Mach3Multisport.com

Swim training is very different than bike and run training.  OK, for one it’s in a pool.  But with cycling and running, you go hard to be able to go hard, right?  In swimming, it’s not about going hard, it’s about going easy.  Come again?  Yes, it’s about going easy, being efficient, and being smooth.  In a nutshell, the more you swim easy and correctly, the more efficient you get, and the faster you get in being efficient. 

If you’re a new swimmer, you should first get comfortable in the water.  Do that by spending time in the pool.  Get to where you can do a few laps of easy swimming without stopping.  Once there, drills are key.  Our Mach3 DVD series will go into drills more in depth.  The most important thing to know in doing drills is that they must be done correctly.  Review the drills frequently to make sure you didn’t incorporate any bad habits into them.  Drills will teach you efficiency and will allow you to minimize large movements that increase drag.

Once you can do the drills effectively, you can begin to swim “sets.”  Sets are workouts at an Interval.  Swimming isn’t the same as running and cycling; the best way to train for swimming is to swim the pace you want to race at for as long as you can go before your form breaks down, then rest and do it again.  Sets are defined by a work interval (a number of swims at a specified distance), followed by a rest interval.  Rest intervals can be an amount of time or a set interval—a time at which you will leave the wall for your next set.  For example, if you are doing 100s on the 2:00, you leave for each 100m swim when the clock counts every 2 minutes (if your swim takes you 1:40, you get :20 rest; if you swim a 1:55 you get :05 rest, etc).  Whatever the workout is, make sure you don’t swim past the point where your form breaks down.  If you get there, stop and take a break doing drills, and then resume the workout or call it a day.  You don’t want to enforce any bad habits. 

Either way, make sure that every swim session begins and ends with an easy warm up or Cool Down swim concentrating on correct form over speed.  Include drills on each workout as well to maintain form and balance in the water. 

Look in the swim section for some great drills and workouts, and read up on Periodization to see how you can incorporate these workouts into your season.  Or just use a Mach3 training plan and let us do the thinking for you!

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