New Year's Week Swim / Weights Workout Notes

Folks ask me for swimming workouts all the time.  It came up again over the weekend.  This post archives last week’s workouts.

I should note that I train on a four-week cycle -- three working weeks followed by a rest week.  I probably wouldn’t do it like that if I was training for a big swim meet and planning a taper.  However, these days I’m just a master’s class athlete trying to stay in decent overall physical shape.  The four week cycle helps me stay both healthy and sane in what would otherwise be a literally endless grind.  

I train with some seasonality for the same reasons, peaking as a swimmer in August for the Swim Across the Sound but spending more time in the gym through the fall and winter months to prep for ski season.  I never lift heavy, but if I'm being honest, I enjoy the gym more than the pool.  It just so happens that I'm a better swimmer than weight-lifter.

New Year’s Day Swim (4000 yards)

5 x 100 free warm-up @ 1:35

100 kick

5 x 100 free warm-up @ 1:35

100 kick

5 x 100 @ 1:30, breathing every 3rd

500 @ 7:00

400 @ 5:40

300 @ 4:15

200 @ 2:50

100 @ 1:25

8 x 50 kick @ 1:00 (2x - fly/breast/free/fly)

100 easy

4 x 50 @ :45, Fly/Free

100 warm down

Note: I was going to add another 1000 to this -- 20 x 50 @ :45, every 4th one fast -- but I was cooked after that little fly set.  I simply cannot bang that out the way I used to.

Saturday Swim (2600 yards)

4 x 100 free warm-up @ 1:35

100 kick

4 x 100 free warm-up @ 1:35

100 kick

5 x 100 @ 1:30, breathing every 3rd

2 x 200 pull @ 2:50

100 kick

4 x 100 tempo @ 1:25

100 kick

100 easy cool down

Saturday Weights (Did each super-set 3x)

Upright Rows / Goblet Squats / Incline Sit-Ups

Incline Bench / Forward Lunges / Incline Leg-Lifts

Push-Ups / Reverse Lunges / Side-Lateral Raises

Triceps Press-Downs (rope) / Russian Twists

Triceps Extensions

Sunday Swim (1500 yards)

4 x 200 free warm-up @ 3:00

200 kick

10 x 50 @ :45, breathing every 3rd

Sunday Weights (Again, each super-set 3x)

Bent-Over Rows / Quadruped Leg & Arm Extensions

Lat. Pull Downs (4x) / Groin Adductions / Side Leg Raises

Standing barbell curls / Dumbbell deadlifts

Standing dumbbell curls

That’s it.  Enjoy!