If you swim on your own, it can be hard to come up with new and creative swim workouts. Doing the same thing over and over can get old really fast. This workout is from a four part series on how to add variety to your swim workouts through: Intensity, Distance, Stroke, and use of equipment!

  • Distance: 2,000 Yards
  • Duration: 36 Minutes
  • Focus: Alternating Swim Distance


Distance is the simplest way to add variation to a swim workout. It calls for alternating swimming shorter repetitions with longer repetitions to achieve an aerobic result. This workout alternates between 50s on the warmup and Main set with a much longer single 400 Freestyle to start off the Main Set. The 400 Endurance swim is followed by 8 x 50s Freestyle at Threshold and then 4 x 100s Freestyle at the Endurance energy zone. The Main Set is a 1,200 aerobic block which will build aerobic endurance. Rather than swimming a 1,200 continuously this variation allows you to focus on stroke technique.


Workout Analysis & Commentary

I started this workout pretty fatigued on little sleep and directly after coaching a masters swim class. Now that my excuses are out of the way, let’s dig into the workout! Luckily the first set was short repeats (50s), or else I would have fallen apart pretty fast if it was a 400 continuous rather than 8 x 50s. The warmup kick set felt pretty relaxed, and I think I needed more warmup before the 400 Pull.

I swam the 400 Pull in 4:24 which means I averaged 1:06 pace. Ordinarily that would be a strong swim, but coming off taper a couple of weeks ago I should have been a bit faster (maybe 1:04 pace). Moving into the 8 x 50s in the middle of the Main Set I felt more warmed up and was able to hold about :33 seconds per 50. The final part of the main set called for 4 x 100s @ 1:30 where I descended down to 1:00 pace. Overall the workout was strong and although it took me until the end of the session to get truly warmed up, it was a productive workout!

Be sure to check out the full series on How To Vary Your Swim Training through Intensity, Distance, Stroke, and Equipment.
If you thought this workout was helpful, checkout the MySwimPro app FREE for iPhone and Android to get started on a personalized training plan with awesome workout variety to reach your goals! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or email me directly: fares@myswimpro.com.
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