We've been focusing on speed and speed endurance over the past couple of weeks, so this week we bring the heart rate down a bit back into Zone 3 as we focus on aerobic endurance. And remember, Zone 3 isn't necessarily easy. A high Z3 heart rate can still require a good effort and output.
Where speed and speed endurance help with overall pace, as well as the ability to clear lactic acid, aerobic endurance is the ability to do the distance. Everyone needs this. Even if you know you can swim a specific race distance, it's always good to add an endurance set. After working on speed and speed endurance, a good endurance-based test set is a great way to gauge improvement and regression rates.
I like to ensure that I build out each week to include an aerobic, speed, and speed endurance based workout. Then, you can double up on whatever specificity is required based on the needs and limiters of your athletes.
This workout is written for SCY and runs about 1:30 in duration. The times here were targeted for a lane at my swim club where the base 100 times are - at an aerobic effort - 1:15-1:20. So in this instance you would get about :30-:35 seconds of rest, on average, between each effort in the main set. Be sure to have your athletes (or yourself) check their heart rate during the rest interval to ensure it's not getting into their threshold zone. (Just have them count for 6 seconds and multiply their HR count by 10....or just add a zero to the number.)
Where speed and speed endurance help with overall pace, as well as the ability to clear lactic acid, aerobic endurance is the ability to do the distance. Everyone needs this. Even if you know you can swim a specific race distance, it's always good to add an endurance set. After working on speed and speed endurance, a good endurance-based test set is a great way to gauge improvement and regression rates.
I like to ensure that I build out each week to include an aerobic, speed, and speed endurance based workout. Then, you can double up on whatever specificity is required based on the needs and limiters of your athletes.
This workout is written for SCY and runs about 1:30 in duration. The times here were targeted for a lane at my swim club where the base 100 times are - at an aerobic effort - 1:15-1:20. So in this instance you would get about :30-:35 seconds of rest, on average, between each effort in the main set. Be sure to have your athletes (or yourself) check their heart rate during the rest interval to ensure it's not getting into their threshold zone. (Just have them count for 6 seconds and multiply their HR count by 10....or just add a zero to the number.)
Warm up:
300 easy.
4 x (50-75-100)
On :50, 1:15, 1:40
8 x 150 pull on 2:15
Main set:
3 x 300 on 4:20 / 4:30
500 on 7:05
3 x 300 on 4:20 / 4:30
500 on 7:05
500 on 7:05
3 x 300 on 4:20 / 4:30
500 on 7:05
Cool down:
200
4400 yards.
When I'm doing longer aerobic sets, I like to mix up the distances during that set so the athletes don't get too bored, as well as changing the duration of the aerobic output. Granted, on occasion there will be a longer set of 500's or 800's, but I don't throw these in too frequently.
Should you have any questions about this set - or any other set that I've published - please feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP.
When I'm doing longer aerobic sets, I like to mix up the distances during that set so the athletes don't get too bored, as well as changing the duration of the aerobic output. Granted, on occasion there will be a longer set of 500's or 800's, but I don't throw these in too frequently.
Should you have any questions about this set - or any other set that I've published - please feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP.