Utilising a Broken set is a great way to develop faster speed than your normal threshold pace whilst swimming.
Each Saturday I will post a Swim Session, most weeks I will load three options up for you to do. Option A is for swimmers who are after a workout between 1,000 & 2,000 metres. Option B is for swimmers who are after a workout between 2,000 & 3,000m and Option C will be greater than 3,000m.
Option A
- 200m WU;
- 4x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 4x (150m, 30sec RI; 3x 50m 10sec RI)
- 200m CD (1,800m)
Option B
- 400m WU;
- 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 4x (200m, 30sec RI; 4x 50m 10sec RI)
- 200m CD (2,600m)
Option C
- 1,000m WU;
- 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 5x (200m, 30sec RI; 4x 50m 10sec RI)
- 200m CD (3,600m)
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering 200m (Option A), 400m (Option B), or 1,000m (Option C). During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
Next up are four (Option A) or eight (Options B and C) repetitions of 50m Drill/Swim, where you do a drill for the first 25m of the repetition and then normal swimming for the next 25m swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing the drill/swim set. Do the drills below once through (Option A), or twice through (Options B and C):
The main set involves swimming a broken set of intervals that cover either 150m (Option A) or 200m (Options B and C). You then cover that same distance again but broken up into shorter reps of three (Option A) or four (Options B and C) 50m reps. You then repeat this four (Options A and B) or five (Option C) times. Take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) after the longer (150m or 200m) rep with a strict ten-second Rest Interval (RI) after each shorter 50m intervals.
Finish the session with a 200m (eight lengths of a standard 25m pool) Cool Down (CD). As with the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch at the end of any lengths during the Cool Down.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi Coaching.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729. Make sure you sign up for my informative newsletter.
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If you enjoyed this workout, I published a similar session 12 months ago.
12 Weeks to an Iron-Distance Swim PB: Week 3
Coach Ray is the author of the successful 12 Weeks to an Ironman Swim PB – Swim Faster with Smart Training eBook.