HEYO.
Over the past few years of putting together articles for SwimSwam, USA Swimming, and
my own website YourSwimBook.com I have come across all manner of sets and workouts
for swimmers.
Some of them were posted on SwimSwam in the Coach’s Intel column, while some of the
other
swimming workouts were published on my site
.
This little eBook represents the best-of-the-best. There are workouts in here from Michael
Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Josh Schneider, Mike Alexandrov, and various top-level coaches from
across North America. There are sets for improving your kick, building a more powerful
breakout, supercharging your underwater dolphin kick, increasing DPS and stroke rate, and
so much more.
My favorite?
The Auburn sprint set (the first workout in this little PDF) is one that I tried on myself. I
included a breakdown of the set as well as how I did. (It hurt.)
If you have any questions about the workouts, simply send me an email
via the newsletter
.
Enjoy!
Olivier
The Legal Stuff
The information provided within this eBook is for general informational purposes only. Any use of this information is at your
own risk. Always consult a physician before undergoing any strenuous exercise. And always go at least 5 seconds behind the
swimmer in front of you.
© Lane 6 Publishing, 2013-2016
To keep awesome technique for absolutely as long as possible. In other words, to delay FTD
(Full Technical Disintegration).
So with my workout in tow, I skipped on down (not really) to the local YMCA pool to
torment the local lap swimmers.
Here is how the workout went down:
Round 1: 10 x 25 @:60
Feeling pretty glorious! Was able to average 13 flats without having to go fully all out.
The public swimmer I was sharing the lane with didn’t look overly impressed as I went through the reps.
All the waiting at the walls and then the suddenly violent swimming was causing some confusion
apparently.
Note: swimmers in moderate lane not overly pleased. Waves are washing over the lane rope into their
lane, making head up breaststroke challenging.
Round 2: 10 x 25 @:55
Still rollin’, crushing the 13 flats. The streamline and breakout felt tight, and relatively drag free.
Clearly frustrated, the public swimmer gets out, stares at me, then stomps off to the change room.
Apparently not a fan of the waves.
Round 3: 10 x 25 @:50
Starting to get a little sweaty. You can tell that you are doing work when you feel the sweat rolling off
your forehead at the walls.
On rep 5 a blur of a body and what appeared to be XXL swimming trunks pass through my vision. More
critically, the blur’s foot crosses the black line and I nearly head-punch it with my face. By the time I
get to the wall they have moved over to the “moderate lane.”
Round 4: 10 x 25 @:45
Mostly :13’s, but was fairly winded by the end of the round. At this point I realize that I have had
Rihanna’s “We Found Love” in my head for the better part of ten minutes on repeat in my head.
Racking my brain to figure out where I heard it earlier…
New public swimmer gets into the lane. We split it, giving me the wall side. Left hand and pool-side
ladder become acquainted on two occasions, and somehow manage to straight arm one of the lights on
the wall. Still not sure how.
Round 5: 10 x 25 @:40
The reality of the set is beginning to set in. I manage a 13 sec rep on the first one, and then steadily
slow to a series of 14’s.
In terms of technical proficiency, I wouldn’t say it was very impressive. Both shoulders were essentially
numb and locked up for after the first rep, with my stroke count sky rocketing as I fully engaged my
little T-Rex arms.
The last couple were…well, agonizing.
As the aqua fit class seized the pool, I beached myself onto the deck of the pool and lay there like a
dying whale for somewhere between 2 and 15 minutes. I am not totally sure how long for certain. Had
a bit of a fatigue blackout.
In Summary
I learned and remembered a few things today:
Rihanna found some love.
No wonder Auburn has a world class sprint program doing sets like that.
Public lap swimmers generally don’t like people sprinting up and down the pool. (Sorry I’m
not sorry?)
Limits are meant to be punched in the face. Before today the most meters of high quality
work I had done in one session was 1,100m. Doubled it and change.
I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight.
And yes, Coach Hawke, the hunger pangs were out of this world when I finally managed to
scrap my life together and walk off the pool deck.
