Swim for Tri : SFT SWIM PLANS Introduction to Fitness Training
Introduction to fitness training This two-week pan is to hep introduce you to fitness swimming and makes an idea pathway to our onger training pans or our fitness group sessions (see www. swimfortri.com). A aspects of swimming need good technique, so you wi find a mix of dris and skis to deveop your FC stroke whie buiding fitness. Head swim coach at SFT, Dan has been coaching since 1990 and hods ASCA, BTF and ASA swim quaifications. He is a taented swimmer, former Triathete and an Open Water swimmer who has heped thousands get fit and faster, from their first novice triathon to swimming The Channe. Dan has been the Nationa Masters Open Water Champion repeatedy since 2008. He was the British Age Group Record Hoder for 800m front craw, European Masters medaist and has competed severa Ironman competitions. In 2004 Dan was awarded The 220 Triathon Magazine Coach of the Year and was runner up in 2016. Numerous Kona Quaifiers have come from these sessions, Age Groupers heped convert to Professiona status, Duathetes to Triathetes. This pan is designed to hep you genty back to some swim fitness via some structured sessions. You do not have to swim hard or fast, just try to compete a the sessions. Space the sessions out so you can recover between them. The dris, techniques and swim terminoogy wi buid nicey to our onger pans and eave you ready to start preparing for our fitness sessions or swim technique sessions. Make use of swim accessories where appropriate and add fins to make dris more accurate. Pease emai dan@ swimfortri.com for more info on swim accessories and how best to use fins / paddes / pu buoy or snorke. Novice and Intermediate options are guides for current abiity, you might be a faster swimmer but unfit or not have enough time to do the Intermediate distance so it is not set in stone. It woud be better to perform 3 shorter sessions rather than to do 1 big session and get overy fatigued and ruin sessions 2 and 3 or eave the others and ony swim once per week aowing 6 days of swim unearning which wi harm progress. Swim continuity is key here. Post swim is the time to stretch tired shouders if you are ooking to suppement your training further with Yoga or Piates movements. Avoid static stretching ahead of the swimming. Mobie shouders and ankes wi hep you create streamined positions in the water. The Piates Swimmer movement wi hep to correct kicking from the knee, which sinks the egs, by creating a straighter eg position in the water Swim for Tri, based in London but now coaching across the UK, is a swim technique and coaching concept brought to you by the brother and sister team of Dan and Keeey Buock. The team share over 30 years experience of competitive swimming, coaching, teaching swim essons and direct invovement with the sport of Triathon and Openwater racing as competitors and Coaches. In the ast 13 pus years, the dedicated team at Swim For Tri and their teaching methods have heped thousands to faster & easier swim sections of their races. Swim for Tri are proud to be: Dan Buock Swim for Tri Seected swim training partner to CLUB LA SANTA Speedo openwater coaching advisors 220 magazine award winner and coumnist TRIATHLETE EUROPE and H20penwater Magazines coumnist Featured Swim Coach on the Joe Beer and Steve Trew training camps
WARM UP WEEK 1: SESSION 1 WEEK 1: SESSION 2 WEEK 1: SESSION 3 A simpe warm up to incude ahead of any main set: 50m FC <2Lengths in a 25m poo>, easy swimming fu stroke, stretch out and start to think about your swimming. 50 with a pu buoy between the thighs to encourage arms ony puing 50m FC keep the head sti uness turning to breathe, keep the kick sma and streamined. 50m with a pu buoy between the egs, but this time open and cose the hands, 4 strokes at a time as an introduction to a swimming dri. For intermediate abiity, perform this set twice through. Try to concude each fitness main set with 50m easy to reax and recover. Teaching point: taking something away encourages the body to compensate. We cench the fist to utiise more of the forearm as the hand sips through the water. When the hand reopens, the sensation of hoding the water and feeing a connection with it is heightened: a great way to make it fee a itte more soid and ess sippery. Fist dri: simpy cench one or both fists for a set number of strokes MAINSET 25m FC dri - 2 strokes both fists cenched, 8 strokes norma hand shape. Repeat this dri sequence for the ength before continuing with 75m FC at 60% effort. Rest 30s Teaching point: sowing the stroke down aows a greater accuracy of hand pathways under the body. Aternating singe arms i.e. catch up is a great dri for this. Fins wi make the dri easier. NOVICE MAINSET 4 125m swum as: Odd swims comprise 100m at 60% pace into 25m of 10-kick catch-up Take 10 kicks between each arm cyce; arms remain outstretched in front during kick. Optiona fins on the dri section. Catch up dri: aternate singe arms After the usua warmup, aim to swim continuousy for 5 minutes, or 10 minutes if starting from a reasonabe eve of fitness (intermediate eve). Record the distance traveed: we wi make use of this at the end of the pan to check progress. Swim down 100m with fins, paddes and a snorke (or sighty reduced breathing pattern so you can watch the hands puing under the body for onger before the breathing interruption) Swim easy 100m with fins and paddes Swim easy 100m with fins, by using a the equipment to boster the swim technique artificiay after the stress of this tough mainset. 25m FC dri - 2 strokes both fists cenched, 4 strokes norma FC. Continue into 75m FC at 60% effort. Rest 30s Even swims comprise 25m of 10-kick catch up into 100m of FC at 75% effort. Rest 30s between each 125m 25m FC dri - haf a ength with one fist cenched, the other hand norma, into haf ength the opposite fist cenched, the other hand norma. Continue into 75m FC at 60% effort. Rest 30s Add your pu buoy then swim haf a ength with one fist cenched, the other hand norma, into haf a ength the opposite fist cenched, the other hand norma. Continue into 75m FC at 60% effort. Rest 30s INTERMEDIATE MAINSET 4 200m swum as: Odd swims comprise 150m at 60% pace into 50m of 10-kick catch-up add fins? Take 10 kicks between each arm cyce Even swims: 50m of 10-kick catch up into 150m of FC at 75% effort. Rest 30 between 200m 800m Novice 1 set Intermediate 2 sets 400m 800m
WEEK 2: SESSION 1 WEEK 2: SESSION 2 WEEK 2: SESSION 3 POST PLAN Teaching point: Maintain an even stroke count on this set, concentrate on an unhurried stroke. Fingertips point downwards when pushing the water backwards, pams to face towards the wa you are swimming away from; try not to rush the arm pu, ese the hands wi sip under the body with no reward of the body moving forwards. INTERMEDIATE START HERE 250m FC with a sighty more chaenging breathing pattern ( BP ) than norma. Try to maintain a simiar stroke count throughout. Every 3rd if 2nd is usua? Every 4th if 3rd is usua perhaps. NOVICE START HERE Catch position: point the fingertips down eary, pam faces the wa you are swimming away from 200m pu with paddes & snorke. Keep the head sti uness turning to breathe 150m no accessories but try to maintain a simiar stroke count throughout 100m pu with paddes & snorke. Keep the head sti 50m no accessories but try to reduce stroke count by 1 per ength to refocus on good technique Teaching point: The extension position is a wonderfuy versatie body position dri that heps many aspects of your FC: breathing to both sides, streamine, discovering a eg kick that wi hep the body rotate but not be massivey propusive (which woud be fatiguing). Keep the head sti facing down uness turning to breathe to the side as ow as you can. The extension position: stretch out, arms don t move, use fins to assist NOVICE 8 75m FC, rest 20s between each swim, swum as Odd swims: first ength shoud be swum as Extension Dri (haf a ength eft arm outstretched, haf a ength right arm outstretched). Add fins to make the dri more accurate then continue into 50m FC Even swims: fu stroke FC, steady but technicay as good as you can, taking from the previous dri where the body woud have worked harder to achieve streamine and baance 600m INTERMEDIATE 8 125m FC, rest 20s between each swim Odd swims: first 50m of each 125m shoud be swum as Extension Dri (1 ength eft arm outstretched into 1 ength right arm outstretched) Teaching point: Maintain good technique throughout, take more rest if you fee that your technique is faing apart. Count strokes per ength and if the number goes up dramaticay then rest more. Fatigued swimming with poor technique is not going to hep you swim faster. NOVICE Pu buoy can sit between the thighs, or ankes for a harder technica effort 300m FC (swum aternating 50m with a pu buoy, 50m without) Rest 45s then swim: 200m FC increase effort in bocks of 50m, at 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% INTERMEDIATE 2x the foowing 300m FC (swum as 50m with a pu buoy, 100m without, repeat, add paddes and snorke for 50% of the swim) rest 30s 200m FC increasing effort in bocks of 50m, at 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% 1000m POST PLAN at a convenient time after the competion of the pan. Perform the usua warmup and add some preferred dris before continuing with a continuous swim. Aim to swim continuousy for 10 minutes, or 20 minutes if you started with 10 minutes on week 1. Did you match or beat doube your distance from the first test swim? If you do not record a further distance you might need to focus more on some pure technica aspects to your stroke to find if something mechanica is hoding back your speed. During an easy swim down at the end of a session run a FC diagnostic to check your technique: Do your pams send water back towards your feet or to the bottom of the poo? Are the arm pathways puing with symmetrica movements? Do toes point backwards with a streamined kick or down to the bottom of the poo? Is kicking from the knee with a two way pivot to send water up to the surface and sink the egs keeping you swimming uphi? If you can swim significanty faster with a pu buoy or your stroke count is over 25 (singe arms) in a 25m poo then you coud definitey improve with some technica guidance NOVICE start at the 200m swim and work down INTERMEDIATE start at the 250m and work down 750m Even swims: fu stroke FC, steady but technicay as good as possibe, taking from the previous dri where the body woud have worked harder to use a sma eg kick to assist baance and rotation.keep the chin pointing down during the dri. Breathe ow to the side, try to keep the ower gogge submerged 1000m
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