Sprint Workout

About This Workout

There are two objectives for giving this workout: (1) to teach you how the Olympians do it while training for competition, but tapered down for adult recreation training; and (2) to get you to do it and enjoy it.

The first part of the workout is an extensive warm-up. Yes, it’s long! You need to swim this far if you are going to reach your physical potential. It usually takes over 15 minutes before you start swimming your best in workout. So make sure that you warm up for at least that period. You may even be a little tired, but your muscles are now ready to perform at their peak.

1. Start with easy freestyle or the stroke with which you are most comfortable.

2. The individual medley is used to warm up and stretch all the muscles. It’s done in reverse so that you are a little loosened up before the butterfly leg. You may kick part of the fly leg, but do try to swim at least half.

3. The kick is to really get your legs going again. Again, the IM helps stretch and loosen all the leg muscle groups.

4. A short interval set to raise the heart rate and nourish the muscles with full blood flow. This should be performed at 70 to 80 percent of maximum heart rate.

5. These twenty-fives are easy/fast with 10 to 25-second rest periods between. This completes the warm-up. Your body should now be ready to perform at peak performance for the main set—sprinting!

6. Do 100 yards easy. See stroke drill.

7. Simulation is for gearing up. It’s an easy hundred, thinking about the necessary ingredients for optimal performance. In this case, you are getting ready to sprint. Think about the head position and the finish through. This is your psyche-up swim.

8. Main set: These seventy-fives are done at 100 percent effort from the beginning, no saving up for the last one. They are on a 5-minute interval with an easy seventy-five swim-down after each sprint. You will be getting almost 4 minutes rest. Don’t hold anything back! This is the type of set that helps every level of swimmer improve upon strength, power, and speed. An all-quality set. This is an essential part of training, developing power, speed, and strength conditioning. Remember that every exercise program should be balanced, and these three elements are essential for a balanced exercise routine.

9. Finally, finish off with a long pull to warm down. Use hand paddles if you have them. They will help because your arms will be like noodles after the seventy-fives. Make sure that you do this pull set; it will help alleviate some of the lactate acid buildup in your muscles. Have a good workout, and congratulations on doing it.

Stroke Drill

Because this is a quality workout, concentrate on the desired body and head position for sprinting. Swim the easy hundred with 15-second rest periods after each length.

Workout Theory

This is the hardest workout you will ever do! It is a high-quality, demanding, 60 percent anaerobic/40 percent aerobic workout. You are going to sprint! This workout is especially good for those swimmers competing at the nationals and for those who wish to develop swimming power.

The base facts are these: If you want to get fast you must train fast. Fast swimming helps recruit and develop fast-twitch muscle fibers because of the increase in muscle tension requirements. These muscle fibers play a very significant role in swims between 50 and 200 yards/meters. This workout is therefore designed to help recruit fast-twitch fibers, develop power, and increase swimming strength—all three of which ultimately result in faster swimming at all levels.