Triathlon Swim Training Program For Swimming: SwimFaster Season 1 Cycle 1 Breakdown
Written by Rory | SwimFaster Training Program
This is the first ever cycle of the SwimFaster Triathlon Training Program For Swimming! Welcome aboard! Let’s get things cracking!
Cycle Focus:
The SwimFaster Triathlon Training Program For Swimming is broken into 4 Cycles. Cycle 1 is all about the fundamentals of minimizing resistance and moving through the water with less effort. We’re targeting the foundations of fast swimming, the concepts that everything else you do will be built off. Master the pieces of the puzzle in this cycle and you are guaranteed to drop time!
Swim Technique Focus:
The primary goal of cycle is building the ability to hold a great line through the water.
- Swim with great posture
- Cut a narrow path through the water as you swim
- Get your head, hips and heels in a straight line
- Force your core to provide the balance so that your arms can help you move forward
Swim Fitness Focus:
- Carry your technique from the drill sets into some longer swimming at a faster pace
- Understand how to manage your pace and energy expenditure
- Create a fitness foundation we can build speed and race specific skills off of
Negative Split simply means the second half of the distance is swum faster than the first. So whatever distance I ask you to swim, divide it in 2. Make sure the second half of that repeat is faster than the first half. That generally means you will need to swim a little slower (perfect for transferring your good technique from the drill sets to the main sets) on the first half and then pick up the pace on the second half. For example if I ask you to Negative split a 100, you will swim the second 50 faster than the first 50.
Build Swims are similar to negative split swims. Negative splits have a clear black and white line separation between the second fast half and the first easy half. Build sets are a little more gray. You’ll simply build the speed as you go through the swim. For example if you have a build 100, you might get faster every 25. Or if you have a build 50 you might get faster every 6 strokes. You can decide how you build the swim, but it should start slow and then build up to speed as you go through it.
Descending Sets require you to swim increasingly faster as the set goes on. So instead of Negative splitting each individual repeat (like the 100) I want to you to make each 100 faster. For example if we have a set of 4 x 100 I want number 1 to be your slowest 100 and number 4 to be your fastest. Each 100 will be faster than the 100 before.
Things To Focus On:
- Approach the drills with focus and attention
- Force yourself into great habits and break the bad habits
- Stay as consistent as you can through the 12 weeks
Share Your Times & Feedback:
This isn’t mandatory, but I would greatly appreciate it…
When you complete a workout, post your times and feedback on what you felt/experienced/noticed in the session in the comments section of the workout I’ll use the data you post to help me create an even better Triathlon Training Program for Swimming – so you’ll ultimately be winning by sharing your experiences!
There will be guys and girls that post up impressive times and there will be newbies who just scrape by, I’d like to hear from all of you.
The comments section will be a no judgment zone (I will make sure of this! Trolls be warned!!). Come as you are, post what you do and let’s support each other as we work towards the goal of becoming better is all about the fundamentals of minimizing resistance and moving through the water with less effort.
Get Featured:
This program is all about you.
I’m building a community of triathletes that are learning to suck less, get better at swimming, life and triathlon. If you snap a picture or a video of yourself completing one of the workouts, #hashtag it with #TeamSwimFast and I’ll post it up on the blog and give you a shoutout for being awesome!
Get Started:
The SwimFaster Triathlon Training Program For Swimming is a free online comprehensive swim program for triathletes that runs year round from November – October. Swim faster, gain confidence and join the community. Click below to get started today! Sign UpMore Info
Get a few of your friends that need a Triathlon Training Program For Swimming too? Do these workouts with them! Hold each other accountable and you will see even faster drops in pace! Click on one of the magic icons below to share this sign up page with them.JTNDYSUyMGRhdGEtc3Vtb21lLXNoYXJlLWlkJTNEJTIyNTZhMWUwZWMtMWIzNy00ZGEwLTk3MzktOTQyN2FiM2Y1YmUzJTIyJTNFJTNDJTJGYSUzRQ==
2 thoughts on “Triathlon Training Program For Swimming: SwimFaster Cycle 1 Breakdown”
Hey bud, is it possible to find the drills from cycle 1 on the webpage? I don´t want to jump in to cycle 2 before doing 1. I didn´t find your page in time to start off togehter with you.
Hey Jim, great to have you checking out the program.
This program is designed so that you don’t need to have completed Cycle 1 to join in on Cycle 2. In fact many of the guys posting their times only joined in Cycle 2 as they did not know about the program during Cycle 1.
Think of the SF program like a masters or squad swim session – if you joined at this point in the season the coach would have you pick up where the team is currently. If you need to scale the workouts (add more or reduce) then you can absolutely do that.
For Cycle 2 all you need to make sure you do is complete a CSS Test (instructions on how to do that are here: http://icanswimfast.com/critical-swim-speed-pace-calculator/) and you will have your training pace. Then join in the fun ????.
If you have any other questions drop me an email – rory(at)icanswimfast .com