So you've made it to the pool, swimsuit, goggles and all. You get to the edge of the pool and hop in. Now what?

Without a workout plan to guide you, you may lose focus when swimming. Swimming, like running, is a back and forth event where the environment surrounding you doesn't change. You need a workout to stay motivated, so try something like the workout below. Challenging is for beginners (because who likes the word EASY?) and Most Challenging is for advanced swimmers.

Warm-up

Start easy and go at your own pace. Try to build speed throughout the warm-up

Challenging Most Challenging

1 x 200 swim 1 x 400 swim

1 x 100 kick 1 x 300 pull

1 x 100 kick 1 x 200 kick

Avoid using breastroke kick in warm-up to reduce possible injury since your joints, muscles, and tendons are still stretching. Instead, utilize the freestyle, or flutter kick.

Challenging Main Set

6 x 50 swim Descend #1-3, Descend #4-6 @ 10 seconds rest*

6 x 25 kick 70% intensity @ 5 seconds rest

1 x 50 easy--------This is your recovery/rest period. Take as much time as you need before beginning the next section---------------------

4 x 75 pull 80% intensity @ 15 seconds rest

4 x 50 swim 80% intensity @ 10 seconds rest

4 x 25 kick 80% intensity @ 5 seconds rest

1 x 50 easy

2 x 75 pull 90+% intensity @ 20 seconds rest

2 x 50 swim 90+% intensity @ 15 seconds rest

2 x 25 kick 90+% intensity @ 10 seconds rest

1 x 50 easy

1 x 100 swim FAST

1 x 200 easy

Total including warm-up: 2000 yds or meters

*Descend means that you start slow and increase speed with each time. In this set, your first 50 will be slow, 2nd 50 will be a little faster, and the 3rd 50 will be faster than the 2nd (and so on). It sounds counter intuitive, but you are increasing speed, which decreases the time it takes you to swim it.

Most Challenging Main Set

3 x 100 50 stroke/50 Free @ 1:50 80% intensity

2 x 50 12.5 yds Fast Freestyle/ Remainder Easy @ 1:00

4 x 25 Fast Butterfly @ :30

1 x 50 Easy------------This is your recovery/rest period. Take as much time as you need before beginning the next section---------------------

3 x 100 50 stroke/50 Free @ 1:55 85% intensity

2 x 50 25 yds Fast Freestyle/ Remainder Easy @ 1:00

4 x 25 Fast Backstroke @ :30

1 x 50 Easy

3 x 100 50 stroke/50 Free @ 2:00 90 +% intensity

2 x 50 37.5 yds Fast Freestyle/ Remainder Easy @ 1:00

4 x 25 Fast Breastroke @ :30

1 x 200 Easy

Total including warm-up: 3050 yds or meters

Remember, it's not always about how many yards you do, but how much intensity you put into your workout. I've written the intensities out for you, now it's on you to push your body and mind.

Best of luck with the workout. Theseworkouts are printable from the Workouts page on the website. Let me know via email (forgedbetter@gmail.com) or our facebook page (ForgedBetter)if you would like to see more workouts like this!

#swim #workout #challenging #mostchallenging