PART III Swimming Workouts

A swimming workout is not just about diving in and churning the water as hard as possible until they close the pool (though some people approach it that way). In our paradigm, a workout, and the conditioning that results from it, is a by-product of learning and practicing the skills of highly effective swimming (hence I use the words workout and practice interchangeably). A well-planned workout involves activities intended to teach or refine a variety of skills and to practice those skills at a variety of planned intensities. This part will help you plan your workouts. Chapter 6 explains various exercise intensities as well as some ways to measure and control your exertion level. It also explains workout training zones and how they relate to the six levels of workouts that follow. In addition, the chapter discusses effective warm-ups and cool-downs. Chapters 7 through 12 include the six workout levels, each of which contains 10 skill-building and conditioning workouts.