Yes, I know there are workouts and blogs with plenty of set ideas, however, I don't know which ones would be best for my needs and situation. I have Mondays and Fridays nailed down: Ande and King Frog's sprint workouts have been great; no problem there. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I train at another pool with my part-time coach who coaches a small group of adults. We do a 3500-3800 yard organized workout; the same one he gives his team of kids in the afternoon. It kicks my :censor: ; no problem there.
So, this is where I need help: On Wednesdays and Saturdays, I do a breastroke 25yd sprint ***/25yd recovery free set (8x50's) that Ande recommends I do each day, as well as the 600 yards (150 fast) of breaststroke kick he recommends I do each day (if I swim a total of 3000 yards). Combined with my 800-yard warm-up of free, IM's, and breaststroke drill, it totals 1800 yards. What I am looking for is 1000-1500 yards of sets that are non-sprint sets- but, non-junk yards, to round things out.
Any suggestions? I'm having the most difficult time trying to determine proper intervals, given my swimming level. Here are some sprint times to go by: My 25yd ***, fly, and back sprints from a push off all average :20-:21 and my free averages :17.
I am a breaststroker, however, I would like to improve my 50's in all strokes, in addition to 100 breaststroke. My weakness in all strokes is my kick. And, yes, I do weights 2-3 times each week, so I'm not looking to spend any more time in the weight room. Specifically, I would like some good recovery sets I could do that won't hurt my sprint times.
Thanks!
:chug:
Hi Elaine! One of my favorite stroke sets is 20 x 50 IM order. I do them on :50 (1:00 for br) which is ~:10 rest. Really good opportunity to work all the strokes and also good if you are thinking you may have a 200 IM in your future!
Hi Elaine! One of my favorite stroke sets is 20 x 50 IM order. I do them on :50 (1:00 for br) which is ~:10 rest. Really good opportunity to work all the strokes and also good if you are thinking you may have a 200 IM in your future!
Hi Heidi! Happy new year! Are you going to Auburn, in February? I hope to see you there!
Thank you for your suggestion. You are a lot faster than me; my current 50 yd breaststroke race time is around :40, my fly is about :42, my backstroke is around :44, and my free is about :34. So, given those race times, what times do you think I should try to hit in a "recovery" workout? Should I aim for :10 rest or add a little more time to rest in between 50's? By the way, my 100IM PB is 1:27+.
Thanks!
Happy new year to you, too! I am planning on going to Auburn but have a big work deliverable on Mon following so there is a chance I'll have to bag it at the last minute. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
When you swim sets of 50s br or free, what kind of rest do you usually take? I think :10 per 50 is probably fine but if you generally go :15 start there and then over time if you find that it's getting too easy, take the rest intervals down. I should really take the br down to :55 but I need the extra rest there otherwise I wouldn't make it through the fly and back for the entire set. Running through the IM 5 times definitely gets me tired by the end. You know I'm more of a middle distance swimmer so I use it as a way to prep for the 200 and even 400 IM!
Happy new year to you, too! I am planning on going to Auburn but have a big work deliverable on Mon following so there is a chance I'll have to bag it at the last minute. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
When you swim sets of 50s br or free, what kind of rest do you usually take? I think :10 per 50 is probably fine but if you generally go :15 start there and then over time if you find that it's getting too easy, take the rest intervals down. I should really take the br down to :55 but I need the extra rest there otherwise I wouldn't make it through the fly and back for the entire set. Running through the IM 5 times definitely gets me tired by the end. You know I'm more of a middle distance swimmer so I use it as a way to prep for the 200 and even 400 IM!
Good luck, Heidi; I hope you can make it to the meet!
I always need more rest for breaststroke than I do free; definitely 15 seconds. When I swam breaststroke in high school, it was the easiest stroke for me; I never needed as much rest as I needed for freestyle. And, my 100 yd breaststroke was 1:19.6. Now, my 100 is 1:30 and it makes me feel :cane: the way that stroke wears me out! If I do 4x50 breaststroke on 1:00, I'll start off at :45 or :46 (100 pace), but they will slip to :48 or :49 by the end. And, that's over at the Steve Lundquist Aquatic Center. At my 84 degree community pool, it gets worse! :afraid:
I'll give the 50's a try and see how I hold up...
I'm to the point were I'm less adverse to 200 fly than I am to 200 breaststroke. Both wear me out about the same. The difference for me is the breaststroke pull-out. I'm getting to where I spend 40-45% of my swim underwater which is no fun for my lungs. With fly, my sdk is bad enough that one or two kicks off the wall isn't any slower that 3 or 4. My arms are more tired with fly but I get to that precious O2 faster.
Ahhh, I think you just hit on the reason! Duhhh!! :blush: My pullout and underwater time was probably next to nothing, when I was swimming in high school. Since our coach didn't even know how to swim, I was self-taught at breaststroke and got by on youthful strength, I guess, when swimming breaststroke. But, I probably rushed the pullout and spent a larger majority of my time above water than I am spending now. I've been working hard to be patient and strong on my pullout, even when my lungs feel like they are going to burst. I don't remember doing that back in high school...
Just some food for thought, some people are trying the "short pullout" off the wall. There was a USMS article about it a few weeks back.
www.usms.org/.../articledisplay.php
www.usms.org/.../articledisplay.php
Thanks Swim and Chris. I remember reading the article, but forgot about it and never tried it in the water. Thanks for the idea. And, thanks for the link, Chris!
Edit: I tried to find a video demonstration of a short pullout, but no luck. I would love to see one of the frogs out there post a video of how it should be done!
I know you said you kicked but I LOVE kicking. I think it's huge for sprinters. Do some longer kick stuff 200s and 300s and shorter kick stuff. Basically take a set you like and make it kick. When gearing up for LCM I typically do entire workouts kick. So I'll go something like:
5 x 200 kick; odds fly/evens free on an interval that gives me :20-:30 rest
8 x 100 kick on an interval that gives me :10-:15 rest
8 x 50 kick on 2:30 - really kick all out hard!
I use long fins, Zoomers, bare feet, and shoes ... I want to get a band and start kicking with that, too.
If your legs are fried grab a pull buoy. Focus on your free or *** pull. One thing I used to do when I tried to swim br was take paddles and flip them over so the non-rubberband side is in the water and not secured. Try to swim br with the paddles flipped. If you ever stop putting pressure on the water the paddles will fly out.
When I'm doing recovery or easy stuff (especially when I swim solo) I use LOTS of toys. I'll put on paddles and long fins and try to hold a fast pace (but not one that is totally taxing) for 3 x 200 or even 2 x 400. I also LOVE doing backstroke with fins.
My events are 50/100 free and right now just the 50 fly ...
Just some food for thought, some people are trying the "short pullout" off the wall. There was a USMS article about it a few weeks back.
You come up sooner but with more momentum. So even though other people get further underwater, as they gently rise up, you are hauling away full speed and hopefully are able to maintain it! At the end of the race if your underwater is slower than your surface stroke then it may be fun for you to experiment with a short pullout with almost no glide, focusing on coming up full speed.
And getting DQ'd left and right for it!! Lots of officials unaware of the rule on this and lots of swimmers unable to execute it correctly!
If I'm reading your 6 day a week swim program correctly you don;t have a single workout committed entirely to recovery or much work in A1, A2, EN1....just a partial set on one or two days? Only in recovery do you find gains in your overall conditioning!
