This workout of the week is a 1,000 yard workout I personally completed with MySwimPro on the Apple Watch Series 4. In this article I’ll overview the workout strategy and run through a set-by-set analysis looking at the data captured with MySwimPro!

Workout Statistics:

  • Distance: 1,000 Yards
  • Duration: 17 Minutes
  • Focus: Aerobic/Warmup

This workout was completed in a 25 yard swimming pool running a custom written swim workout with MySwimPro and the Apple Watch. There was no equipment used during this workout and the training session was run continuously with no rest between each set of 1 x 100. You can learn more about workout and set structure here.

Workout Strategy

If you’re wondering why the workout is so short, there is a reason to its peculiar format and length. This workout is a little short for me as I typically average 2,000 – 2,500 meters per session. I used this 10 x 100s as a warmup for my weight lifting workout immediately following the swim. The following day I ran a longer (more standard) 2,500 meter session.

This workout was a great way to slowly elevate my heart rate and maintain my feel for the water without doing a ‘full’ workout. You can see my heart rate gradually rise with each 100. I essentially swam the set as 10 x 100s Descend 1-10 and decreased the interval by 5 seconds every repetition. This was pretty easy to write in the MySwimPro app and get going quick!

Workout Analytics

The workout structure is relatively simple. The fun part is descending the interval and your time from the first 100 to the tenth 100. The first 100 was on the 2:00 and each 100 that followed dropped by 5 seconds. There was no rest between the 100s. Below is the flow of the workout and the interval times I held on each 100:

  • 1 x 100 @ 2:00 (1:16)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:55 (1:12)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:50 (1:12)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:45 (1:10)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:40 (1:08)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:35 (1:08)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:30 (1:08)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:25 (1:08)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:20 (1:06)
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:15 (1:02)

The screenshots from the MySwimPro app above show the analytics from the first 100 of the set: 1 x 100 @ 2:00. I was fresh and swam pretty slow intentionally. I split a 1:16 and averaged 13 strokes per length. My heart rate never went above 120 and it felt pretty easy. Contrast that with one of the last 100s below:

In the screenshot from the MySwimPro app above you can see the analytics from the 9th 100 of the 10 x 100s set. By this point I was 800 yards into the workout, my pace increased considerably and my heart rate reflects that. I swam this 100 in 1:06 and averaged 15 strokes per length. My heart rate was over 160 and I was putting in a lot more physical effort to keep dropping my time.

See Also: 10 Steps To Swim Smarter Freestyle

I focused on keeping my stroke long and not sacrificing efficiency for speed. That’s a difficult balance but one of the joys of doing any kind of descending distance or speed set. You can see the middle 100s I averaged 1:08 even as the interval decreased. This is roughly my aerobic threshold, meaning I could swim this pace for about 2-3k continuously or more likely do a set of 10 x 100s @ 1:10.

10 x 100s

No two swimmers are the same, and because everyone swims at a different pace, the intervals of this set should reflect that. I started the first 100 @ 2:00. If your aerobic threshold is 1:30, you should add :45 seconds to that as your starting point (2:15). If the fastest you can swim 100s is 1:45, then you should start this set at the 2:30.

The media above is exported from the MySwimPro app and shows an overview of the workout I did (intervals starting at 2:00) along with the heart rate graph. Below is an example of what the set would look like if you started it on the 2:30 interval and dropped :05 seconds per 100.

  • 1 x 100 @ 2:30
  • 1 x 100 @ 2:25
  • 1 x 100 @ 2:20
  • 1 x 100 @ 2:15
  • 1 x 100 @ 2:10
  • 1 x 100 @ 2:05
  • 1 x 100 @ 2:00
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:55
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:50
  • 1 x 100 @ 1:45

How To Swim Faster

Swimming fast comes down to two things: Increasing propulsion and decreasing drag. Swimming efficiently will help you decrease drag and this is much faster (and easier) to improve than improving propulsion. To increase the efficiency of your workout, you’ll need to add structure and variation to push your body in new and innovative ways. 10 x 100s is just one example of how you can do this.

If you’d like more creative sets and training plans like this, checkout the MySwimPro app. New workouts added daily (Workout of the Day) along with over 10 training plans that the MySwimPro app personalizes to you and are designed to help you meet your goals!

Using data to help you understand your swimming performance is one of the most efficient ways to help you improve in the water. With advances in wearable technology, the most important metrics can be tracked automatically and used to your advantage.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

Be sure to download the MySwimPro app in the App Store for iPhone and Google Play Store for Android!

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6 Comments

  1. I swam this yesterday for the first I am 75 yrs young and was plesed with my outcome I am getting better, but could not do this drill every day I now need a day off in between to gather my strenght.

  2. What a great and simple workout. You always offer detailed explanations of each component of the workout and how the data relates – awesome. Thanks for sharing this with everyone Fares!

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