Workout Wednesday: Under One Hour Swim

Triathletes who are pressed for time can still fit in some extra workouts in the week by taking advantage of small windows of free time, such as the lunch hour. If your work is close to a pool, swimming is great for an under-one-hour workout because it engages the full body and can easily include intervals. Fitting in some shorter but intense workout sessions like lunchtime swims into your week will help you build your overall fitness, which is the goal of most triathletes right now during the base-training season.

Warm-up

600 m easy: 200 swim, 20 pull, 200 kick

400 m swim: 8 x 50, descend speed 1 – 4, 5 – 8

Main Set

400 m swim: 4 x 100, descend speed 1 – 4

400 m pull: 4 x 100, descend speed 1 – 4

100 m swim easy

400 m swim: 8 x 50 @ 95% on 1:00

100 m swim easy

100 m ALL-OUT

200 m cool down

Total = 2,700 m

This workout is adaptable to most levels by increasing/decreasing the number of 50s and 100s in the descending speed sets. For triathletes really pressed for time, you can perform the 4 x 100 as 2 or 3 x 100 but be sure to bring the intensity for those last 100s. If using paddles for the pull set, use a smaller pair to save your shoulders for the tempo work.