maintaining form over a longer interval to build up stamina and overall fitness. |
Welcome to Part V of “The Evolving Swimmer” series. To view previous posts in the series, click here.
Endurance swimming is my favorite. I’m prone to zoning out mentally while I’m moving down the lane. Not so terrible except this practice lends itself to resuming old habits. Bad habits I’ve been working hard to eliminate.
For most of us non-experts, a balance of focus and daydreaming is necessary to swim a long distance without rest.
The goal of long sets is to improve aerobic fitness and stamina. If you do triathlons or plan to in the future, you must develop stamina in the water for your own safety. There is a huge difference when you swim in open water with no floor or wall to provide respite. Even turning at the end of the lane provides a mini break.
These are 2500 meter workouts but can easily be reduced according to your ability and fitness level.
If you’re fortunate enough to have a 50 meter pool nearby, take advantage for endurance sessions. Your workout will seem faster because each complete lap is 100 meters.
For explanation of the drills within these workouts, see Part III of The Evolving Swimmer series.
| ONE |
| 200 warm up |
| 50 scullying |
| 200 one arm drill |
| 200 side swimming |
| 10 x 50 sprint intervals |
| 100 easy, 100 moderate, 100 fast |
| 100 easy, 100 moderate, 100 fast |
| 6 x 25 sprint intervals |
| 500 straight steady pace |
| 100 easy kick, no board |
| TWO |
| 50 warm up |
| 200 moderate |
| 250 moderate |
| 300 moderate |
| 350 moderate |
| 400 moderate |
| 450 moderate |
| 500 moderate to easy as you finish |
| THREE |
| 200 warm up |
| 200 one arm drill |
| 100 six beat slide |
| 10 x 100 alternating each 100 moderate & fast |
| 1000 moderate |
| FOUR |
| 200 warm up |
| 100 tapper |
| 200 one arm drill |
| 200 side swimming |
| 100 six beat slide |
| 2 x 50 fast |
| 100 scully |
| 3 x 500 moderate |
| FIVE |
| 300 warm up |
| 100 favorite drill |
| 200 side swimming |
| 15 x 100 alternating 25’s as follows: |
| 25 kick no board |
| 25 right arm drill |
| 25 left arm drill |
| 25 sprint |
| 300 moderate |
| 100 cool down |
Including drills in your workouts will break up the monotony. They also reinforce skills that soon will feel natural as you resume your freestyle.
Developing muscle memory is one of the most important goals for the evolving swimmer. With so many facets to freestyle, no one can focus on every little aspect at once. In any competition, it’s nice to have the confidence that you can rely on auto pilot if you need to. Especially if you’re in rough water or amongst hundreds of other water buddies.
Happy Swimming!
[sneak peek message=”Join me next week for the final post of the series with a critique of a popular training methodology and tips on open water swimming!”]
"Don't wait for your ship to come in- swim out to it."
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