Swim Session: A Theme of 5s

A 1hr swim set to build endurance

The Winter months are all about building base fitness and this swim set is no different! Coach Mike has devised a session to build endurance and focus on relevant technique — and all under 1hr.

British Universities & College Sport, Ponds Forge

What are we working on?

• Endurance
• Technique

What do I need?

You can absolutely do this set with no swim-toys but for those who have them;

• Pull buoy
• Tempo trainer
• Paddles

Warm up

Start with some:

• Poolside mobility
• Deep controlled breathing

Followed by:

300m easy — relaxing and opening up shoulders, looking at hands and pull through

Main set

5 x 500m as:

1. 500m with tempo trainer: keep ahead of the beeper set, for a strong, in control pace
2. 500m with pull buoy: focus on total body roll, stroke starting from the hips, stretching ribs forward to get full reach
3. 500m with paddles: focus on clean spearing hand entry (with freestyler paddles) or steady pull through, making the lats work (with agility paddles)
4. 500m back to pull buoy: as before
5. 500m back to swim with tempo trainer: this time trying to keep ahead of the beeper (likely to be harder this time!)

Cool down

200m easy, mix of strokes

Total Swim

3km

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