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Coach Blog: Lucy Lloyd-Roach's fitness inspired pool workouts for February

In my first guest blog, there are so many potential areas of swimming to write about that it’s hard to know where to start! I drew inspiration from a recent post by SCI Smart Coach and decided to share with you some fun-fitness-inspired pool workouts for February.

Level 2 Swimming Coach Lucy Lloyd-RoachThese sessions came about from going on holiday and discovering a quiet pool (a swimmer’s dream) but it was an odd length and without the usual pieces of pool furniture (e.g. flags, lane lines on the floor and pace clocks). But I still wanted to get in and make the most of the water.

What transpired was a fun workout with numerous combinations that can be easily tailored to your aims.

It made me think differently about my swimming and, since then, I’ve included two per week in my training schedule.

Like any fitness class, ‘Just Swim’ members have a wide range of swimming abilities and experiences. These sessions will give you a focused 30 minute workout whatever your swimming background.

These are ideal for a lunchtime swim, or for when you want or need a swim but family, work or life pressures mean it’s hard to find the time for a longer swim.

A wise coaching friend of mine said: “A 30 minute swim is better than no swim at all.” I know these ‘power half-hours’ help me clear my head, give me a good workout and make me feel better.

Try the fitness workouts for February

Click the links below to Lucy’s sessions for February. You will have to log in to view the sessions – register for free for your online account here.

How it works

The sessions are based around interval-style classes that are popular dry-side – like HIIT (high intensity interval training) and boot camps.

During the sessions we will refer Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) for effort levels. This will change for each set.

As with a fitness class, we will give a standard and an advanced variation where applicable, so you can pick the option that is right for your workout.

Each interval is five minutes long and the aim is to complete as many exercises as possible at the RPE level described.

It is important to work at the energy levels described in order to target the current energy systems for the aim of the session.

The rest in between the five minute sets allows you to grab a quick drink, de-fog your goggles and read or remember what’s next! Each session also has the option to print off a PDF to take poolside.

To give you a couple of examples of how this works (these are speed dependent), if the set is one length with 10 seconds rest, you might get through this six times in the five minutes. If the set is five minutes continuous swimming, you might do seven or eight lengths in this time.

Keep a note of how you many you do and you can see how you’re improving if you repeat the session.

Feedback

We’d love to know how you get on or if there is a topic you’d like to see featured in future blog posts.

Or if you have a burning question for Lucy, contact us here.

Lucy Lloyd-Roach is a Level 2 Swimming Coach and Teacher, and will be writing guest blogs full of swimming tips, advice and workouts exclusively for members. She has swum competitively for over 20 years and more recently has started to dabble in open water swimming. 

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