What are your swim workout basics?

How about sets doing 100s on intervals of 2:00 - 2:30? Would this have value as a way to gain some speed and endurance as a compromise between aerobic and the pain of all-out sprinting (which I may be beginning to hate). Those are very good sets to build both speed and endurance as well as technique is you focus on it.If the sprinting is starting to hurt and you are avoiding it for that reason try some 12.5 sprints.

How about sets doing 100s on intervals of 2:00 - 2:30? Would this have value as a way to gain some speed and endurance as a compromise between aerobic and the pain of all-out sprinting (which I may be beginning to hate).

I recently started swimming 4-5 days a week after a few years off and have found this plan to work well and it is easy to build on. I was on swim team most of my young life so drills are old hat. My workouts have a long warm up and stretch at least 600 usually 6x100s. The long warm up has mitigated any cramping. This is followed by a build up/drill sets of 600 to 800 kick,one arm, breathing etc. drills. The core of the work out is usually endurance or speed set. I really like 50s, 200s,400s and 1500s. My cooldown is always at least 200. I have found swimplan.com as a good source of workout ideas and plans.

I do drills mostly in warm up to help with feel for the water.One thing I do that is different from most coached workouts is that if I am going to do a sprint set I do it as my first set(after a really good warm up.)I want to be at my most fresh mentally and physically to work on sprints.I have never understood why most Masters coaches do sprints last(if at all.)That seems more likely to train you to swim sloppy. I like this philosophy also. I look at it as Racing and sprinting vs general fitness. For getting more bang for your buck (limited workout time) get your quality sprints done before you're really fatigued because you can still get your main set (aerobic) done even after a lactic acid -inducing sprint set!

I follow pretty much like Lump 1. Warmup- which usually includes swim, kick, pull, and drills 2. Build set- get the juices flowing 3. Main Set 4. But since there's so much I need to change or focus on. I do what I call a focus set: drill or kick/pull More so I can focus on techinque. 5. Finally cool down.

This point has perhaps been made in slightly different terms, but every masters team I have been on -- on in St. Paul, one in Sewickley, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh, and one at the University of Pittsburgh -- has held three official practices per week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Maybe it is coincidence, though I have come to think it probably isn't. But with each of these teams, the same pattern has held: Monday: distance Wednesday: stroke/IM Friday: sprint I will usually swim on my own at least one of the weekend days, and most often this will be a long, steady swim for an hour or so. We also have a lot of local Y meets from Sept. thru April, and these serve as almost like intense sprint practices. You can do four events plus relays, warmups start at 11; the meets start at noon; and they are usually done by 3:30, so you usually don't get huge rest between events. At some point, I'd recommend you do a T-30 swim to see what your anaerobid threshold (AT) is. Just swim for a half hour straight and count your yards precisely. Somewhere on USMS is a table (if you don't have some easier way of converting it) that will tell you what your average 100 pace is. For example, if you swim 2000 yard in 30 minutes, your 100 pace is 1:30; if you make 2500 yards, your pace is 1:12. You can then use this to design your intervals. Say your AT time is 1:30. To get better at endurance, you could do sets of 100s on 1:40, trying to hold all of them at 1:25 or better. The more rest above your AT pace you allot yourself, the quicker you should be going. So if your AT time is 1:30, and you do a set of 100s on 2:00, you should try to keep them at 1:20s or 1:15s or better. Do this for a month or two then retest with another T-30. Better advice: find a team you can practice with. Invariably, there will be someone on it that is a little better that you are now, and competition with this person will improve your rate of improvement much more than the vast majority of people can do on their own.

Thanks for the info:) A set of how many 100's (described in improving AT with T-30 test above) do you recommend?

I have been coaching for almost a year now, and I'm also year self-coach This is what I do For each swimmer I try to focus his/my workout on 2 events, every workout you can only repeat one event, so one has to change. Let's say is the 50 fly and 100 free, so the swimmer knows that he is going to sprint a lot that day, the drills will be focused on fly and freestyle Let's say is the 200 IM and 50 ***, he is going to swim every stroke, some 200 IM, but kick/drill/srpints will be mostly of breastroke Warm up always different, between 400-1000 meters could be 400 inverse IM (50 drill/50 swim) or just swim 800 free Transition Drills or kick or pull, it really depends, If the main set is mostly speed I rather do drills, if the main set is 10x100 I may do more kicking or pulling. this is between 200-600 Main set It depends on what event are we focusing on, it can be 20x25 free or 4x400 IM, or longer, it really depends. The distance really doesn't matter, is all about intencity and the focus on technique that matter. 2nd transition Same thing, drills, pull, kick, but the diference is that this one is harder, you can "just kick" during the first one, but you have to kick/pull HARD on the second transition. This part prepares the body to do this things while you are tired, it adds variety and you know you can kick hard while you are tired. 2nd main set A little easier than the first one...but same focus Warm down or last minute set This could be either swim 200 EZ and go home relaxed, or do 5x100 fast and go home with a cramp, depends on my mood and how tired I am

Thanks for the info:) A set of how many 100's (described in improving AT with T-30 test above) do you recommend? We will often do sets of 10, but it can vary. We just did a T-30 at practice, I swam 2300, for an AT time 1:18, give or take. So we might do something like this: 10 x 100 on 1:25 rest 2 minutes 8 x 100 on 1:20 rest 2 minutes 6 x 100 on 1:15 rest 2 minutes 3 x 100 on 1:10 That would be good for endurance training for me, even if I didn't end up making them all. You can use the same pace and do 200s-- 5 x 200 on 2:45 5 x 200 on 2:40 5 x 200 on 2:30 (at this point, these would be really hard for me) If I wanted to work on middle distance, I would do similar sets but with more forgiving intervals--100s on 1:45s, for instance, or even 2:00, but try to swim them a lot faster (i.e., instead of coming in on the 1:15, try to come in on 1:10 or below.) And then for more sprint-oriented training, much, much more rest-- 100s on the 3:00 or even more rest, with proportionately more effort--i.e., try to go sub 1:05s if not break a minute.