I have a problem that I hope the more seasoned swimmers here might be able to clarify for me. First, some background: I never swam competitively. I started swimming 'seriously' in Dec/Jan, knowing how to swim, but not knowing how to structure a decent workout program. I'd like to think that I've improved in the latter regard. I swim 6-7x a week for about 60-90mins at a time, getting in anywhere from 2500 to 4000yds a session. I don't have a race that I focus on, but I tend to enjoy 50 fr/bk, 100 fr & 100 IM---so basically, the shorter stuff. Most of my workouts involve strong effort sets with a good amount of rest.
Now...here's my question. Do I need to be doing sets like Nx100 or Nx50 on an interval that gives me :5-:10 seconds rest? If so, how often should I be doing these? Since I'm a beginner, I feel like I need to add stuff like this to my workout, just to improve my overall conditioning. But am I wrong?
I've started doing the following main set every Sunday: 12x100 broken into 3 rounds of 4x100s as fr/IM/bk, on intervals that give me :5-:10 rest; followed by 9x100 broken into 3 rds of 3x100 of the same. My goal is to progress enough each week so that I can lower the intervals. This has been working OK for the past few weeks, in the sense that my intervals are coming down. But I feel like that's all I'm getting out of it---getting better at swimming 100 repeats, and apparently not much else. Is this worth it if I don't ever plan on racing a 200+ distance?
Sorry for the long post but I'd really appreciate any input on this! I swim solo so I have nobody else that I can discuss these things with.
(Incidentally, today is Sunday, and I'm about to head to the pool to do the workout mentioned above. I'm really starting to dread it. It's a tough workout for me---which is fine, if it weren't for the nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that it's tough and pointless, which makes it even more tough! Am I just being a wimp?)
I swim pretty much the same distances you do but throw in a 200 or 500 free occasionally. I usually do repeat 100s as my base building and as the season progresses and I get in better shape will then start doing 50s and 25s for more speed. Maybe at this point of your training you should start mixing in some of the shorter distance sets and increase the amount of rest so your doing higher quality workouts. This may help your mind and body both. Good Luck.
I swim pretty much the same distances you do but throw in a 200 or 500 free occasionally. I usually do repeat 100s as my base building and as the season progresses and I get in better shape will then start doing 50s and 25s for more speed. Maybe at this point of your training you should start mixing in some of the shorter distance sets and increase the amount of rest so your doing higher quality workouts. This may help your mind and body both. Good Luck.
