Want to bring new energy to your laps? Recently, I’ve been using these sets:
Note: You do an exercise after every 50 following the warm-up.

Warm-up:

5×50 freestyle, easy arms, fast narrow kick

Core Activation:

5×50 freestyle, focused on contracting my abdominals throughout. While swimming, I want to feel the stretch ACROSS my body, through my abs, as I reach forward and pull against taught core muscles.

On deck: Pop up for 30 crunches before the next swim. I lift my shoulders as far up as I can and never let them touch on the way down. Quick movements here will help your flip turns if that’s part of your practice.

Upper Back Flexibility & Strength:

5×50 freestyle, focused on a strong, stable upper back and head. My eyes may be looking out at a 45deg angle for this vs. neutral with eyes down. Once in position and swimming, I focus on breathing with no discernible change in body position, especially shoulders staying high as I rotate.

On deck: Jump out and do 3x10sec holds of Baby Cobra with 5sec rest. I take my lower back out of it by pressing my feet tops into the ground (hers are up in the photo) so my knees and hips become unweighted, pulling my belly off the ground so I’m resting my body weight on my lower ribcage. Once that is in place, I lift my chest and shoulders off the ground as far as I can (a few inches is pretty good here), pulling my shoulder blades together and down my back. Place your arms by your sides and do NOT use them to help lift your upper body. This should be ALL upper back and vital for good swimming.

Pulling Superset:

5×50 freestyle, focused on using my arms as paddles. This means that once I make my catch, I don’t intentionally sweep my arms, but let my body’s rotation do that for me. Once my elbow is bent for the catch and my hand is in line again with my forearm, I don’t change their orientation again. I look to feel consistent, unfailing pressure along my hand, forearm, and upper arm throughout every pull.

Deep end: After each 50 I do ten pull-ups using the backstroke bars on the diving blocks, and ten pushups, grabbing the pool edge and pushing up to a straight-arm finishing position before lowering back into the water for the next rep. It’s like you’re trying to get out, but you can’t quite make it!

I don’t know how they got this shot of me on the deck…

If you don’t have a bamboo pole over a lagoon by your home, use the diving block.

Photo Credits:
Baby Cobra – (http://blog.doctoroz.com)
Crunches, Feet Up – (http://www.beexercise.com/toe-touch-crunch/)
Pull-ups – (http://crossfitmobile.blogspot.com/2012_04_01_archive.html)
Pushups – (http://www.details.com/health-fitness/exercise/201302/underwater-exercise-cardio-strength)
Diving Block – (http://gymclassdropout.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html)