Warm ups.
A time for some easy, mindless swimming or an essential part of setting up the main set? How do you approach yours?
The warm up has a purpose. It is not going through the motions. Sometimes, we want it to be a bit more than 10 minutes of easy swimming and then straight into the main set.
The warm up is where we want to build the stroke, the sensations and the feelings – so the swimmer is primed for the main set. This is how one of our recent Swim Squad sessions was designed.
And judging by the feedback from this particular athlete, it worked!
“Was really feeling my catch last night. What you said about the warm up preparing us for the session really sunk in. I’ve misunderstood the purpose of the warm up and used to see it as a time to get the heart rate up and loosen myself. Now, I’ll use it to also get my catch ready for the onslaught!”
A Recent Session
In one of our recent Swim Squad sessions, I thought many of our swimmers looked particularly good – and performed really well on a tough main set. It’s obviously a result of weeks and months of hard work but I suspect it is also partly because of the work we did at the beginning of the session.
We spent 40 of the 90 minutes setting the session up.
The Warm Up
Easy Swimming & Raising The Heart Rate
An easy paced 4 x 100m was followed by 8 x 50m where we increased the pace a little, swimming strong and smooth, raising the heart rate gradually.
We then switched to 25’s and focused on our technique.
Fist Drill
We started with 8 x 25m swimming with our fists, looking to develop a good catch – keeping a high elbow underwater and using our forearm to pull and push.
Distance Per Stroke
Having thought about our catch with the fist drill, we went into 8 x 25m distance per stroke, really emphasising the acceleration of the pull and pushing all the way back to the hip. Swimmers were encouraged to see “how low they could go” with their stroke count.
Gradually Increasing Pace
With thoughts of the catch and the strong push at the end of the stroke fresh in our minds, we now wanted to think about stroke rate a little. Another 8 x 25m, where the first half length was really fast – quicker turnover whilst thinking about power – and the second half easy. Good technique, quick swimming.
Finally, our last set of 25’s were about ‘easy speed’, swimming relaxed, fast and controlled.
Ready For Anything
1600m of work whilst thinking about good technique. The swimmers were feeling fast, smooth and eager for the second half of the session – and the challenging main set!
No wonder they looked good for the rest of the session!
Going Forward
I would encourage you to think about your warm up as a critical part of the swim session. Loosening up, feeling the water, finding your technique, building your speed gradually, priming yourself for the work that is still to come.
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