Guy Leech training guide

The Guy Leech 8 Week Swim Program for Beginners & Intermediates

To find out more about training with Guy Leech, visit www.guyleechfitness.com

Swimming Sessions

• Complete 2 to 3 sessions a week for beginners and 3 to 4 for intermediates
• If you find the distances in the sessions too long, modify to suit your needs
• Work on the stroke tips during the workouts
• These sessions are a guide. Depending on your levels of fitness you may decrease or increase the sessions to suit
• You have the choice of 3 different sessions a week. Pick the one that suits you best or utilise all of them

Stroke Tips

freestyle:

1. During recovery keep your elbow high
2. Always relax your hand and forearm during recovery
3. Point your toes
4. Look down at the bottom of the pool at about 45 degrees
5. Always push your hand back so your thumb touches your thigh
6. When you breathe don’t look behind you, look slightly forward
7. Don’t breathe every stroke
8. When you kick, try and keep your feet under the water
9. If you tumble turn don’t look at the wall, try and use the T-piece to judge your distance
10. Don’t let your torso snake through the water, a straight body is a fast one

backstroke:

1. Make sure your hands enter the water shoulder width apart
2. Don’t let your feet come out of the water when you kick
3. Keep your head as still as possible
4. Make the last movement of the push phase of your stroke a push down, then bring your little finger out of the water first
5. You don’t need to enter with your little finger, just make sure it is down when you start to pull
6. Try counting your strokes from the flags at the 5 metre mark to judge your distance from the wall, instead of looking
7. Point your toes
8. Look straight up while you're swimming and use your peripheral vision to use the lane rope to keep you straight
9. Keep your elbow straight during the recovery
10. kick by lifting your knee, without lifting it out of the water, and then push up with your foot

Butterfly:

1. Use your kick to lift your upper body over the water during the recovery
2. kick twice during each stroke, at the start and then at the end of the recovery
3. Keep your feet together at all times
4. Try and enter your hands in front of you, shoulder width apart
5. When your hands enter the water slide them in thumb first
6. Your pulling action should outline a keyhole
7. Your hands should brush your thighs at the end of the pull phase
8. Relax your arms during the recovery
9. Try not to breathe every stroke
10. Lift your head to breathe at the same time your hands leave the water at the end of the pull phase

breaststroke:

1. Face the palms of your hands out at the start of the pull phase
2. Bring your hands around in a big arc, finishing with them together as you push them forward
3. You can put your head right under the water at the end of the stroke
4. Try and keep your knees as close together as possible during your kick
5. Bring your feet right up to your bottom at the start of your kick
6. The push phase of your kick should coincide with the pushing forward of your hands
7. Don’t let your hips fall too low in the water, keep them just under the water
8. When your face is in the water look down at 45 degrees, and straight forward when you breath

Week 1 – 800m sessions

Session 1

• 200m freestyle warm up
• 6 x 50m freestyle with 30 second rest
• 4 x 25m kick board with 20 second rest
• 4 x 50m breaststroke with 30 second rest

Session 2

• 6 x 25m freestyle warm up
• 2 x 100m (medium pace) freestyle with 1 minute rest
• 2 x 50m back stroke with 20 second rest
• 2 x 100m (easy pace) freestyle with 40 second rest
• 3 x 50m kick board with 30 second rest

Session 3

• 8 x 25m (own choice of style) warm up
• 6 x 50m freestyle with 30 second rest (descending effort easy – medium)
• 4 x 25m kick board with 20 second rest
• 4 x 50m (alternating freestyle/breaststroke) with 30 second rest warm down

Week 2 – 800m Sessions

Session 1

• 8 x 25m warm up (alternating between freestyle & breaststroke)
• 75m freestyle (medium pace) – 30 seconds rest
• 50m freestyle – 30 seconds rest
• 2 x 25m freestyle – 30 seconds rest
• 50m freestyle – 30 seconds rest
• 75m freestyle – 30 seconds rest
• 200m freestyle (easy pace) with 1 minute rest at end
• 2 x 50m kick board warm down with 30 seconds rest

Session 2

• 25m freestyle – 30 seconds rest
• 50m freestyle – 30 seconds rest
• 75m freestyle (medium pace) – 30 seconds rest
• 100m freestyle (medium pace) – 1 minute rest
• 200m freestyle (medium pace) – 1 minute rest
• 100m freestyle – 1 minute rest
• 75m freestyle – 1 minute rest
• 50m freestyle – 30 seconds rest
• 25m freestyle – 1 minute rest
• 4 x 25m kick board warm down with 30 seconds rest

Session 3

• 8 x 25m warm up (alternate freestyle & breaststroke) with 15 seconds rest
• 8 x 25m at medium pace (alternate freestyle & backstroke) with 20 seconds rest
• 8 x 25m kick (easy/medium pace) with 20 seconds rest
• 4 x 50m warm down (your choice of style) with 30 seconds rest

Week 3 – 1100m

Session 1

• 8 x 50m freestyle warm up with 30 seconds rest
• 4 x 100m (alternate freestyle, and your choice) with 30 seconds rest
• 12 x 25m kick board with 20 seconds rest

Session 2

• 200m warm up (your choice of style)
• 2 x 150m freestyle at medium pace with 45 seconds rest
• 4 x 50m kick board with 30 seconds rest
• 6 x 50m (alternate backstroke and breaststroke) with 30 seconds rest
• 100m freestyle warm down

Session 3

• 4 x 100m (alternate freestyle and your choice of style) with 45 seconds rest
• 16 x 25m (alternate freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and your choice of style) with 15 seconds rest
• 100m kick board
• 4 x 50m freestyle warm down with 20 seconds rest

Week 4 – 1100m

Session 1

• 4 x 50m warm up (your choice of style) with 20 seconds rest
• 4 x 50m freestyle (medium pace) with 30 seconds rest
• 4 x 50m freestyle (50m easy, 50m hard – repeat) with 45 seconds rest
• 4 x 50m kick – no board (easy) with 30 seconds rest
• 4 x 50m backstroke with 30 seconds rest
• 2 x 50m breaststroke warm down with 15 seconds rest

Session 2

• 150m freestyle warm up – 1 minute rest
• 150m (50m backstroke, 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke) – 1 minute rest
• 150m freestyle
• 150m kick board
• 16 x 25m freestyle (first 4 laps descending from easy to hard, next 4 laps going from hard to easy – then repeat) with 20 seconds rest
• 100m freestyle warm down

Session 3

• 200m freestyle warm up
• 100m kick – no board
• 2 x 100m backstroke (medium pace) with 40 seconds rest
• 100m kick board
• 2 x 100m breaststroke (medium pace) with 40 seconds rest
• 8 x 25m freestyle with 15 seconds rest
• 2 x 50m warm down (your choice of style) with 15 seconds rest

Week 5 – 1500m

Session 1

• 8 x 50m (alternate freestyle and backstroke) with 20 seconds rest
• 16 x 25m freestyle (Laps 1 – 8 increasing effort from easy to hard. Laps 9 – 16 decreasing effort from hard to easy) with 20 seconds rest
• 16 x 25m kick board (easy effort) with 15 seconds rest
• 6 x 50m warm down (alternate backstroke and breaststroke) with 20 seconds rest

Session 2

• 4 x 100m freestyle warm up with 25 seconds rest
• 3 x 100m backstroke (50m easy, 50m hard) with 30 seconds rest
• 2 x 100m breaststroke (50m easy, 50m hard) with 30 seconds rest
• 100m your choice of style (easy effort)
• 100m kick board (medium pace)
• 4 x 75m freestyle (50m medium pace, 25m hard pace) with 30 seconds rest
• 100m warm down (your choice of style)

Session 3

• 2 x 200m freestyle (1st set warm up pace, 2nd set at medium pace) with 45 seconds rest
• 8 x 25m kick board with 15 seconds rest
• 2 x 200m at medium pace (alternate backstroke and breaststroke) with 1 minute rest
• 8 x 25m kick board with 15 seconds rest
• 6 x 50m warm down (your choice of style)

Week 6 – 1500m

Session 1

• 2 x 150m freestyle warm up with 1 minute rest
• 2 x 150m at medium pace (150m backstroke, 150m breaststroke) with 1 minute rest
• 6 x 50m kick board with 20 seconds rest
• 10 x 25m freestyle (medium pace) with 15 seconds rests
• 10 x 25m freestyle (hard pace) with 20 seconds rest
• 100m warm down (your choice of style)

Session 2

• 5 x 100m freestyle warm up with 30 seconds rest
• 3 x 200m at medium pace (200m backstroke, 200m freestyle, 200m breaststroke) with 1 minute rest
• 8 x 50m kick board with 25 seconds rest

Session 3

• 400m freestyle warm up
• 16 x 25m freestyle (alternate 1 lap hard, 1 lap easy) with 20 seconds rest
• 200m backstroke (easy pace)
• 4 x 50m breaststroke (medium pace) with 30 seconds rest
• 150m warm down (your choice of style)

Week 7 – 2000m

Session 1

• 400m warm up (your choice)
• 8 x 100m freestyle, descending set with 45 seconds rest
  (Set 1 to 4 increasing from easy to hard. Set 5 – 8 going from hard to easy)
• 8 x 50 kick board (medium pace) with 20 second rest
• 16 x 25m warm down (alternate backstroke and breaststroke) with 15 seconds rest

Session 2

• 4 x 150m warm up (alternate each lap with freestyle and your choice of style) with 45 seconds rest
• 16 x 25m freestyle (alternate 1 lap hard / 1 lap easy) with 20 seconds rest
• 200m kick board (easy pace)
• 16 x 25m at medium pace (alternate backstroke and breaststroke) with 20 seconds rest
• 4 x 100m warm down (your choice of style)

Session 3

• 200m warm up (your choice of style)
• 4 x 200m freestyle (2 x 100m at medium pace / 2 x 100m increase 10%) with 1 minute rest
• 10 x 50m (25m backstroke / 25m breaststroke) at medium pace with 20 seconds rest
• 10 x 50m kick board warm down with 30 seconds rest

Week 8 – 2000m

Session 1

• 300m freestyle warm up
• 200m backstroke (medium pace)
• 100m breaststroke (medium pace)
• 2 x 50m kick board with 20 seconds rest
• Repeat all the above with a 20% increase in effort
• 16 x 25m freestyle (firm pace) with 30 seconds rest
• 200m warm down (your choice of style)

Session 2

• 6 x 150m warm up (100m freestyle / 50m kick – no board) with 45 seconds rest
  (First 2 warm up. Then increase effort by 20% for last 4)
• 16 x 50m (4 x 50m backstroke, 4 x 50m breaststroke – repeat) with 20 seconds rest
• 3 x 100m warm down (your choice of style) with 30 seconds rest

Session 3

• 2 x 400m (400m freestyle warm up / 400m of your choice) with 45 seconds rest
• 8 x 100m (alternate 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle / 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle) with 30 seconds rest
• 16 x 25m warm down kick – no board with 15 seconds rest

Dry Land Strength Workout

15 minute circuit

Exercise for 20 seconds, then move to next exercise

1. Skip (with or without rope) or jogging on the spot
2. Kneeling push-ups
3. Lunges
4. Sit ups
5. Tricep dips
6. Wall-sit drill