A shout-out to Sean Baker, head coach of Oakville Aquatics for sending this set on over. Coach Baker has placed numerous athletes on international teams over the years and was awarded Canadian Club Coach of the Year in 2012.
This set has got it all for sprinters.
You get to start out the set going full blast, petal to the metal with speed and reckless abandon. By the end of the set your body is screaming for oxygen, your kick tempo slowing, and your technique falling apart like an apple crumble—just like it does at the end of a race.
In total the goal is to unleash 16 high quality reps with full speed breakouts at pretty darn close to race pace speed.
Once you get to rep 9-10 you’ll find that all that early speed is catching up to you. You’ll be racing to catch your breath, all the while knowing that final round is waiting for you.
And those last 4?
Well, you know that feeling well—the full-blown collapse of form. Where your arms begin to T-Rex, and your lungs are blasting air in and out so fast you wonder how you’ll ever be able to complete the next rep.
The set is below, along with a warm-up of my own choosing. In total the workout took just under an hour.
While I loved the set, and it was exhausting enough that the lifeguard came and checked on me when I heaved myself across the pool deck at the end of it, I did heavy legs in the gym prior to the workout. Something I wouldn’t recommend as my quads and the bottom of my right foot began to cramp up on the last round.
Regardless, it was good times.
Here we go!
Warm-up
800 mix swim/kick
300 w. snorkel swim/scull by 25
10 x 25 swim, best stroke (build each 25 to about 90% speed) @:35
The Main Set
16×25 – All blast, best stroke.
- 4 – @2:00
- 4 – @1:30
- 4 – @1:00
- 4 – @:30
Total:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 20min set
Warm-down
300 easy w. snorkel with perfect technique
Further Reading
The Other Auburn Sprint Set (Or How I Spent 2 Hours Driving the Local Lap Swimmers Nuts). If you like tough sprint sets, this is your Mt. Everest. 2,500 yards or meters of all out swimming that will take you about 2.5 hours to complete. Not for amateurs or the feint of heart. Have a lot of food and downtime on standby for afterward.
10 Minutes a Day to a Faster Underwater Dolphin Kick. Probably the simplest and quickest set for improving your underwater dolphin kick, a.k.a. the Fifth Stroke, a.k.a. the Phelpsonian Torpedo Kick, a.k.a. up to 60% of your short course races are underwater so it’s important to work ‘em.
Supercharge Your Kick- 4 Sets for Kicking Power and Speed. Coach Baker submitted this collection of sets as well. The sets are designed for big time power in the water, and includes results of one of his charges, Canadian National Team member Evan White.
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looking for support-
I did this set the other day with a club of university swimmers, most of us did freestyle, and we found it to be not terribly challenging due to the large amounts of rest. Is Blast the same as breakout? Is this meant to be done off of the blocks? None of us really felt that lactic acid burn that I was expecting from the set.
Not trying to insult, just asking for clarification because we want to incorporate more of this time of threshold training.
Blast refers to the speed you’re going for. All of them are from a push and are meant to be as fast as you can possibly make them. You’re supposed to be out of breath by the end of each 25. Aim to go faster than you’re best split from you’re 50/100 and maintain that speed throughout the set. After the first few reps you should start to feel the burn and that’s when you need to try and push to maintain that speed.
For example, if you go a 50 in 20.4, you want to try and hold around 10.2 or faster. On the first few reps, try to go over you’re top speed. Hope this helps!
P.S.
I’m not the same person who ranked this set in their top five dumbest sets.
This is top 5 dumbest sets I have ever seen.
Not enough rest for drop dead sprinters …
Also, why on earth would you want to do a sprint set where your technique is falling apart? If that happens, stop.
You should write a book and sell some DVD’s
WOW, you just invented a new way of training.
While I didn’t invent sprinting back and forth in a pool, I did invent water slides. And the internet. 🙂
This is peace of cake if compare with USRPT standard sets
Piece?
This was harder than it needed to be on those last 4. Ouch!