Double workouts - what do you do?

You should probably first get a stroke analysis, either through your coach or independently, in order to evaluate what you need to focus on. There are so many possibilities that you want to choose an approach that will work best for improving your speed and technique. You can make the most out of your double workouts by first determining the areas in which you need to improve. For example, you can focus on different muscle groups in each workout, or a mix of technique and interval sets. You can definitely get a lot out of double workouts, if you know what you need to work on and you incorporate an appropriate mix of technique work and speed work/interval sets.

I believe you are training for a long OW swim, correct? Is so I would make the second workout your distance workout. Work primarily on non-stop swimming at whatever pace you can hold. Don't overdo it!

I'd start by doing a recovery-ish workout, since you're already probably doing intensity at the masters practice. So warmup, aerobic swimming, maybe some long pulling depending on your shoulders, some drill or IM for form, or some 25 sprints with ez swimming in between, only for form (don't wear yourself out). See where that gets you before you make grandiose demands on yourself. I've only done a couple doubles as an adult and it felt weird. I'll also say you'd probably be better off swimming Thursday than having a mediocre double on Wednesday.

I don't 'count' doing another activity in the same day as a double. Quite regularly I'll swim/run, swim/bike, or swim/lift. That said, I have done swimming doubles a few times, mostly for one of the following reasons: * I really liked the AM set, so went back after work and did the same set * I liked the set but wanted to do it again and focus on another stroke * I'll focus on distance during one workout and more sprinty-stuff during the other * Sometimes I just wanted to clear my head after work, didn't have other workout stuff with me, swim stuff in my car from the AM, so went to PM workout. I don't have a problem with my suit drying during the day, and I'll generally wear the same one for both workouts. After work I'll wear my work clothes to the pool/gym and change, so I only wear a wet suit for a few minutes, before it gets really wet all over again. My team has an annual, "triple bypass," where you swim the AM, noon, and PM workouts, all on the same day :afraid: (something like 11,000 yards). I've never done it, as I've always had work conflicts for that middle workout. I have done a couple of AM/noon or noon/PM doubles, and prefer to avoid them. Just not enough recovery.

Great questions and great suggestions, y'all. I appreciate it. This forum is such a great source of ideas and information. I like several of the ideas presented. Any others out there? Swimspire, you're right, thanks! Yes, I've actually been working with a stroke coach the past 2 months and he's helped a ton already. I did that mainly to make sure as I put these miles in, that I can do it with less of a chance of being injured by overuse on the wrong stroke. He's been pretty amazing. The goal is that I'm training for my first big, big swim - 12.5 miles (~20k) around Key West in late June and think I'll be fairly competitive for the Master's age group. I'm getting long swims in on the weekend (building in 4-week cycles much like I did in my ultra-running days), but would like to do more during the week than just my 1 hour Master's swims in the mornings. Thought that adding volume on Wednesdays by doing a 2nd workout, that it would help in the overall training the next couple of months. I do take Thursdays and Sundays off, which are (will be) the days after the higher volume days. I also take occasional days off when I do feel overtraining coming on. This month, I've been averaging about 20-23k per week, but would like to get that closer to 25-28k/week in April/May. Sounds like a great plan! Good luck on your swim and keep us posted!

I call them double dips or triple dips. 2 workouts in one day, or 3 workouts in one day. Example 4,000 in AM, 2,000 at Noon, 1,000 in PM. Goal being to swim longer distances. I was swimming 5,000's comfortably. Working my way up towards a 10,000 swim. My single longest swim in one day was 9,000 meters. I believe this approach helped me in the long run. Looking forward to the day I can complete a 10,0000 meter swim. Keep a bottle of your favorite sports drink close by.

I haven't done doubles since winding down open swim season last year, but I was consistently doubling one day per week, mostly due to word schedule and squeezing in an extra swim on my day off. I focused more on technique in the morning and higher intensity long sets in the evening. Both about an hour, aiming for 25-3500 yards in each session. In training for the Key West swim (or any marathon + distance), it is important for me to build on day every week as long distance, so I start with 2000 straight swim and then build up slowly to 4000 straight, breaking up the distance into micro-sets strung together so I can keep count. Once the weather (and water) outside heats up, adding in long swims (2-3 hours) is great to get used to not swimming with a black line. Your plan seems well thought out and the slow increase in weekly yardage should keep you health and able to pull off a great swim in June. :thewave:

Thanks again for the good ideas. There are some great ideas here (though a triple dip sounds really intimidating.) Rxleakem, thanks for hte idea of straight swim sets within the longer swims. The last big one I did 2 weeks ago, I broke up into smaller sets of 2k, so this weekend I'll pop that up to several at 3k as well. I'm very thankful for the little lap counter deal for the finger to keep track. And yes, I have a couple of long, lake swims scheduled with my kayaker in April and May to get us both into it and in synch. Have I told y'all how much I appreciate the insight and help? Love this forum. Good peeps! --Kari