Sometimes swim sessions can be confusing with lots of instructions and technical difficulty. This session is great for its simplicity….it’s 200m…which rep? ALL OF THEM. 200m is a great distance, long enough for benefits, short enough not to lose count of the lengths. This session is great for triathletes and open-water swimmers.
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.
The inspiration for today’s workout comes from an article by Sara McLarty at Triathlete.com, you can read the full article here.
Option A
- 3x 200m (150m Swim/50m Kick) 30sec RI;
- 3x 200m (150m Free/50m non-free) 30sec RI;
- 3x 200m (pull breath every 5) 30sec RI;
- 3x 200m (100m Fast/100m Easy) 30sec RI;
- 100m CD (2,500m)
Option B
- 4x 200m (150m Swim/50m Kick) on 5:00;
- 4x 200m (150m Free/50m non-free) on 4:30;
- 4x 200m (pull breath every 5) on 4:00;
- 4x 200m (100m Fast/100m Easy) on 3:45;
- 200m CD (3,400m)
Option C
- 5x 200m (150m Swim/50m Kick) on 4:00;
- 5x 200m (150m Free/50m non-free) on 3:30;
- 5x 200m (pull breath every 5) on 3:00;
- 5x 200m (100m Fast/100m Easy) on 2:45;
- 200m CD (4,200m)
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) set made up of three (Option A), four (Option B), or five (Option C) reps of 200m. The 200m is made up of 150m of swimming followed by 50m of kicking. Do the kicking without a kickboard as detailed in the video below. For Option A take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) between sets. For Option B start each rep five minutes after the previous rep. If it took you 4:31 to complete the rep then you will get 29 seconds of Rest Interval (RI). For Option C start each rep four minutes after the start of the previous rep.
There are three main sets all made up of 200m reps (hence the name of the workout), the three different options all have a different number of reps to complete and different Rest Interval (RI).
The first main set is three (Option A), four (Option B), or five (Option C) reps of 200m. The 200m is made up of 150m freestyle and 50m non-freestyle (you can choose any other swim stroke, I’d recommend backstroke and breaststroke). For Option A take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) between sets. For Option B start each rep 4:30 minutes after the previous rep. If it took you 4:11 to complete the rep then you will get 19 seconds of Rest Interval (RI). For Option C start each rep 3:30 minutes after the start of the previous rep.
The next set is also three (Option A), four (Option B), or five (Option C) reps of 200m swum with a Pull Buoy breathing every fifth stroke. For Option A take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) between sets. For Option B start each rep four minutes after the previous rep. If it took you 3:51 to complete the rep then you will get nine seconds of Rest Interval (RI). For Option C start each rep three minutes after the start of the previous rep.
The final set is also three (Option A), four (Option B), or five (Option C) reps of 200m swum as 100m fast, 100m easy. For Option A take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) between sets. For Option B start each rep 3:45 minutes after the previous rep. If it took you 3:41 to complete the rep then you will get four seconds of Rest Interval (RI). For Option C start each rep 2:45 minutes after the start of the previous rep.
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 100m (Option A) or 200m (Options B & C). Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the cooldown (like the warm-up) can be any stroke you wish to swim. You can also stop and rest after any length. I encourage you to stop and stretch 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.
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If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published 12 months ago.
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