Lets talk workouts. Not how to use the SwiftDuck tool necessarily, but how to put down a reasonable or effective daily practice.
First, you should have a plan of some sort. They are everywhere, use one.
Your plan should set the foundation of what you are doing. I don’t want to endorse one over another, so lets move forward.
Warm up of some sort should be at the beginning. Do what you need to be ready to do what comes next. Many swimmers like to drill technique and kick to set up early good habits. Remember that your goal though is to warm up, which would be increasing your bodies core temperature.
In some training philosophies, the use of high volumes of aerobic work lay the foundation for the speed. Well, how much should you plan? If you are staying in an endurance and aerobic zone, quite a while. Don’t think a few 100’s will do the trick. You need to keep going for 30-50 or more minutes, otherwise you are most likely just flirting between energy zones and never hitting one.
yes, but I can’t go that long without getting pooped. Well, you are probably going too fast then.
Know your time goal or distance need and get creative until you reach that mark. The program will line up your rest for each thing, and it won’t be much, just enough to break the monotony. This is mostly done in levels 1 and 2. Level three starts to go faster, but mix the levels up. Do 2 x 800 at level 1, 3 x 300 at level 2, and 4 x 150 at level 3. You stayed aerobic, broke it up a bit, and descended. That is just an example, the options are endless, just know that you need to do it for extended periods of time.
If you are getting to where you are planning some critical speed or threshold types of work, just know your capabilities. It doesn’t have to be long, but you do need to sustain it for a while. If you only like to do things like 1 easy, one at threshold, you are getting too much rest. Give yourself 20-30 minutes of sustained level 3 or 4 speed. Maybe 3 sets of 3 x 125 at level 3 and 3 x 75 at level 4. The key is to sustain that effort over time. With proper targets and proper rest, it is very much possible.
Once you hit the level 4 and up, your distances are really getting shorter than 200s, and as you go on to level 7 you are at 50-75s, level 8 25-50, and level 9 15-25s.
As you get to the speed, be careful to not just mix it all up with bits of fast stuck in chunks of slow. Make speed sets with a purpose. Enjoy the rest, or do active recovery between, but have a purpose to the speed set. It should be speed. If there is rest, it should be there to aid in recovery before your next rep, not a way to get your aerobic work in for the day as a bonus.
Recent Comments