Our Senior group has their Wednesday evenings off, so when we come on deck for our Thursday morning session we have two main goals:
1) Build some explosive power with the understanding that although they might be tired from a 5AM wake up, they should be carrying little to no residual fatigue.
2) Try and make that process as engaging as possible through the use of equipment and a circuit format.
Warm up is a general loosen-up and is done pretty much at your own pace. Everyone has technical aspects that they need to be hitting throughout this, but effort stays below a 4/10 and just gives them a chance to wake themselves up before we start demanding some intensity.
Low volume overall, because we want to give them the opportunity to hit a TRUE 10/10 multiple times throughout the workout. Plus, Thursday evenings are fairly demanding distance-wise so we need them ready for that.
Workout AM
Thursday Morning Power Session
6×300 @20-30 Seconds Rest
1x Swim, 100 Free/50 No Free; 1x Free w/ Snorkel, 100 Finger Drag/100 Catchup/100 DPS; 1x KNB Choice; 1x Reverse IM Swim; 1x Free Pull; 1x KNB Choice – Bring the heart rate up.
STATION 1:
12 x 50 Swim, T-shirt + Paddles + Fins @1:10
2x at 6/10; 1x at 9/10; 1x at 6/10
So at no point are we going easy, but we’re looking for that extra boost on the third quarter of every four 50’s. Mostly done as Freestyle, but some of kids like to challenge themselves and throw a round or two of fly in there.
STATION 2:
2 Rounds of:
6×25 Fins + Dragsox @40
12 Underwater Dolphin Kicks at 10/10, followed by Free Swim at 3/10
2×50 Drag sox at 8/10 @1:20
Free -At least 5 Underwater Dolphin Kicks -Focused on generating POWER, not just relying on increased stroke rate.
STATION 3:
2 Rounds of:
12 Underwater Dolphin Kicks 10/10 @ 10 Seconds Rest (on tower)
12 Underwater Dolphin Kicks 10/10 @ 20 Seconds Rest (on tower)
25 FAST #1 Stroke 10/10 (on tower)
100 EZ 1/10
Tower usually has it’s bucket filled somewhere around mid-capacity, but depends on the size/strength of swimmer and how much they want to challenge themselves that morning. For the pure-breaststrokers, sometimes I’ll get them to do 3 pull outs rather than the dolphin kicks.
STATION 4:
12×50 Backstroke Kick with dumbbell in hands (3-5lbs). @1:10
2x at 5/10; 1x at 10/10
This station is more about body position than anything. The swimmers who relax and are comfortable in the water will allow the weight of the dumbbell to sink their hands back, and bring their hips/legs up. If they fight it, it becomes very “interesting” to watch.
1×50 #1 stroke from the blocks
Trying to hit their best practice times
300 Smooth 50 Free swim/ 50 No-Free swim/50 Choice Kick
WORKOUT TOTAL: 4250
This workout was provided by Wayland Swim Club Head Coach & Director of Sport Dexter Bligh.
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