Structure of a swimming training: Useful and effective

Swimming training consists of several parts and only the right mix makes it effective. We will show you how you can put together a sensible training session in the water and what is important.

Warm up and swim in

A swimming training session, like any other training session, should begin with a warm-up or warm-up to prepare the body physically and mentally for the effort.

A corresponding program on land can also serve as a general warm-up, in which the muscles and joints are brought up to "operating temperature" through running, jumping, arm circles and light swing and stretching exercises.

To warm up in the water, you should swim 100 to 400 meters in all swimming positions.

First , swim at a moderate pace and switch positions. Towards the end of the swim-in, the speed can increase a little and slight increases in speed over 5 to 10 meters can be built in.

technique training

Improving swimming technique is extremely important in order to be able to move quickly and economically. Technical training is therefore an important part of every training session. It is particularly important for effectiveness that you train without great physical and mental fatigue so that you can concentrate on the correct execution of the exercises. Learning new technical details should therefore always be planned into a unit after the warm-up.

Short and rested

As a rule, several 50-meter series with different exercises are swum, with, for example, 25-meter technique exercises alternating with 25-meter overall position. The various exercises aim to make you aware of certain aspects of the overall technique and to improve them.

Not everyone for everyone

Due to the large number of technical errors, not every technical exercise is suitable for every swimmer and, in the worst case, can even impair the individual technique. The selection of exercises should always be very specific and also depends on whether you are a beginner or an advanced swimmer. In addition, there should be a short break between the technique exercises in order to start the next exercise in a concentrated and rested manner. Important: It is in no way important to be particularly fast here.

Body: The content is crucial

The content of this part can vary greatly depending on the objective. Goals can be to improve extensive (slightly below threshold performance ) and intensive (at/above threshold performance ) basic endurance, speed, strength endurance or competition-specific endurance. In contrast to technical training, the effectiveness of the training is achieved via a given intensity (pulse range).

time better than heart rate

In swimming, the intensity can best be controlled by setting a time limit, since, in contrast to cycling or running, there are hardly any external influences on the swimming speed. In general, the build-up is best done over intervals, i.e. a certain distance is swum several times in a row. There is a predetermined break between these sections of the route. This makes it easier to maintain the pace and clean technique.

pause or time intervals

Basically, there are two ways to design the time specifications for interval training: the time interval or the rest interval. With the time interval, each interval starts again after a certain amount of time, so the pause depends on how fast or slow you swim. With the rest interval, there is a predetermined rest time after each interval, no matter how fast you swam.

Training examples for the main part

• Ext. basic endurance (GA1): 4 x 400m, 3 x 500m, 2 x 800m or pyramid with 100-200-300-400-300-200-100m (pace: 65 to 75 percent*)
• international Basic Endurance (GA2): 12 x 100m, 6 x 200m (pace: 75 to 85 percent*)
• Race specific endurance (WSA): 15 x 100m, 4 x 400m, 1 x 1500m (pace: 85 to 100 percent*)
• Speed: 2x5x50m or 2x10x25m (speed: >100 percent*)
• Strength endurance (KA): 6 x 100m, 3 x 200m with paddles (pace: 75 to 85 percent*)

*the 100m best time

swim out

The end of the training session serves to "shut down" the body again. Breathing normalizes, the lactate in the muscles is broken down and swimming out promotes regeneration for the next training session.

The length can be between 100 and 400m as with swimming in, whereby all layers can be used again. It is important to concentrate again on a clean swimming technique in order to end the training with a good feeling.

Sample weekly plan with 2 units

1. Unit: technique + speed + GA2 or WSA
2. Unit: Technique + GA1 or KA

Weekly plan with 3 units could look like this

1. Unit: technology + speed or WSA
2. Unit: Technology + GA2 or KA
3. Unit: Technology + GA1