TRAINING PLAN Swim strong - Amazon S3...Swim strong in six weeks T his training plan is aimed at making you a stronger and faster swimmer, while maintaining your cycling and running

Swim strong in six weeks

T his training plan is aimed at making you a stronger and faster swimmer, while maintaining your cycling and running fi tness. It

involves three swims per week, two strength sessions, two cycles and two runs. The benefi ts of this strength building approach to swimming are discussed in my Pep Talk on page 3. In short, you’ll improve more by combining strength work and swimming then you would by just swimming.

To prove this, I’ve set you a 400-metre timed effort at the beginning and the end of a six-week schedule period, so that you can gauge your success. If you can improve by around fi ve seconds per 400 metres in just six weeks, you’ll have succeeded. Multiply these gains out to a 1.5km, 1.9km, or 3.8km triathlon swim and you’ll make signifi cant gains at your next triathlon race.

Before you get cracking, let me explain a few things. Firstly, I’ve set

you three swim sessions per week, detailing exactly what you need to do. Each swim should take around an hour to complete, give or take 10 minutes. However, it’s almost always better to swim in a coached group environment, even if you can only do so for one or two of the sessions each week.

You can either do your resistance training at home or in a gym. A gym is better, because you’ll be able to use pull-up and chin-up machines with a counter-balance weight to make them more manageable. I have detailed each exercise on pages 4 and 5. Just make sure you gradually progress the number of reps until you can do two sets of 25 of each exercise. Then you can start to increase the load for each exercise.

Each swim, bike and run workout uses Training Zones (see descriptions, below left) to help you train at the right intensity. It helps if you have a heart-rate monitor, but it’s not essential. There is also a Key to help you understand any abbreviations we’ve used. Most importantly, listen to your body and if you feel excessively fatigued or sore, take two days off and then reassess before you resume any training.

Combine swimming with resistance training to knock seconds off your 400m freestyle PB

TRAINING PLAN

IS THIS PLAN FOR YOU?

Goal400m swimming PB

Timescale 6 weeks

Start Point Swim 1kmCycle 1 hourRun 50 minutes

LevelIntermediate

WU Warm up, MAIN Main set, WD Warm down, FC Front crawl, P FC with a pull-buoy between your thighs, K Kick with a fl oat held out in front, BACK Backstroke, BREAST Breaststroke, BUILD Gradually increase your pace, 1-ARM Swim FC with one arm only, FIST Swim FC with your fi sts clenched, Z1 Zone 1, Z2 Zone 2 Z3 Zone 3, Z4 Zone 4, Z5 Zone 5

DESCRIPTION HEART RATE (%MAX)

RPE 1-10

ACCUMULATED INTENSITY

Z1 Recovery 55-70 <2 1-6hrs EasyZ2 Endurance 70-75 2-3 1-3hrs SteadyZ3 Tempo 75-80 3-4 50-90mins ComfortableZ4 Threshold 80-88 4-6 10-60mins UncomfortableZ5 Vo2 max 89-100 >7 12-30mins Hard to very hard

KEY

TRAINING ZONES GUIDE6 WEEK PLAN

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DAY DESCRIPTION WORKOUT WORKOUTDESCRIPTION

Swim

Sun

Sat

Fri

Wed

Tue

Thur

Mon

WEE

K 1

Run WU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 4x800m in Z4/Z5 with 2mins rests WD 10mins in Z2

Swim

Bike

Swim

Run

Bike

WU 2x200m FC Z2 +20secs, 4x25m FC Z4 +15secs MAIN 2x250m FC Z2 +15secs, 4x50m (25m FISTS, 25m FC) +15secs, 2x200m P Z3 +15secs, 4x50m as (25m 1-ARM, 25m FC) +15secs, 400m FC TT in Z5 WD 200m

WU 300m FC Z2, 100m K Z2, 300m P Z2, 100m K Z2, 200m FC Z2 MAIN 1km FC BUILD (each 200m slightly faster than the previous) WD 600m in Z2 as 3x(50m BACK, 50m FC, 50m BREAST, 50m K)

Dips, press-ups, chin-ups, plank, pull-ups, side plank, squats, hanging (see pages 4-5)

WU 200m FC Z2, 200m P Z2, 200m mixed Z2 MAIN 3x150m FC Z2 +10secs, 200m K Z4 +15secs, 3x150m FC Z3 +15secs, 200m K Z3 +15secs, 3x150m FC Z4 +30secs, 200m K Z2 WD 200m Z2

Run 1hr to 1hr 30mins in Z2 on soft, undulating terrain

WU 30mins in Z2 MAIN 3x9mins in Z3/Z4 +3mins rests WD 30mins in Z2

WU 15mins in Z2 MAIN 4x5mins in Z4 +2mins rests WD 10mins in Z2

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

Sun

Sat

Fri

Wed

Tue

Thur

Mon

WEE

K 2

Run WU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 4x1km in Z4/Z5 with 2mins 30 rests WD 5mins in Z2

Strength and conditioning

Swim

Bike Strength and conditioning

Swim

Run

Bike

WU 200m FC Z2, 100m BACK Z2, 50m BREAST Z2, 50m P Z2 MAIN 4x400m FC BUILD +45secs rests, 4x100m K BUILD (each 25 faster than the one before) +30secs rests WD 100m BACK Z2, 50m BREAST Z2, 50m P Z2

WU 200m as (50m FC/BACK/FC/BREAST) +20secs rest, 200 as (50m P/K) MAIN 300m P Z2, 4x100m FC Z4 +30secs rests, 200m P Z2, 3x100m FC Z4 +30secs, 200m K alt (25m Z1, 25m Z4) WD 200m mixed


WU 30mins in Z2 MAIN 2x15mins in Z4 +5mins rest in Z1 WD 30mins in Z2

WU15mins in Z2 MAIN 6x3mins in Z4/Z5 +2mins rests WD 5mins in Z2



Sun

Sat

Fri

Wed

Tue

Thur

Mon

WEE

K 3

Run WU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 5x500m in Z4/Z5 with 3mins rests in Z1 WD 5mins in Z2


Swim


Swim

Bike

Run

WU 6x75m FC Z2 +20secs MAIN 400m FC Z2 +20secs, 300m P Z3 +20secs, 200m FC Z4 +20secs, 100m P Z5 +60 secs, 8x50m KICK alt (50m Z4, 50m Z2) +15secs WD 6x75m as (50m FC, 25m BACK) +20secs

WU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 6x200m in Z5 +3mins rests in Z1 WD 5mins in Z2

Ride 1hr 30mins in Z2/Z3, undulating route

Run in Z2 to Z3 on soft ground

WU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 5,4,3mins all in Z4 +3mins rests in Z1 WD 10mins in Z2



RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY



Dips, press-ups, chin-ups, plank, pull-ups, side plank, squats, hanging (see pages 4-5

SwimWU Z2: 300m FC, 100m K, 200m P, 100m K, 100m FC MAIN FC: 2x (100m Z3, 50m Z5, 100m Z2) +30secs, 4x (50m Z3, 50m Z5, 50m Z2) +20 secs, 4x (25m Z3, 50m Z5, 25 Z2)+15 secs WD Z2: 250m mixed

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

TrainingZone

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TrainingZone

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Swim

Sun

Sat

Fri

Wed

Tue

Thur

Mon

WEE

K 4

Run WU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 9x400m in Z4/Z5 with 2mins rests WD 5mins in Z2


Swim


Swim

Run

Bike

WU Z2: 4x50m FC +10secs, 100m BACK, 100m BREAST MAIN 400m P Z2 , 4x100m FC Z4, 300m P Z2, 3x100m FC Z4, 200m P Z2 +20secs; 2x100m FC Z5 +45secs rests WD 50m BACK Z2, 50m BREAST Z2

WU Z2: 400m FC, 300m P, 200m K, 100m mixed MAIN 4x150m FC Z3 +20secs, 200m Z2 alt (50m BACK/BREAST), 5x100m FC Z4 +20secs, 200m Z2 alt BACK/BREAST, 200m K alt (25 Z2/25m Z4) WD 100m mixed

WU 300m FC Z2, 200m K Z2, 200m Z2 alt (25m FC/25m FIST) MAIN 3x200m FC as (100m Z2/Z4) +30secs, 2x200m P as (100m Z2/Z4) + 30secs, 200m FC Z5 WD 200m Z2 as (50m FC, BACK, BREAST, P)


WU 30mins in Z2 MAIN 20mins in Z4, 5mins in Z1, 10mins in Z4 WD 30mins in Z2

WU 15mins in Z2 MAIN 2x15mins as (20secs in Z5, 40secs in Z2) +5mins in Z2 between sets WD 5mins in Z2



Swim

Sun

Sat

Fri

Wed

Tue

Thur

Mon

WEE

K 5

RunWU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 2x(8x200m in Z4/Z5) with 30secs rest between reps and 3mins in Z1 between sets WD 5mins in Z2


Swim


Swim

Run

Bike

WU 2 x (100m FC, 50m BACK, 100m FC, 50m BREAST) in Z2 MAIN 8x50m FC as (25m Z5/Z2) +20secs, 100m K Z4 +30secs, 2x200m Z4 +30secs, 100m K Z3 +30secs, 4x100m Z4 +30secs rests, 100m K Z3 WD 250m mixed

WU All in Z2: 200m FC, 50m BACK, 100m P, 50BREAST MAIN 4x100m FC Z4 +15secs rests, 2x200m P Z4 +30secs, 100m P Z1, 400m FC Z4 WD All Z2: 200m P, 50m BACK, 200m FC, 50m BREAST, 200m FC

WU 4x(50m FC, 50m BACK, 50m FC, 50m K) MAIN 4x200m FC in Z3 +20secs rests, 3x400m in Z3 as (200m FC/200m P) +45secs rests WD 400m easy as (200m P, 100m BACK, 100m KICK) in Z2


WU 30mins in Z2 MAIN 2x20mins in Z4 +5mins in Z1 recovery between sets WD 30mins in Z2

WU 15mins in Z2 MAIN 2x15mins as (40secs in Z4, 20secs in Z2) +5mins in Z2 between sets WD 5mins in Z2



Sun

Sat

Fri

Wed

Tue

Thur

Mon

WEE

K 6

Run WU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 4x400m in Z5 +3mins recoveries in Z1 WD 5mins in Z2


Swim

Bike

Swim

Bike

Run

WU 400m alt (25m BACK/75m FC) in Z2 MAIN 4x200m FC as (50m Z2, 50m Z3, 50m Z4, 50m Z5) +30secs rests, 2x100m P in Z3 +15secs rests, 8x50m FC in Z4 +15secs rests WD 200m BACK/BREAST in Z2

WU 400m alt (25m FIST/75m FC) MAIN 2x100m FC Z4 +30secs rests, 200m P Z2 +15secs, 2x100m FC Z4 +30secs, 200m P Z2 +45secs, 400m FC TT in Z5WD 200m BACK/BREAST in Z2

Ride 1hr 30mins in Z2/Z3, undulating route

Run in Z2 to Z3 on soft ground

WU 20mins in Z2 MAIN 3x3mins in Z4 +3mins rests in Z2 WD 10mins in Z2


RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

DAY DESCRIPTION WORKOUT WORKOUTDESCRIPTION

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

RECOVERY

14 TRIATHLON PLUS | December 2014

TrainingZone

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Documents

TRAINING PLAN Swim strong - Amazon S3...Swim strong in six weeks T his training plan is aimed at making you a stronger and faster swimmer, while maintaining your cycling and running