Ken’s Magic Kick Set

If you have a team like ours, you have some really fast and capable kickers and some pretty fast and then some who are working on it but not there yet. Ken came up with a great kick set that generated excellent energy. One of the brilliant components is that the entire training group got to “get up and go” together. There was excellent team dynamics when we did this set. You can adjust the intervals to meet your needs. These were done in a 25 yard pool. Have fun and tell us what you think!

Group 1 is going on a 1:20 per 100 send off

Group 2 is going on a 1:33 per 100 send off

Group 3 is going on a 1:40 per 100 send off

Each group begins together.

Group 1 goes 8x75 kick on the 1:00 interval.

Group 2 goes 7x75 kick (they start from the other end of the pool) on the 1:10 interval

Group 3 goes 6x75 kick on the 1:20 interval

After the 75’s the entire team rests for 30 seconds and then everyone goes 4 x 100 on the 2:00 interval, progressive (descending). The goal is to record your best 100 kick time on #4.

Then we went a second round of the entire set, both 75’s and 4 x 100 aiming for an even faster final 100 kick.

The beauty of this was that everyone was able to make their 75 send offs even though it was very challenging and the whole pool was alive with kicking energy no matter what your own interval was. Then the team came together on the 4 x 100 and really got involved in each other’s success. It was spectacular…which is why Ken is the Head Coach.

More Ideas on Short Stuff

For the last couple of weeks we have been swimming some longer repeats and pushing the yardage up toward 4,000 in our 75 minute Master's workouts. We noticed that we had a few folks mention the amount of swimming, the wear and tear and then wondering out loud about 'where was all this nonsense going?"

So this past Thursday we changed things up a bit. See what you think about this workout. Maybe you can find something here to sink your teeth into...or not.

After a nice relaxed warm up consisting of nearly 2,000 yards we did the following two sets. Each one takes 15 minutes. You can adjust the intervals if you wish but our idea was to give most folks enough rest so they could do the sets and still not be entirely "winded" at the end.

All repeats were on the .30 per lap basis, so 50's on the minute, 25's on the .30 - mix and match strokes any way you like.

Set #1
1x25/.30 at 80%
1x50/1 recovery
2x25/.30 one at 80%, one at 85%
2x50/1 recovery
3x25/.30 - 80, 85, 90%
3x50/1 recovery
4x25/.30 - 80, 85, 90, 95%
4x50/1 recovery

Rest one minute

Set #2
4x25/.30 all at 80% effort
4x50/1 recovery
3x25/.30 all at 85%
3x50/1 recovery
2x25/.30 at 90%
2x50/1 recovery
1x25/.30 at 95%
1x50/1 recovery

So, each set is 750 yards in length with 250 at effort and 500 of recovery swims. Each set takes 15 minutes to complete. Your work to recovery ratio is 1:2. This means that if you are feeling decent in the water you can probably crank pretty well on the effort 25's and recover nicely on the 50's.

Our gang loved this workout. Short swims made it easier to stay engaged in the sets for 30 minutes. Let us know what you think and please share a favorite set you have done recently. We will put it out there on the www and see what folks think. Have a great week in and out of the pool!

The X MAN or X WOMAN

Here is a workout we did this week. The goal of the set was to do some match racing with the intent of putting some reasonably comparable swimmers together each keeping the other one honest in the effort. Since each swimmer has a slightly different way of approaching a swim, and since each of the other swimmers know the "X MAN's" style then the strategy can be varied depending upon the swimmer and the situation.

You can morph off of this infinitely. The key is putting two or more swimmers together with comparable skill sets.

We did this set short course on the 4 minutes. All the times ranged from 1:50+ to 1:57+. At the end of the set all four guys agreed it was engaging, challenging and stimulating...a coach's dream!


Bradley goes 3x200 on 4 minutes (@ 1:1 work to rest ratio) he is the X MAN
Pieter pushes him, keeps him honest whatever you call it on #1 then cruises #2 & #3
Dillon pushes him on #2 while cruising 1,3
Sandy pushes him on #3, cruz 1,2

Pieter becomes X MAN
Dillon pushes 1
Sandy pushes 2
Bradley pushes 3

Dillon is X MAN
Sandy 1
Bradley 2
Pieter 3

Sandy is X MAN
Bradley 1
Pieter 2
Dillon 3

So each guy goes 6 x 200 fast - 3 of them back to back to back with a fresh pusher and then gets 6 cruisers...the main focus on this idea is to have someone fresh enough to really press the X MAN into digging deeper than he/she would if simply doing a regular set...I keep thinking back to making each racer aware of when the guy/gal next to him is going to make a move and then figuring out how to physically and mentally stay in the race, stay in the swim even if he/she is getting clobbered...some best swims are when there is a guy/gal in the lane next to you going crazy and you figure out a way to hang onto your swim, perhaps getting beat by a couple of seconds but still doing your best time by a second or more when you thought that you were really folding.

There are lots of combinations off of this format. Play around with it and see what works best for you. You can even do this with only one partner. You go one swim fast while your partner pushes you, then you each cruise one and then your partner goes one fast while you push him/her...then you each cruise one. Do several rounds of that and you will have a fine speed/anaerobic set.

Let us know how this works for you. Feedback on all these ideas is important. Have a great week at the pool!

Set Ideas...Graduation...Louise L. Hay

Here is a set we did that seemed to engage everyone. It covers both the aerobic component as well as the anaerobic side of the equation. This is what our senior trainers did. You can modify the totals and the intervals to suit your own needs. The idea to grasp is the attack of the system from both the oxygen and lactate side of the equation.

Warm up was about 20 minutes of swimming and drills.
Set 1 - 5x300/ 3:30 negative split...we also had a group going on 4 minutes

Set 2 - 10x200/2:20 - 1-5 negative split; 6-10 progressive (descending)...also had a 2:40 group

Set 3 - 15x100/2 - 1-5 negative split; 6-10 progressive; 11-15 neg split & progressive...this set had a lot of the various strokes and IM's involved.

Loosen 500-800

Sets 1&2 worked the aerobic side while Set 3 was more challenging form the anaerobic side since the rest to work ratio was closer to 1:1. We ended up with some really fast swimming on #'s 13, 14, 15 as well as #10.

Graduation has been on many of our swimmers' minds this week and last. We hope most, if indeed not all have gotten the message that they make their choices about how life unfolds for them. We recently found a set of "Wisdom Cards" from Louise L. Hay. These wonderful and inspiring cards have eye catching graphics and thought provoking observations about the human condition. One in particular caught our eye and seemed particularly relevant given the graduation theme at this time of year. You can find her on the web.

It is written as follows:

On the front side...I have the power to make changes...

On the reverse side...It is so comfortable to play victim, because it is always someone else's fault. I have to stand on my own two feet and take some responsibility.

Here's to fast swimming and standing on our own two feet!

Make Your Memorial Day

Workout guru and chief set designer Ken DeMont came up with an interesting and challenging set the other day. He is a master at presenting things that seem rather simple dare we say almost benign. Then presto! You realize you've been "had". It goes like this.

4 Rounds...you can figure out your intervals that work for you. The ones listed here are for our senior training group in their first regular workout after two to four weeks of taper. After rounds one & three do 2x100 pull/1:40 doing some sort of drill work; after rounds two and four do 2x100 kick/1:40

1x150/2:30 each 50 gets faster
1x75/1:30 each 25 gets faster
1x50/.50 at 80%
1x25/.40 fast no breath fly or free
1x50/.50 at 80%
1x25/.40 fast fly or free no breath
1x50/.50 at 80%
easy 25 back to starting end then go into the 2x100 as noted above

Round two is exactly the same except the 50's are at 85%; round 3 the 50's = 90%;
Round 4 the 50's = 95%

So the sets = 1900 plus the 800 yards of pull and kick give you a total of 2700 for the set plus your warm up and cool down.

We altered this for a masters workout as follows. Again we had 4 rounds with the 100's pulling and kicking after each round.

1x100 negative split
1x75 each lap faster
1x50 at 80%
1x25 fast
The only difference in the rounds 2-4 were the 50's went up to 85, 90, 95%

This series = 1000 + 800 of kicking and pulling or 1800 plus your warm up and cool down.

It is fun to see how the swims unfold. Typically everyone starts out with a variety of reactions and then - Bingo! - you are in the set rolling along working with your lane mates and next thing you know, your heart is pounding, you are reaching for your water bottle...and life is oh so sweet!

Fresh Ideas

Every now and then we admit to plagiarizing workouts. This is one such case! Several of our club swimmers attend universities with major swimming programs. The workout below is from the sprint group at a top 10 NCAA Division 1 program. We find the variety refreshing and please note that the level of intensity is huge. You can re-work the amounts, intensity and interval to suit your needs. Think of this as a template...or just go for it as written. If you choose the latter, remember we told all that stuff about checking with your doctor before strenuous exercise...etc.

Have fun, let us know what you think and even send us your favorite, or latest creation. We'll share it with the swimming world; let us know if we can use your name/club etc.


Warm-up 4-4-4
400 flop
4X100 on 1:30
4X50 on 50

2 rounds

100 on 1:15 go 60 seconds exactly
2X25s kick
75 @ best 100 time
2X25s strong drill
50 on 50 go 30 seconds exactly
2X25s strong swim
25 200 pace
2X25s 0 breath



3 Rounds

100 swim 9 strokes/lap
100 kick strong
50 swim 100/2 + 7 seconds
50 kick fast
on the 4:30, about 5-10 seconds rest in between swims

100 swim 9 strokes/lap faster than first 100
100 kick strong
50 swim 100/2 + 5 seconds
50 kick fast
on the 4:30, about 5-10 seconds rest in between swims

50 swim 100/2+ 3 seconds
50 kick fast
25 swim fast
25 swim 0 breaths
5-10 seconds rest in between swims then right into

25 efficient swim
25 easy
25 efficient swim
25 easy
25 efficient swim
25 easy
50 easy


Then after
3 75s
#1
25 kick fast
25 swim fast
25 swim fast hold breath to halfway
on the 130
#2
25 kick fast
25 swim fast
25 swim fast hold breath to 15
#3
25 kick fast
25 swim fast