The swim workouts are designed around training in a 25-yard pool. If you are swimming in a 25-meter pool, you can use the same workouts. For a 50-meter pool, there willbe some changes but follow the distances of each workout. You are certainly not bound by these workouts so feel free to tweak them as you see fit.
Below is a distance breakdown of a 25 yard pool and 50 meter Pool. Regardless of the pool in which you swim, complete the distances given in the workouts:
25 Yard (meter) Pool - usually standard length
1 length = 25 yards (meters)
2 lengths = 50 yards (meters)
4 lengths = 100 yards (meters)
1/4 to 1/2 mile = about 500- 800 yds (meters) = 20 to 32 lengths
50 Meter Pool
1 lengths = 50 meters
2 lengths = 100 meters
1/4 mile = about 400 meters = 8 laps
Initially, you will not be spending very much time in the water. That’s ok. It will not be wasted time. The swim workouts will increase over the 11-week period in intensity and distances. However, the increases will be gradual. If you are an experienced swimmer, tweak the workouts as you see fit.
Stroke Drills. Stroke drills are not included as part of your swimming workouts.Insert them where you would like. However, do not replace the main set of eachworkout with stroke drills. If you do want to include drills in your workout, do so after the warm-up and before the main set. Swim drills will be included in another post. You can also find them on the trinewbies.com website. Some words about stroke drills. There is no sense in practicing a stroke drill if you are not performing them properly. And the only way to make sure you are doing them correctly is to have someone with experience observing you. If there is a swim coach at your pool, offer to pay him or her a few bucks to watch you swim, analyze your stroke and let you know
which of these drills to apply. It can be done in a few minutes time.
Swim Heart Rate Training - The main set of each workout will be interval based. DO NOT swim these fast. Swim them slow enough so that you are not gasping for air between swims. And check your heart rate periodically throughout the set. The quickest way to do this is by placing your finger under your chin/neck (or wrist), find your pulse and count the beats for a six second count and add a zero to the total. This reading is not as accurate as would be displayed on a heart rate monitor but it is quick. :
14 beats in 6 seconds = 140 beats per minute (bpm).
As described in the Heart Rate Training section, there are three heart rate ranges for swimming. Start with a base aerobic range of 140 –160 bpm for all individuals. This range is not set in stone and should be used as a guide only.
• For individuals in their 40’s and up, try to keep the heart rate between 140 and 150 beats per minute and ideally closer to 140 bpm. Note: Because swimming requires so much energy to move the body forward, it is very difficult to sustain a heart rate much lower than 140 beats per minute and still maintain an effective stroke. If you can, wonderful!
• For athletes in their late twenties and thirties, try to keep the heart rate range between 150 and 160 beats per minute but ideally closer to 150 beats per minute.
• For individuals in their twenties and younger, 160 beats per minute should be fine.
Remember, the bulk of your swimming will be aerobic. So you do not want your heart rate to be too high during your swim sets. Try and keep it close to your target range.
Flip turns - do not worry about performing freestyle flip turns during your swim workouts unless you feel very confident doing them. Simply take a quick breath on the wall and push off.
Breathing - you should get in the habit of breathing every stroke (to one side). The more oxygen you take in, the lower your heart rate will remain. Having said that, bilateral breathing or breathing every three strokes is very helpful:
1. It will balance out your freestyle stroke.
2. It will get you used to looking in both directions, which may help during a race when trying to find your mark. Work on your bilateral breathing during your warm-up and swim drills (if you choose to do drills)
Practice Your Sighting – Unlike the pool in which you train, you will not have a
thick black line running along the bottom of the ocean or lake to help guide you in a straight line during your race. You must learn to lift your head and sight specific points of reference in order to stay on course. During your swim workouts, practice lifting your head and looking forward say once or twice per length during your main set. This is done by lifting your head and looking forward to breath vs. turning your head to the side to breath. Ideally, you want to make this part of your stroke. However, if you have to stop and wade in the water to catch a glimpse of where you are, no problem! Whether training in the pool, a lake or the ocean, learn to spot various land markers. It may be the top of a fence, a tall tree, a water tower, or the top of a building, something that you can see each time you lift your head when you look forward. In a triathlon, there will be markers floating in the water outlining the swim course. Prior to the race, get in the water and practice sighting these markers during your warm-up. This is where your bilateral breathing will help as well. Lifting your head to look forward may seem easy at first, but you will find it can actually be difficult. It will put some stress on your neck muscles and for the less experienced swimmer it will actually cause your feet/lower legs to drop while swimming. This can throw you off synch. So again practice this during your swim training. There will be a complete article on Open Water Swimming Tips in a later post.
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