Swimming Workout of the Week - September 5, 2014

Want to make sure your swimmers really KICK when they put on fins?  Give this week’s set a try.

Sometimes, when swimmers put on fins, they back off on the intensity of the kick.  In this set, the only choice is to INCREASE the intensity as the set evolves, in order to achieve the goal of descending time on each 400.

MAIN SET:  2000 (or maybe 2500)
5 X 400 “IM”
Fins required!
Goal:  Descend your time on each 400.
Use a sendoff/turnaround that gives approximately 40 seconds rest after the first 400.

1st 400:  Swim 1 X 400 IM.  It’s OK to drill the butterfly with something like 1L/1R/1 whole-stroke fly or 1L/1R/2 whole-strokes fly.   Whatever drill you choose, be consistent and do the same drill on all four lengths.

2nd 400:  1 X 400 “IM,” but this time substitute a 25 of the appropriate kick during the 100 of each stroke.  You can insert the kick length wherever you want within each 100.  For breaststroke, substitute dolphin kick.

3rd 400:  1 X 400 “IM,” but this time you substitute two 25s of the appropriate kick during the 100 of each stroke.

4th 400:  1 X 400 “IM,” substitute three 25s of kick.

5th 400:  1 X 400 “IM,” all kick

Remember:  Your goal is to descend your time on each 400, even as you are adding more kick.

If you want to make this set even tougher, try adding another 400 at the end…100% swim…and see if you can swim faster than your time on the 5th 400, the 400 that was 100% kick.