How much rest for sprint intervals?

The main catch to your question is the word SPRINT. Some individuals/Coaches consider 8x25/20 seconds sprints. A true sprint is an all out effort with ample time for recovery to be ready for your next all out effort. In my Coaching I basically use these intervals BUT will often rest LONGER. 25's - on the 60 (swimmer comes in between 11-15 seconds). 50's - 1:30 to 2 minutes depending on the number of repeats (swimmers who can go sub 30 to 40 seconds). 75's 0n the 3 minutes to 5 minutes depending where we are in the season. 100's depending on the season could be on the 3,5min.

Here are some great articles that can help you. sportsmedicine.about.com/.../After-Exercise.htm www.homeexercisecoach.com/recovery.html www.bodybuilding.com/.../randy3.htm It is generally accepted around swimming camps that the work to rest interval for high intensity of maximal effort swims, ranges from 1:2 and 1:6 The more intense the swim the more recovery is required. I hope this helps. This is a great topic for swimmers. If you want to get faster, swim your fastest, rest a lot and go for quality. Good Luck, Coach T.

So, now I am wondering whether it is beneficial to do hard sets of short distances on a short interval, as long as we recognize that it isn't sprinting. And if so, what are the benefits? That's basically one form of lactic threshold. It can help train your body to perform under the stress of high lactic levels. When your body hits high lactic levels, you start to shut down. This training can help you push through that situation. In a racing situation, this is what helps you get home on the last 50 of a 200, or the last 100 of a 500, or of a 1000, when your arms and legs are burning in pain. But no, it's not sprinting. -Rick

There is no such thing as "sprinting" on short rest. Leslie, Try 10 X 25 on 1:00 with 15 Y/M all out breakouts and then cruise the rest of the way. It only relies on the CP-ATP energy system which is quickly replenished and even I have enough recovery time to be very explosive on all efforts. In a team setting this is a fun workout where you mix up the lanes so (in a 6 lane pool) the 6 fastest are in the first wave and can race each other, the next 6 fastest in the next wave, etc. I alternate lactate tolerance and lactate production workouts; 1 the first week and the other the following week. Rich

Leslie, Try 10 X 25 on 1:00 with 15 Y/M all out breakouts and then cruise the rest of the way. It only relies on the CP-ATP energy system which is quickly replenished and even I have enough recovery time to be very explosive on all efforts. In a team setting this is a fun workout where you mix up the lanes so (in a 6 lane pool) the 6 fastest are in the first wave and can race each other, the next 6 fastest in the next wave, etc. I alternate lactate tolerance and lactate production workouts; 1 the first week and the other the following week. Rich Thanks Rich. I've done a variation of this before, but I will be sure to include it in future workouts. I can only seem to tolerate one true lactate type set per week as well.

You'll find most workouts (especially typical masters workouts) not resting enough on sprint sets. Then again, you'll find most people's "sprinting" is not close to real sprinting. . I had a masters coach tell us to do 20x25's "all out" on :30 and I watched all the people in the pool go along with it and then just go through the motions, putting out 50-70% effort. Since then, I've trained my sprint workouts alone and adapt to the group's sets (as an example, for that 20X25 set, I might do them alternating 2 easy, 1 hard) My college coach told me, "A sprint workout done correctly is the hardest workout in the pool. A sprint workout done incorrectly is the easiest."

That's basically one form of lactic threshold. It can help train your body to perform under the stress of high lactic levels. When your body hits high lactic levels, you start to shut down. This training can help you push through that situation. In a racing situation, this is what helps you get home on the last 50 of a 200, or the last 100 of a 500, or of a 1000, when your arms and legs are burning in pain. But no, it's not sprinting. -Rick So, how would you estimate your level of effort with sets like that -- would you say you are working as hard as you do when you sprint, but not going as fast? Sorry for all of the questions -- but this is very helpful for me!

So, how would you estimate your level of effort with sets like that -- would you say you are working as hard as you do when you sprint, but not going as fast? Sorry for all of the questions -- but this is very helpful for me! I've never really understood what "80% effort" or "70% effort" means, but have found this web site www.brianmac.co.uk/.../swimplan.htm to be helpful:

I've never really understood what "80% effort" or "70% effort" means, but have found this web site www.brianmac.co.uk/.../swimplan.htm to be helpful: Thanks, that is helpful. Sounds like close to maximum effort (assuming maximum effort correlates with maximum heart rate).

The 1:2 to 1:6 range makes a lot of sense. And within that range, you get different kinds of workouts, each of which is a form of sprint workout. The points on the range also can vary depending on physiological differences. For example, in college, we could do sets of: 5 x 100 @ 2:00 5 x 100 @ 4:00 5 x 100 @ 6:00 Those are three different sets, and introduce three different kinds of pain. In a masters context, even if you're someone who would do a 100 free sprint in around a minute... older (masters) bodies in my experience and observation require longer recovery than younger (high school/college) bodies, generally. So doing spring 100's on 2:00 becomes very challenging very quickly. However, something like that can still be useful in training the body to deal with high lactic conditions. I.e., even though your body will break down and crash, there can still be some benefit of swimming through those conditions. -Rick