Workouts

Workout of the Month

What is the best workout you have done this month that includes FINIS training equipment? Share your workouts with our coaching staff, and we will post the best workouts online for all to enjoy!

JUNE 2009 WORKOUTS



Submitted by Tim Elson
FINIS Coaching Guru, and Vice President
June 1, 2009

Snorkel Work - Beginner

The SWIMMER'S SNORKEL is the best tool on the market today to help swimmers of any ability swim better. The foremost reason for this is that breathing is the most critical function to our constant survival. Someone who is not comfortable breathing in the water is not thinking about technique, they are thinking about living. Supply that same person a constant supply of uninterrupted air, they relax, and thus are able to think about the technical aspects that help them swim better.

That said, perhaps the first thing a novice swimmer should do is get comfortable breathing normally through the snorkel.


Get Comfortable Drills:

  1. Standing Drill - In shallow water, keep your feet on the bottom of the pool and bend over like you are bobbing for apples. Place your face in the water so that your mouth and nose are submerged and your eyes are looking at the bottom of the pool. Slowly breathe normally through the snorkel tube and count to 10 and stop. Then repeat and count to 20. Then count to 30 and so on. By the time a person can count to a couple hundred they should be very comfortable and relaxed breathing through the snorkel.

  2. Fall Asleep Drill - In shallow water, go into a prone floating position, with your face in the water. The idea is to totally zone out, breathe easily through the mouth and relax. Try the same counting progression as in the first drill. Arms are best fully extended above the head, and hands can move slightly as desired to help keep your body in the same place. Your feet can move slightly to keep your legs near the surface. You can do this drill with a noodle float and it’s ridiculously easy.

  3. Prone Kick - Transition from the Fall Asleep Drill by pulling your hands and arms downward and backward while initiating a steady kick. Move slowly down the pool and you are now snorkeling! (fins also make this extremely easy)

  4. Prone Kick with Streamlined Arms - Push off the wall with your arms extended one hand on top of the other. Your hands should be about six inches beneath the surface with your fingers on the same plane as your nose. For purpose of the drill, your chin should be slightly up and your eyes forward to see what you are doing. Kick with a steady kick all the way down the pool while building speed.
With those four steps, a novice swimmer is now ready for the most fundamental of all freestyle drills…Catch-Up Freestyle. Start with a prone kick and streamlined arms, then pull with the right arm while keeping the left arm fully extended. When the right arm has "caught up" with the left arm, the left arm then performs the same movement. Again for the sake of the drill I recommend keeping the chin slightly up and the eyes forward to ensure good symmetry.

A handy saying would be "right hand right eyeball, left hand left eyeball." This means your right hand will be entering the water right out in front of your right eye, and left hand left eye.


Sample Repeats and Variations:
  • 4 x 25’s prone kick arms at side, rest :30 after each
  • 4 x 25’s streamline kick, rest :30 after each
  • 4 x 25’s catch up freestyle, rest :30 after each
  • 4 x 25’s four right arms in a row, four left arms in a row, rest :30 after each
  • 4 x 50’s four right arms, four left arms, eight normal strokes, rest :60 after each


Archived Workouts:

MAY 2009 WORKOUTS


APRIL 2009 WORKOUTS


MARCH 2009 WORKOUTS


FEBRUARY 2009 WORKOUTS

Submit Your Workout:

Submit your own workout for FINIS Workout of the Month. Just follow these easy steps:

  1. Write a short page (max 1000 words) about your workout. What exactly was the workout (sets, intervals, etc.) What FINIS equipment did you use? What made the workout a good one? Hard? Fun?
  2. Put "WORKOUT OF THE MONTH" as the subject line or heading.
  3. Include your name, address, phone number, and team.
  4. Submit to our FINIS Coaching Department using one of these three methods...
    Email: swimcoach@finisinc.com
    Mail: FINIS Workout of the Month
    4647-B Las Positas Road
    Livermore, CA 94551
    United States
    Fax: 925.454.0066

Our coaching staff will go through each entry and post the best workouts online. Enjoy your swim!

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