If you want to improve your swimming endurance, there's no getting away from the fact that you need to work harder, swim consistently, and spend more time in the water. There are no hacks or shortcuts. However, it's important to make your time in the pool and open water training as meaningful as possible and make every swim session count.
We spoke to British coach Glenn Smith, president of the British Swimming Coaches Association and childhood coach of two-time Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington. Plus professional triathletes Jodie Stimpson and Andrew Horsfall-Turner. The best tips will take your swimming endurance to the next level. From how to structure your swim training to how to avoid injury when increasing your swim volume. Learn about the PRO's go-to swim session and how to adapt it to your ability level.
Structure your training to strengthen your endurance and improve your technique
If you have no experience swimming, the main way to increase your endurance is to swim more. However, in order to be efficient and avoid injuries from overuse, you also need to hone your technique.
Coach Glenn Smith recommends “developing a lot of skills and then building an engine.” he said: “If you don't have a durable engine, you have to build one. A relatively long basic training period is required, and only then can you go into threshold, race pace and speed training for the race season. If you are building from a low location, do not do too much sill work when foundation work should be done in winter.
To build your endurance engine, you need to spend enough time swimming at a steady Zone 2 intensity to develop your aerobic swim fitness. But it's not all about the base. Poor technique can be a limiting factor for many swimmers. They can't swim efficiently, which makes it difficult for them to swim long distances. This is why Smith recommends structuring swim training into three main stages, progressing from skill work to base work to race pace/speed work.
- skill work
Get back to basics like streamlining, pushing and gliding, improving water feel, and efficient drills like stroke counting. - Foundation work
Base work is aerobic training at about 70% of your maximum heart rate. As your fitness improves, gradually increase the distance and reduce the amount of rest. - Race-specific tasks
Do interval work at 80-90% of your maximum heart rate, swim at race pace or higher, and incorporate speed work.
Threshold training is associated with zone 3 or 4 work, typically 80-90% of your maximum heart rate, and can be closely related to your desired race pace in endurance events. The aim is to improve your response to lactic acid and be able to maintain a higher average velocity for longer. Base training is typically low intensity at about 70% of your maximum heart rate (Zone 2).
Smith said the progression begins with one to two months of skills work in October and November, followed by six months of base work and then race-specific work for summer events. May start. Even during the winter, he can incorporate speed training during warm-ups, such as doing 15-meter speed bursts, kicking his legs harder and rotating his arms faster than usual. However, the primary focus in the early stages of training is technique and basic aerobic fitness.
How to increase your swimming volume without getting injured
Increasing your overall swimming volume is essential to improving your endurance. The rate at which you can increase depends on your individual background, age, health, and fitness. Swimming technique is also a big factor. But aside from improving your technique, there are some other simple effects you can incorporate into your training routine to avoid injury when swimming more often.
Don't forget to warm up and cool down
Warm-up and cool-down are important aspects of swim training and should never be underestimated. It's important to get your muscles moving and ready for training, especially before speed or interval sessions. If you're short on time, you can also opt for land-based warm-ups and cool-downs, such as stretching and mobility. If you're a triathlete and primarily focus on front crawl/freestyle, you can also add a backstroke to your cooldown. This will help stretch muscles that can become tight during freestyle.
prioritize recovery
If you are following a program where the rate of volume increase from week to week is fairly steep, consider a week of rest or deloading every third week. You need to give your body a short break and a chance to absorb the training. If you don't, you'll end up stagnant and, in the worst case scenario, get injured.
Use band exercises to strengthen key swimming muscles
To avoid injury while swimming, it's important to strengthen and stabilize key muscle groups. Most swimming injuries tend to involve the shoulder. Use a fitness band to spend some time on dry land to keep your rotator cuff and other shoulder muscles strong and stable. Consider getting regular sports massages to soothe tight spots before they become problems.
How to refuel for longer swim sessions
Unless you're an Olympic marathoner, most swim training sessions don't exceed two hours and can be completed without refueling during training. A breakfast (or a snack depending on swim time) with a sufficient source of carbohydrates should be consumed by her an hour or so before so she has enough energy to complete the session.
However, there are exceptions when you may need to carry fuel in your vehicle during swim training. Professional triathlete Jodie Stimpson says: However, if you manage your energy well before your session, you won't need fuel for most swims. ”
If you find it difficult to eat early in the morning before swimming and are struggling with energy levels during your session, you may want to try consuming a source of carbohydrates during your session through a gel or sports drink. If you suffer from cramps, several factors may be to blame, including your general health, fitness, and hydration. However, refueling in small amounts while swimming may also help prevent cramps.
Pacing may be the key to improving swimming endurance
If you're training but feel like you've run out of energy before completing the distance you swim in a triathlon. In reality, it may have more to do with pace than fitness.
For most people, we recommend not starting too early. Your body will be sore early in the race as you strain your anaerobic energy system and start producing lactic acid. This makes it difficult to continue swimming longer distances. It can be hard not to get swept up in the adrenaline of the start of a race, but try starting at an easier pace to build up your race effort. You'll probably find that you can swim farther before fatigue sets in.
Even professional athletes who aim to break away from the pack and swim to the front need to measure their efforts. “I go out hard, but I pace myself as quickly as possible,” says Jodi Stimpson. “That's what I practice in training. And remember to breathe, because this is important, so as not to explode after the first intense effort!”
Train like a pro: Example triathlon swim training sets to improve swimming endurance
So that's the theory, but what swim sets can you actually add to your training program to improve your endurance? With go-to sessions from swimming coach Glenn Smith and professional triathlete Andrew Horsfall-Turner. We will provide guidance on how to adapt your sessions to suit your current abilities. Because most of us are professionals who can regularly swim 25km each week.
Swim set example: base training and skill training sessions
The following sets from Horsfall Turner are essential during winter training. Combining steady aerobic swimming with dedicated 50 meter reps to focus on a specific drill or skill is a great way to incorporate improved technique into your swim stroke.
Use 50 meter “skill” repeats to focus on drills or coaching points specific to what you need to work on. Then try incorporating the tips from that drill into your swim stroke during your next cardio swim set.
If you're not sure what to tackle, try going to a session at your local triathlon club and ask for advice. For many people, a 4,000 meter swim set will be too much. Especially if you want to build up your endurance to be able to swim such distances in the first place. However, you can use Andrew's session as a template. For example, starting from 400m, during each set he puts a 1 x 50m drill and he descends to 100m.
Swim set example: Aerobic base training for swimming Ironman distance or higher
If you aim to swim 3800 meters or more, you will need to do longer distance aerobic intervals during your base training period. Smith recommends the 400m repeat, which is also a go-to format for Andrew Horsfall Turner. Incorporate a proper warm-up and some drills, and aim to rest for about 30 seconds after each 400-meter rep. “If it’s less than that, it’s over the threshold.”
For experienced swimmers who regularly clock 5,000 to 6,000 meters per training session, examples of long-distance basic swim sets include:
Once warmed up and cooled down, these sets incorporate quite a bit of volume. If you're training for a short event, or like most of us amateurs, you're not yet at the stage where you can regularly complete 5-6km swim sets in the morning before work. not. Adjust the format by reducing the number of 400m reps. For example, at first he will run 400m 2-3 times and then increase the number of reps.
Or try shorter intervals such as 5 x 200m or 10 x 100m. If 30 seconds of rest isn't enough time to lower your heart rate, increase your rest time. You should work consistently in zone 2 throughout the set. As you improve your swimming fitness and endurance, you will be able to reduce your rest time, increase your reps, or both.
The process of building endurance takes years. However, significant improvements can be made through regular and consistent training throughout the season. Start with a period of building skills and good habits, then build a foundation of aerobic training, then work on more specific thresholds and race pace leading up to the event.
It requires a combination of general aerobic fitness and swimming-specific muscular endurance. The latter can only be achieved by spending time in the water and following a consistent training program related to the distance you want to achieve.
Although pull work is important, triathletes can rely on it too much when trying to replicate the body position achieved while wearing a wetsuit. Take time at the beginning of each season to work on positioning and streamlining, doing core work on track to improve your body position.
Take your open water swimming to the next level with tips and training advice from the open water section, and all the gear you need at SBRX.
