A One Hour Recovery Swim Workout for When Your Body is Toast

Alrighty, you’ve had a couple of spicy swim workouts in a row, your body has sent over an emissary to negotiate terms, and you need to hit recovery mode.

This one-hour recovery swim workout is all about CTRL + ALT + RESET.

It features:

• Dolphin kicking with increased range of motion (opens up the spine and hips)
• Sculling and “silent” freestyle (focus on feel and hand pressure awareness)
• Easy speed at the end to prime your nervous system (for the next session)

Let’s get our recovery on.

WARM-UP

600 as 200 swim, 200 kick, 200 choice drill

MAIN SET

16×25 dolphin kick with training fins

• ODDS: Fish kick (dolphin kicking on your side)
• EVENS: Kicking on back, arms at side.
• Each kick should flow smoothly.
• Take 20s rest per rep

16×50 freestyle

• 25 front scull (arms extended in front of you, sculling in the “catch zone”)
• 25 “silent” freestyle (no splash, clean entry, smooth as butter).
• Use your snorkel.
• Less stabby, more slidey.
• 20s rest per rep.

16×25 freestyle with fins

• ODDS: Long dog freestyle – focus on smooth acceleration of the hands past the hips
• EVENS: “Easy” fast – no more than 80% effort. Don’t muscle through these.
• Take 20-25s rest per rep.

WARM DOWN

• 20 deep water bobs + hot tub + foam roll

***

When you crisply pull yourself out of the water at the end of this session, you’ll feel looser, taller (in the water), and fresh. Recovery days can quickly devolve into a contest of chasing yards when the yards aren’t structured.

This workout is designed specifically with a key focus each step of the way so that you don’t pull an oopsie and crank out a high-intensity effort or sail through some yucky yards.

Unlock your joints. Tune into the pressure on your hands. And prime your body for your next big sesh.

By keeping things smooth and intentional, you not only recover from those last few workouts but also set the stage for an elite main set next time around.

ABOUT OLIVIER POIRIER-LEROY

Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer, 2x Olympic Trials qualifier, and author of several books for swimmers, including YourSwimBook, Conquer the Pool, The Dolphin Kick Manual, and most recently, The 50 Freestyle Blueprint.

The book is a beastly 220+ pages of evidence-based insights and practical tips for improving freestyle sprint speed.

It details everything from how to master stroke rate, technique, build a thundering freestyle kick, improve your start and underwaters, and much more.

The 50 Freestyle Blueprint also includes 20 sprint sets to get you started and a bonus guide on how to master the 100 freestyle to complete your sprint preparation.

👉 Learn more about The 50 Freestyle Guide today.