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: 51 Minutes
  • Focus: Incorporate equipment into your training


The most energy consuming variations of swim workouts come from using equipment. Depending on how intense your swimming and the equipment you use, this could make workouts take longer, but if you have the time, it’s well worth it!
This workout calls for using Fins on the 50s Kick, and a Snorkel on the 25s Drill. The Main Set runs three rounds of 1 x 100 IM followed by 2 x 25s Freestyle with a Parachute, then 1 x 50 Freestyle max effort with Fins & Paddles. The Cool down calls for swimming a 300 with Paddles.
If you don’t have any equipment that’s ok, I recommend starting with a set of fins. Each piece of equipment recruits muscle fibers that would not normally be engaged, increasing your work output during the workout.


Workout Analysis & Commentary

Outside of training for the 100 IM, my favorite part of any workout is when I get to add equipment. I always advise to keep equipment use to less than 50% of the total volume of the workout. Sometimes it can be more, sometimes less, but 50% is a good rule of thumb. This particular workout felt like a gym session in the pool. Swimming with a parachute really engages your muscle fibers and spikes the heart rate. On the 100s IM I was pretty out of breath, but the high rest interval allowed me to exert good effort and technique on the 25s with a parachute.

On the final 50 of the Main Set I tried to limit my underwater dolphin kicks off the walls to really get the benefit of swimming fast with fins and paddles. I also wanted to make sure the Apple Watch registered my splits (if I swim 15m underwater each 25, it often misses when I’m actually swimming). I limited myself to 4-5 dolphin kicks off each wall and surfaced around 8-9m off the walls. My splits on each round show up in the app as :24, :23, :21. I don’t think I was actually a 21 on the final round, probably more like a 22, but I’ll take it!

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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