How You Could (In Theory) Keep Swimming in Your Backyard for Under $160

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Olympic Open Water Champion Sharon van Rouwendaal yesterday posted a video of herself training in a small backyard inflatable pool.

Here what  you need to get Rouwendaal’s set-up for a total of less than $160.00

(full disclosure: I have not tried any of these products, but I am strongly considering it)

#1 – Intek 10-foot x 30-inch pool (~1,000 gallons, same pool that Rouwendaal used) – $74.99

pool

#2 – Milliard Floating Chlorine Dispenser – $16.99

pool 3

#3 – BioGuard SilkGuard Complete 1 Inch Chlorinating Tablets (4.5 lb) – $30.99

pool 2

#4 – Strechcordz Safety Cord Short Belt (only 4 feet long, you may need rope to tie off to a tree or other stationary object) $35.60

pool 1

TOTAL COST: $158.57 + Shipping

Pound that IM and Free

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

SCM. This set worked well for us, meaning we got some excellent efforts and good times at the end of the set.

The instructions matched the intervals – the IM swims descend to an all-out 400 IM. The freestyles start off with a very strong 400 free and ascend to a smooth 100.

Make sure you are following the Swimming Wizard on Instagram and Twitter for hundreds more ideas, sets, and swim workouts from coaches all over the world.

Fly Harder

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

We performed this fly set with 22 athletes in 5 narrow lanes (lanes 2-6 in a 6-lane pool). We did the 5 x 25 “snake style” (Swim a 25 in lane 2, move to lane 3, Swim the 2nd 25 in lane 3, move to lane 4, etc). Doing the 25s this way allowed us to practice breathing low to the surface of the water and avoid taking 1-arm sloppy strokes. The 10 squats in between rounds provided a little extra stimulus that made the 25s more challenging too.

Make sure you are following the Swimming Wizard on Instagram and Twitter for hundreds more ideas, sets, and swim workouts from coaches all over the world.

Home Dryland #3

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

You will need a mat or a towel, a jump rope, a step, a dumbbell or canned good, and a flat wall for this series. If you don’t have a jump rope, you can use an imaginary one!

Warm-up

1:00 Jog in place

1:00 High knees jog in place

1:00 Butt kicks while jogging in place

1:00 Jumping Jacks

1:00 Shadow boxing

Main set – 2x through, :10 rest between exercises, rest 1:00 after round 1

1:00 Jumping rope

1:00 Low plank

1:00 Mountain climbers

1:00 Jumping rope

1:00 Back plank (shoulder blades on ground, knees at 90 degrees, feet flat on ground)

1:00 Wall sit

1:00 Jumping rope

1:00 Calf raises (heels hanging off step)

1:00 Alternating jump lunges

1:00 Jumping rope

1:00 Reverse wrist curls (using dumbbell or canned food)

1:00 Push-ups (as many as you can do in 1:00)

Home Dryland Routine

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

Here is a dryland circuit to do.
Materials needed:

  • 2 cones or markers set up 10 yards apart
  • a mat or towel,
  • a nearby step or set of stairs

1. Shuttle run – 10 laps (down and back) of a 10-yard shuttle run
2. 10 squats (Varsity and National swimmers do 20 of all of these exercises)
3. 10 pushups
4. Shuttle run – 8 laps
5. 10 v-ups
6. 10 ninjas-in-a-rowboat – see video
7. Shuttle run – 6 laps
8. 10 steam engines – see video
9. 10 frog jumps
10. Shuttle run – 4 laps
11. 10 lunges
12. 10 calf raises with toes on step
13. Shuttle run – 2 laps
14. 10 Star jumps – see video
15. 10 burpees

Take 5:00 rest and REPEAT!!!

The 21 Club

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Brian Ruffles
Head Coach & Aquatics Director
Coe College Swimming and Diving

Three Rounds of:
7 x 100 @1:10/1:05/1:00
7 x 50 @:30/:35/:40

In each round the 100s interval decrease by :05 and the 50s increase by :05.  The 50s starting interval should be challenging while the 100s are more manageable.  You can customize it in many ways.  I have done the 100s free with the 50s specially, the 100s specialty with the 50s kick, or really whatever fits the group with the time of year.  I would make sure that the last round of 100s is not the interval that is too fast for them to make as the first two rounds will take a lot out of them.  If they make the set they join the prestigious 21 club!

Editor’s note: This set was first published on this blog in October 2015

It is amazing what people can accomplish with enough motivation!!!

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

This was our finish to practice today. We have done 25s underwater pretty consistently, so every swimmer knows his or her best time. The lifetime bests were written down on a dry erase board and this challenge was thrown. If you can beat your best twice, you get to go home. Amazingly, more than half of our swimmers were able to accomplish this feat. The mind is an amazing thing!