Guest Blogger Swim Workout From Joe

A few weeks ago I invited my fellow swimmers to send workouts to be posted as Guest Bloggers here.  Luckily someone step forward and his name is Joe not Joel.  Here is his workout -

HI!  My name is Joe Denton, I am a 41 year old swimmer in Seattle Washington.  I've been swimming competitively since I was 11 (with an 8 year break in the middle somewhere) and find the pleasure to be worth the sacrifice.  I swim with a  few local master's teams in the Seattle area and also on my own due to scheduling conflicts.  Because of that, I end up writing a lot of my own workouts which is something I've recently discovered I really enjoy.  I end up reading a lot about the training techniques that are being developed and in my free time watch training videos on YouTube and other sites. My workouts tend to focus on stroke as I am primarily and IM'er, but I also do a fair amount of distance free training as I swim a few open water distance events as well (but those workouts tend to be in the spring/summer). 

Hope you enjoy this little workout I did a few days ago.  My focus currently is 'back to basics', so a lot of work on kick and drill...  I've included as much detail in the workout below as I could to help you understand the intent...

 

	1	600	W/U			600
	6	75	kick/drill/swim		10sec	450
5	1	150	swim, free		2:00	750
	1	75	kick HARD		1:30	375
	1	100	ez kick (no board)			100
4	1	200	IM Drill		15 sec	800
	4	50	stroke build to 'sprint'		1:20	800
	1	100	ez kick (no board)			100
	6	75	8-10 dolphins off each wall		20sec	450
	1	200	EZ			200
						4625

 

So, the workout above (in case you can’t tell) is designed to show the number of times through a set (first column), the number of reps, the distance, the details of the set, the interval and the distance (and then total yardage at the end). 

Intervals can be changed to suit the swimmer, but the ‘general’ rule is that it should be 10-15 seconds for the typical set and more rest (1+ minutes) for sets that are SPRINT (none of those above). 

I have a few standard warm-ups and you’ll see one of them above – I like a nice long one – you can modify if you like. I try to put in between 4-5k per workout, I don’t like to swim longer than an hour and a half…

The set above: 

The first main set is meant to focus on the KICK aspect of the set.  The swim should be good effort but the kick should be hard.  For this set, the kick is either flutter kick (stomach or back) or dolphin kick.  The send off is a bit shorter than a typical ‘hard’ set as the 150 is your ‘recovery’ (but still a solid effort)

For the second main set, the focus is on the DRILL aspect.  Drills are as follows: 

fly –3/3/3  (three strokes right, three strokes left, three full strokes)

back – 10 kicks per arm

breast – 1 pull 2 kicks

free – finger tip drag.

Clearly these can be modified (but I’m right)  J

Drills explained:

Fly – the 3/3/3 drill helps you focus on your dolphin kick while you get one arm around at a time – let’s face it, a much easier method of doing fly.  Focus on the dolphin kick and make sure your hips are up and you’re getting two kicks per stroke.  If you find it difficult, change it to 3/3/2.  IF you opt to do fly on the 50s, remember to get your kicks in and keep your hips up.  Switching back to a 2/2/4 pattern on the 50s is okay if you have trouble.

Back – the 10 kicks per stroke is intended to get the swimmer to ROLL his shoulders (I make sure I am looking up my hand at each stroke) and again, the kick helps keep the body afloat.  Also remember, pinky in first, roll shoulders and dig deep.  DO NOT do little pulls as you kick – keep your stroke as normal as you can…

Breast – 1 pull 2 kicks  - the focus (again) is the kick.  Do a normal pull and kick and then extend your arms and body into a long stream line and do a second kick – focus the kick on pushing the water back with your feet.  (I can explain this further if you need clarity)

Free – the fingertip drill is a pretty standard drill.  Dragging your fingertips serves two purposes – one, to get your elbows up which we all know we should be doing.  Secondly, it helps you work on your kick (sense a theme?).  drag your fingers on each stroke and keep your head position focused and keep kicking.

The 50s then become a continuation of the drill focus but here you’re trying to bring the focus of the drills into your swimming – remember the key elements above and switch to a full stroke and (to make it more complicated) build to a strong effort.  Regardless of the increased effort focus on the technique.

The last set is what I call one of the Lochte/Coughlin sets.  The focus is the walls.  The 75s can be free or stroke, but there should be 8+ dolphin kicks off each wall then into a good effort swim.  Aside from the benefits of the better push off, this is also a great way to work your lungs.

Enjoy an easy 200 (or whatever) and a hot shower. 

ENJOY!