Set Of The Week: All Out IM Swims

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Welcome to Swimming World’s Set of the Week! This week’s set is an IM focused set that works on developing endurance speed. Take a look at the set and description below.

2 Rounds:

300 IM FAST *turn focus on 5:00

6 x 50 free stretch out on 1:00

200 IM FAST *turn focus on 3:30

4 x 50 free stretch out on 1:00

100 IM FAST *turn focus on 2:00

2 x 50 free stretch out on 1:00

*take an extra 1-2 minutes between rounds

The idea behind this set is to get up and go on some IM swims after a long warm-up that gets your swimmers ready to get up and go fast. The IM swims are all-out and can be done from either a dive or a push depending on the needs of your training group. Between each IM are 50’s free on a minute to give your swimmers some active recovery and time to stretch out before their next fast swim. Depending on your group, they can also mix in easy stroke or stroke drill to keep their non-free strokes feeling good.

While the IM swims are all-out, a big focus for this set should be on turns, specifically transition turns. Make sure your swimmers are pacing the swims correctly and that they are accelerating into every wall. While swimmers often get plenty of opportunities to practice transition turns on their own, less often do they get the chance to work on their transition turns within an all-out IM swim outside of a meet. This challenges them to stay focused on their technique and race two lengths of IM that they don’t typically see in meets.

Each round is 1200 yards, making it easy to add or subtract rounds relative to your needs and where your team is in their training cycle. This can be a fun set to incorporate throughout the year in different versions, doing more rounds during a volume endurance phase and going down to only one round as you are entering a rest phase. Happy swimming!

All swimming and dryland training and instruction should be performed under the supervision of a qualified coach or instructor, and in circumstances that ensure the safety of participants.

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