Training Trip Set of the Week

We were down in Deerfield Beach, training at Coral Springs Aquatic Complex last week.  It was a busy week of training, team bonding, body surfing, beach volleyball, a dual meet against Williams College, and even a trip to the ER to get an appendix out!  I love the training that we do down on our training trips, but the biggest value to these trip are the intangibles, the relationships that get built, the stories that are made, the 24 hour bus ride together, and this year, the trip to the ER.  All these things make us a better team and a faster team.

Back to the training, here is my favorite set that we did all week.  We swam really well together on this morning, and the execution of the set was outstanding.  As you can see, the set requires you to control your speed and energy output as you go through the set.


Warmup: 300 with open turns (pushing off square, and warming up the streamlines) + 200 Buddy Kick

Warmup Set:  6 rounds of: 1 X 50 K/S @ 50, 1 X 25 drill @ 50, 1 X 50 @ 50 (first 25 strong)

Main Set:

3 X 50 @ 45 P200 + 1 X 100 @ 1:10 (make interval, hold form) + 1 X 25 AO @ 50 + 25EZ
*on last 25 AO, goal is to increase tempo in both arms and legs and go faster than 1st 50's

8 X 125 FR @ 1:45
#1 - cruise+9
#2 - cruise+6
#3 - cruise+3
#4&5 - cruise then go back up
*cruise for 1:40-44 200 freestyler is 1:09-11, for 1:50-54 200 freestyler 1:15-17

3 X 50 @ 50 P200 + 1 X 100 @ 1:10 (make interval, hold form) + 1 X 50 AO + 50 EZ

6 X 150 @ 2:20 Odd - cruise, Even - EZ
*cruise for 1:40-44 200 freestyler is 1:24-1:26.5, and for 1:50-54 200 freestyler 1:31.5-1:34

3 X 50 @ 55 P200 + 1 X 100 @ 1:10 (make interval, hold form) + 1 X 75 AO + 75 EZ

4 X 250 @ 4:00 (1st 2 cruise, 2nd 2 EZ) we doubled our 125 cruise speed and added 3 sec.

3 X 50 @ 60 P200 + 1 X 100 @ 1:10 (make interval, hold form) + 1 X 100 AO + 100EZ

extra 500 warmdown
*strokers were allowed to do first 3 50's stroke and last AO swim stroke, otherwise the rest was freestyle.

Give it a try!

Saturday Morning Workout

I love a plan when it comes together, last Saturday, we had a really good workout and I thought I'd share.  Yes, you could probably make it harder or longer, but this matched exactly the teams needs and that is what a coach is looking for.

15 minute land warmup - dynamic stretching with poles, doing inch worms, hurdle stretches, scarecrows and scorpions, and several others.

15 minutes of weights:  We did a crossfit style workout which gets the heart rate up and keeps it up.  The women used a bar loaded with about 50 lbs. and did Front Squats to push press, burpees, Sumo Deadlift Highpull, and Tuckups doing sets of 21 reps each, 15 reps each and a set of 9 reps each all done with no rest for time.  Most of the team were done between 8-10 minutes.  Very good workout, with high intensity.  The men did a crossfit workout called "Fran" which they used Olympic lifting bars loaded to around 95 lbs.  It consists of Front Squat to Push Press, and Pullups, with the same pattern as the women, a set of 21 each, 15 each, and 9 each, done straight through for time.  It took the men 5-10 minutes.  Very effective, loved the results, and competitive, just make sure the men don't get too greedy with the weight as some of them had too much weight and paid the price.

Swim Workout:

1000 Warmup including swimming, pulling, and kicking

Main Set:

3 rounds:
8 X 75 2 @ 50, 2 @ 55, 2 @ 60, 2 EZ @ 1:30 (first 6 were to be kept under 50, and some were well under, the last 2 are recover.  We also had a small group go on 55, 60, 65)
4 X 125 @ 2:00 Odd - cruise speed*
#2 - ez swimming to recover
#4 - Kick, 75 build to 50 AO

*Cruise Speed is below and is based on best 200 times.  I took this from Paul Yetter at T2 Aquatics and it has worked well.
*You could also do stroke on the cruise speeds, although we didn't, as we were going into exam week and were just focusing on swimming with some speed and getting HR's up.
*I like swimming with increasing sendoff often like you see in the 75's as it usually get's them going early in the set, and allows them to maintain the speed, and most can even get faster as the interval get's slower.

200 PR                                       125 Cruise Speed
1:35-39                                       1:06-1:08
1:40-44                                       1:09-1:11
1:45-49                                       1:12-14
1:50-54                                       1:15-17
1:55-59                                       1:18.5-20.5
2:00-2:04                                    1:21.5-1:23.5
2:05-2:09                                    1:24.5-1:26.5

I hope this helps with your workouts!

Malachi 4: "Surely the day is coming....."

Christmas Training Checklist

The holiday training season is upon us and every swimmer and coach is preparing for that dreaded week or two of swimming, eating, and sleeping.  Ask yourself what your goals are for the team, what do certain types of sets accomplish, and what does your team need to do better than they did last year.  Here's some things to think about.


1.  Yardage:  Many coaches, including me, can get caught up in yardage over the Holiday break.  There can be some good team building and confidence that come from a big set, however, these should not be the norm.  If the yardage creates injuries, sick athletes and worn out swimmers, it may not be helping.  Are you making your swimmers tired or better?  Forty-five minutes to an hour of swimming at the right speed is all it takes to maximize aerobic capacity. In theory, shorter aerobic sets can be more beneficial IF they are swum at the right speeds (it's faster than most swimmers want to swim).  There are many methods to find this out, find the best for your team.

2.  What are your workouts accomplishing? Swimming fast is a skill that is very hard. We are in the business of swimming fast, not far (even the mile is not far).  It is important that the swimmers can still get repetitions at high speeds on a regular basis.  Are you giving your swimmers an opportunity to learn how to swim fast?  Have workouts that cover all the bases: endurance, skill, speed, legs, strength/power, underwaters, streamlines and FUN!  If another coach came into your workout, could they tell what kind of workout was going on, or do they all look the same?  Sometimes, many swim practices look like we are training to swim across Lake Michigan!

3.  Don't forget the last big Meet!  Whenever I am at our conference championships, or NCAA's, I never hear swimmers or coaches bragging how far they swam or wishing they had done another long-hard set.  It's usually, "I need to do starts, turns, streamlines like that" or "My stroke needs to look like ______."   We have a lot of time during the holiday's with our athletes, use the time wisely.  Take time to work on the little things that make a big difference.


4.  Bring Enthusiasm every day, every practice!  Sell how important this time of year can be!  Motivate and be a Positive Influence on your athletes!