we've got a 50th birthday at swim practice tomorrow. It's also our last day for two weeks until the pool re-opens. Does anyone have an idea of a really fun workout for an hour featuring 50's? We've got a diverse mix of fast and less fast swimmers.
Thanks!
50x50 on 50 is a really good 50th birthday set, not just for its numerological significance, but also because (for me at least) it reminds me of age group practice when I was a kid. I had a club team coach who loved to give us this set. I probably haven't done this set since I was around 13 years old, so swimming it would really take me back.
Thanks for the ideas! We had fun with it, so in addition to brining 50 munchkins to the pool*, we did:
WARM UP:
1 X 350, done as 7 50's on 6:50
1 X 250, kick with FINS, done as 5 50's on 4:10
1 x 150, pull, done as 3 50's on 2:30
1 X 50, ALL OUT on :50
MAIN SET:
10 X 50 on :50, Butterfly drill: alternating one-arm fly with flutter kick (note: if you end up just doing freestyle, that's kinda the point.)
5 X 50 on :50, Dolphin dives for 12.5, swim all out for 25, dolphin kicks for 12.5
5 X 50 on :50, ALL OUT, like you were chasing down a bear that stole your donuts.
4 X 50 on :50, SIDESTROKE**, odds on left, evens on right
4 X 50 on :50, IMO, but you'll probably just end up doing them all as backstroke, anyway
1 X 200 on 3:20, broken at the 50's
2 X 50 choice
If time remains after 2500:
water polo, vertical kicking, diving for quarters, in-water relay starts, open-water turn practice, just float, have fun, swim as hard as you can, or just eat donuts.
We did in-water relay starts, over-50 swimmers vs. under-50 swimmers. The unders won the freestyle relay (with the aid of fins) and the overs won the 25 yards of dolphin dives / 25 yards of corkscrew swim relay.
*We toyed with the idea of making the birthday celebrant eat a munchkin after each 50, but no one wanted to be on clean-up duty.
**SIDESTROKE - the best part of the workout. I believe the time has come for a sidestroke revitalization in the swimming world.
I sort of did this set. I did 50 50's but they weren't on the :50 because I did 25 of them kick and we were set up in meters. And well, lets face it; I turned 50 years old that day. Also, as a side note. I did complete 100 miles of kick in 2012.
Hmm, 100x100 on 1:00 or 100x100 on 1:40? One's too hard, the other too boring.When you are 100 years old and give this set a try you may find both intervals to be a challenge. I’m hoping the 75 X 75’s on 75 (1:15) won’t be insurmountable when I’m 75.