No matter what level of swimmer or triathlete you are, at some point you will want or need to start writing your own swim workouts. This doesn’t need to be a complicated process and once you know the formula it can be quite easy. Prior to writing your swim workout there are a few things to consider which will help you shape your workout. We want to give you the tools and swim-spiration (see what we did there) to allow you to get those creative juices flowing and write a kick butt swim session!

If you have no interest in or no time for writing your own workouts, then check out our coaching services or our 8-week training plan! Let’s learn to write a swim workout:

What Are Your Goals?

Before writing your workout it is important to know what are the goals you have for the workout. Try to keep your workout goals simple and focused on one area. The more elements you try to tackle the more complex the workout becomes and the less likely you are to make meaningful progress. Here are a few ideas for workout goals:

• Focus on improving technique

• Speed work

• Endurance work

• Threshold, Critical Swim Speed or Pace work

• Open Water or Triathlon specific skills

• Stroke Specific

Once you have picked your goal, you should consider how you will measure “success.” Some ideas of a successful workout could be holding a certain pace, hitting a distance (yard/meters) target for the workout, hitting a time goal (1 hour session), the density of the swim session or some other outcome. The density of the swim session is basically covering more distance of a period of time. For example swimming 1000 yards in 30 minutes is a less dense swim session than swimming 1000 yards in 20 minutes. Use our swim pace calculators to help figure out what your pace would be at different workout densities! Once you have your goal and your “success” metric you are ready to write your workout.

Swim Workout Structure For Beginners

If you are newer to swimming or triathlon, then the workout structure will be pretty simple. The workout will consist of three parts: warm up, a main set and a cool down completed in that order. Below is the percentage of the workout that we recommend each part should take up.

Warm Up: 10-20% of the workout- This is when you will get your body ready to work. Use this to ease into the workout and this is also a great time to get some drill and technique work in. Throughout the warm up gradually build the intensity so the heart rate is elevated just before the main set. This will make sure your body is primed and ready to go.

Main Set: 60-80% of the workout- This is the meat of the workout! This will vary based on your workout goals and metrics for success.

Cool Down: 10-20% of the workout- This is when you start winding the workout down. Use this portion to help the heart rate lower and to flush out any lactic acid build up from the workout. This is another great place for drills and technique work.

Swim Workout Structure For Intermediate & Advanced

If you have been swimming for a while you may add 2 more parts to your workouts to really get the most out of them. Those 2 additional pieces are the Pre-Set and the Post-Set. These are pieces you may add into your workouts but they are not always necessary. You be the judge of when you should add in one, both or none of the Pre and Post sets. If you were to add them both in, then this is what a more advanced workout breakdown could look like:

Warm Up: 10-20% of the workout- Described above.

Pre-Set: 5%-20% of the workout- This can be a drill set or a set focused on a skill you are working to improve like kicking or speed. We like to use this to really get the heart rate up so that you are ready to nail the main set.

Main Set: 40%-70% of the workout- Described above.

Post Set: 5%-20% of the workout- Much like the Pre-Set, this can be used to fine tune the focus or skill you are looking to improve in this workout. If you are doing a speed workout, you might finish with a short and fast sprint set. If you are focusing on kick or pace, then you could do a small kick or pace set here that is the cherry on top of the workout. We like to finish almost every workout off with some short all out sprints to help give our athletes some extra gears in their strokes.

Cool Down: 10-20% of the workout- Described above.

Below find some example workouts to help you better understand the structure of a swim workout and to give you a little inspiration to get those creative juices flowing:

Example Beginner Workout

Beginner Workout: 1000 yards

Warm up: 200 Yards 20% of the workout

4 x 50 @ :10 rest Descend 1 to 4

Main Set: 800 yards 80% of the workout

5 x 100 @ :20 rest build to a sprint

6 x 50 @ :15 rest All FAST

Cool Down: 200 yards 20% of the workout

1 x 200 easy alternating 25 drill/25 swim

Example Intermediate/Advanced Workout

Intermediate/Advanced Workout: 2000 yards

Warm up: 300 Yards 15% of the workout

6 x 50 @ :10 rest Descend 1 to 6

Pre-Set: 300 yards 15% of the workout

12 x 25 @ :10 rest alternate 2 x 25 build/1 x 25 FAST

Main Set: 1000 yards 50% of the workout

2x:

   4 x 100 @ :10 rest holding threshold pace*

   1 x 100 @ 1:00 rest Sprint

Post-Set: 200 yards 15% of the workout

4 x 50 @ :05 rest holding threshold pace*

Cool Down: 200 yards 10% of the workout

1 x 200 easy alternating 25 drill/25 swim

*If you aren’t sure what threshold pace is or what YOUR threshold pace is, then to our CSS Calculator to learn more about it! This is a great tool to help your figure out your goal pace when writing your own workouts.

Now you have all the tools you need to write your own workouts! It is time for you to come up with your own. We would love to see what you come up with so please post them in the comments on this article or post them on Instagram and tag us (@enduranceswim) and we will feature them on our Instagram story! If you don’t want to come up with your own we have 2 great programs that are totally free! We have a Couch to 1 Mile training program and an 8 week triathlon swim program! Have fun!

Successful swims are built with Endurance!