Beginner Swim Sessions | Workouts For New Swimmers

As a beginner triathlete or swimmer it’s important we learn to walk before we run. That means we need to focus on the fundamentals and basic skills that will set you up as a swimmer. Mark is here to help those newer triathletes or swimmers, that are looking for a handful of key swim workouts to follow, and improve their swimming!
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As a beginner triathlete or swimmer it’s important we learn to walk before we run. That means, forgetting about any fancy, or super hard threshold sets that you may hear people discussing. Instead, we need to focus on the fundamentals and basic skills that will set you up as a swimmer.
Mark is here to help those newer triathletes or swimmers, that are looking for a handful of key swim workouts to follow, and improve their swimming!
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Watch more on GTN...
📹 How To Swim Freestyle | Technique For Front Crawl Swimming 👉 gtn.io/FrontCrawl
📹 3 Swim Drills To Improve Your Freestyle Catch 👉 gtn.io/3CatchDrills
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[@LegoSwordViedos]

Here I haven't been exercising for years and just looking for a "Beginner workout" and I get a triathlon workout. Thanks KZbin.

[@carlhamilton7649]

Well here's an idea for you. I'd start off slow. The best way to progress is to start slow. On land this would be walking to jogging then finally running. In the water this can be slow swimming and progressing speed and using different strokes.

[@carlhamilton7649]

Never feel like your workout has to be at their pace. The key word is YOU. Always go as hard as u can safely so u can progress. Eventually, you will get here.

[@steezmonster92]

Consider something like water aerobics

[@ylsevanegmond4868]

Having signed up for my first two Olympic triathlons this year, this video was just what I needed. It's saved, and will definitely come back to it in the future. Thanks for helping me start my training, and new year off right!

[@ylsevanegmond4868]

@Lo Livingston Cancelled due to Covid.. back on training for this year tho!

[@michelebelardinelli5126]

Thanks a lot for the tips !! Happy 2020 to all you !

[@natashanadya3720]

it's exactly the video I was looking for, thanks!

[@swepeuaq]

I’ve been learning to swim front crawl since 2019 and only just realised that reach and glide helps the body to roll and legs to kick with some kind of fluidity. I’ve been doing it wrong all this time!

[@rosamackenzie2368]

This is super helpful thank you so much GTN !!!!

[@1stElement]

Happy new year to the GTN team - great vids as ever - loving being part of the growing tri KZbin community!

[@tristan5729]

So I didn't quite understand, for the aerobic session, do we do all the sets in one day or do we gradually increase over the sessions?

[@carsonecombs]

😂 good luck swimming 1km as a beginner, with little to no coaching, in your first ever swimming session. Let alone swimming 100m back to back with only a 30s recovery. This is not a beginner work out.

[@sizzler1474]

This is what I'm thinking! I can only do 25m and then need to stop so scaling it back for the proper beginners is what we need please

[@AsdfAsdf-cw6mz]

I was thinking the same. This is probably for intermediate swimmers.

[@henridanielski9318]

I think so, too.

[@DebateCentrals]

I think this is for fit people starting swimming. I’m brand new to swimming but I am in good shape and these workouts are perfect for me.

[@CatchingwithKyle]

I’ve been swimming self taught for a month and I hit 2k easy an hour

[@endo9913]

Great video as always. Looking forward to changing my usual training with these.

[@iainm9100]

For a beginner how many aerobic sessions per week, and is the idea to start with the shorter sets then move up to the 500m sets ? Great vid as always - Thanks.

[@marikoy8807]

I love the British accent & already ordered a cap, ear plugs & nose plug. Got goggles at Costco.😀

[@realalbertan]

Another Aerobic main set example- 500-400-300-200-100 for a 1500m set. Or 400-300-200-100 for 1000m.

[@coachw5245]

Thank you GTN for covering a topic which every coach will have their own view on. In all sports the ethos: ‘first move well. then move often’ is as good an ethos as any - such an ethos if undertaken and overseen under the tutelage of a triathlon/open water swim specific coach would be the best way for a newbie to not only start their swim improvement journey, but for them to stay on the right tracks. Too many athletes (and especially triathletes) simply progress to too much distance too quickly. Keep up the good content GTN All the best to you ALL for 2020

[@1stElement]

CoachW completely agree - especially in regards to swimming. As with anything, speed is a byproduct of efficiency...

[@mlegrand]

Great swim sets. You can also find more workouts on places like SwimSwam.com or I've actually found swim sets on Pinterest.com 👍

[@scottbacci8933]

What kind of fins are you using in the video?

[@donatina1987]

So for each swimming sesh how many minutes to roughly calculate?

[@michaelwadrop1237]

Hi GTN, I have been enjoying your channel and have been trying to improve my freestyle. I do not have a swimming back ground, however this year I have decided to set myself the challenge of being able to swim 50M butterfly. I would appreciate any tips that you have on how to butterfly correctly. A video to watch would naturally be helpful.

[@gtn]

Thanks - we'll have a look at doing this in the future!

[@na-dk9vm]

Im training for my first triathlon in june. Olympic triathlon. I can do the 1500m swim in 49 mins, the cutoff is 55 mins. The only probelm i have is im so tired when im swimmimg. I take so many breaks. Im still getting in under the cutoff time but do i just keep doing 1500m sessions, or do i add easier swim sessions ?? Currently doing 2 sessions a week

[@Barringtonjames12]

How do I breath? Not just swimming or even in training, but in general day to day life.

[@endo9913]

Is it OK to add a speed set to the end of any of the other workouts?

[@gtn]

There's no reason why you cannot if you feel it is possible, just remember rest and recovery during and after the session 🙂

[@matissevandenabeele4960]

Do you do crawl in this?

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

22nd! Happy New Year!

[@ulebule]

The key thing to get from this is the structure. If you are a beginner consider your 25mts as the 100mts on this video. Keep practicing and improve indurance and then you will be using thia structura with 50,75,100. good luck!

[@Xr3737]

what is drill?

[@elyselysie2862]

People who are just begging to swim or aren’t on a team or club don’t know what these distances are btw

[@damianwojtanowski6109]

Exactly not entirely sure .. could you explain? If he's saying 200m does he mean 5 times up and down 20 metre pool ?

[@s1050]

My local pool is 50m so twice up and down for 200m.

[@yewchoob6575]

@@damianwojtanowski6109 was that sarcasm…

[@celicom]

Is there any pro forma timing targets for the 25/50/100/400/1000 m for the beginners for each type of session above? I can do 2-3km in a slow pace, but whats the point...Thanks a lot! Happy 2020!

[@1stElement]

celicom take a look at doing a CSS test (here: www.swimsmooth.com/improve/intermediate/css-training) - it’s a brilliant benchmark measure of progress but also great training information - not just on paces but also for where your training should focus. 2-3km is a great distance to be able to swim - so it would be interesting to see the 400 and 200 times that the CSS comprise of..!

[@Griffatron3000]

5:24 Only a triathlete would call them swim toys lmao 😂😂👍

[@donatina1987]

I wish you were my coach

[@reolistic97]

I’ll be doing my first sprint distance in may and my first Olympic triathlon in June. I’m fairly confident in my running and cycling capabilities, but I’ve only learned how to swim freestyle this summer. I can almost swim the distance, but my pace really is lacking. I’m currently doing 3min/100m. Keep in mind, I’ve never done a speed session in my life. Should is start doing these now? Or should I wait a bit longer, focus on my technique and start doing these speed sessions closer to the race. Also, happy New Year everyone!

[@gareth2933]

Hi, I've only done a super sprint triathlon last October and loved it. I now have 2 sprints and an Olympic booked for 2020. In my opinion I'd concentrate on technique 1st, speed will develop naturally as your stroke improves. I'm not perfect by any means but by doing what GTN recommended it has helped. Which triathlons are you doing ?

[@reolistic97]

gareth2933 thanks for the insight! You’re probably right on the technique/speed correlation. I’ll be doing some local triathlons this season in Belgium. The watermolen triatlon in my home town, which actually is the oldest in Belgium in June and the Ros Beiaard triatlon, which is also very close to where I live.

[@gareth2933]

Keep working hard good luck

[@realalbertan]

Technique first. Repeats 100 or less for now. 3:00/100 indicates you need to work on this. The difference between 3:00 & 2:00 is technique.

[@francescorota2982]

I'm pretty much in the same situation: good run, good bike abilities but 2:30/100m when swimming. Not being able to pay for lessons, it's hard to improve

[@Ijknapp]

This is literally insane. A new swimmer can get 25-50 yards before a 30 second rest.

[@TheLadc5]

Ok, at least I know it's not just me. I know when you start something new, to take it easy and build up right? I've been running for over 2 years and have a good level fitness and base built up with that. Just started cycling and now I'm taking on swimming as well. So I TRIED this workout this morning and thought I was going to die lol I'm here thinking, jesus...I'm struggling after 25 yards and to even make it to 50 yards.

[@Botanick13]

​@@TheLadc5 Hi as somebody going back to swimming after almost 10years and injury I must say @gtn has a really loose idea of beginner I think. This looks more like for beginner who regularly swim and want begin with training, but definitely not for new swimmers - 1k meters for somebody new to swimming is actually pretty lot especially to swim front crawl which takes quite some technique to get breathing right

[@zmojofoot76]

I just want swim continuously without needing to rest as much. Right now I can only do sets of 50s. I can do 100s but after my first 100 I kind of don’t feel that I can do it again I try but my 50s still feel tiring I take a whole minute to do 50s.

[@Elenareth]

I might be extremely dumb but neither an english native nor a swim veteran so i miss quite some vocabulary here: what is a drill session, what a pull, what's regarded as easy? Please explain i.e. be more specific with what you mean if your target audience is really beginners, which means people doing a swim training for the first time in their lifes

[@garylucas7050]

Hi guys I’m 58 never really been a swimmer but determined to do the London tri in august this year with my son , just started swimming 🏊‍♂️ at my local pool in Hornchurch which at present is 33 metres long I managed 1 length 😩 before my lungs were going to make there own way out of the pool and back to the changing room 🤷🏻‍♂️ I’m going for the sprint distance which is 750 metres long , judging by today’s attempt would I progress quick enough over the 8 months to achieve 750 metres , I would like to do all front crawl , do you think 🤔 this would be achievable I know I could drop down to breastroke but would prefer all front crawl , got myself some floaty pants to help me, any suggestions or tips would be very welcoming , love your Chanel , all the best you guys for 2020 xxx

[@JJBpilot]

Breathe, breathe, breathe!!! As soon as your face goes into the water start blowing bubbles, through the nose. Almost all exhale is when your face is in the water...

[@garylucas7050]

JJBpilot thanks for that it seems hard to get enough breath in to sustain the length but maybe it’s because I’m not exhaling fully, but I’ll keep on trying and hopefully I’ll get enough inhale so as not to feel I’m running out of breath before I need my next one...thanks for your help most appreciated 👍🏻

[@JJBpilot]

Look up triathlon taren... He has a video for just what you need

[@garylucas7050]

JJBpilot your a good man 👌🏻

[@garylucas7050]

Sorry I assume your a man apologies if your not 🤗

[@eoinom4833]

Can anyone explain what pull means ?

[@caitlinjessica4277]

Eoin O'M with a pull buoy :) it’s that floaty thing that goes in between your thighs.

[@aikun4626]

i'm sorry but i don't understand at all, i'm just here to get swimming schedule for beginner 4:40 what is "Easy Swim", "Swim", "Easy Pull" and "Pull"? what the difference between each of them? and if i want to advance do i have to learn "Normal Swim", "Hard Swim", "Normal Pull" and "Hard Pull" too? - - it's might sound like a joke but believed me it's not, i tried to google what's the difference between each of them, also searching on KZbin and your channel, but can't find anything, pls help

[@jenniferc6165]

Not a dumb question! Easy pull or easy swim just means you will just be using your arms for one lap and you’ll be going pretty slow, at a pace that won’t make you out of breath. Easy swim is the same speed, normal swimming just at a pace that you could go at all the time! Normal swim/pull would be your normal pace, fast swim/pull would be at a sprint pace. Hope that makes sense

[@aikun4626]

@@jenniferc6165 Thank you

[@gareth2933]

What do you mean by "pull"

[@veuri0]

I believe he means arms only. Pulling yourself.

[@caitlinjessica4277]

He means with a pull buoy. It’s a floatation thingy that goes in between your legs. It keeps your legs afloat so it allows you to just focus on arm technique.

[@oludhe7]

Beginner triathlete and beginner swimmer are certainly two different things 😂

[@constantincalmatui584]

First ! Happy New Year everyone !

[@davidnewsham896]

I’m sure these are good reps but as someone new to the sport these are hardly beginner sets. This type of expectation just puts people off who are new to Tri so please include something more realistic for real beginners.

[@donovanvaz3289]

Beginner swim sessions for new swimmers - learn to walk before you can run. Start out at 5 x 200m sessions. 200m??!! 5 times??!!! If that's beginner and walking before you can run, then I must be crawling (excuse the pun). I can barely do 2 lengths without having to stop. So is there a pre-beginner workout plan?

[@simonjamesroddam8039]

What's an "easy pull"?! Sorry if I missed that.....all this Tri swimmer jargon is a bit lost on me.

[@veuri0]

I believe he means arms only. Pulling yourself.

[@caitlinjessica4277]

He means using a pull buoy.

[@novasentia2307]

@Savage Poet you're a fucking creep. Fuck off

[@hedgefundshyster..3241]

Triathletes think they are fast until a seasoned competitive swimmer gets in the pool .... especially after getting lapped repeatedly...😂...

[@jaswc08]

This seems a little advanced for a beginner swimmer...

[@marklewis7484]

Erm... beginner?

[@fredericopereira6444]

Beginner workout? Try again mate lol 😂

[@bennettdeneghuedoeshits2950]

What part of ‘beginner’ do you not understand. Yeah first set if you could just bang out 200m. Uh huh, cheers.