Swim Speed Workouts for Swimmers and Triathletes: The Breakout Plan for Your Fastest Freestyle (Swim Speed Series) Paperback – Download: Adobe Reader, March 1, 2013

I am an amateur swimming with no formal training and few years of experience via self-training (thank you Internet videos). This workout program is great. It provides structure to my workouts and is challenging for someone not used to swimming over 2500 yards during each session. The plan includes various sets of cards and a short book, all of which are waterproof and are included in a plastic holder that drains water from the bottom (i.e., all are suitable for the pool deck). The book provides a great overview of the plan (highlights from the author's paperback book). There are cards describing the basic terminology she uses in the plan (the Tool Kit), cards describing the drills in the plan (the Drills), cards for the 16 weeks of workouts - 3 workouts per week (the Workouts), and cards for the tubing discussions (the Tubing). I was a little skeptical about the waterproofing of the workout cards, but they are waterproof. I take them as-is to the pool each time and no issues. The workouts themselves are great since they vary in distance and drills. Each workout is broken down into a warm-up, drill/main set, a bonus set, a warm-down, and the tubing exercises. The author does a good job breaking up the monotony of swimming laps with the variety. She includes an overall purpose of the workout, the suggested intervals for each drill, rest times, percentage of effort, and an occasional short motivation statement. The "she-ra" sessions at the end of the week (these are what she calls the most challenging workouts of each week) are around 4000 yards and give you a great sense of accomplishment once you're done. I would highly recommend this plan. My opinion is that this plan is well worth the $20 I paid. Best of luck.

My master's swim program just ended for the summer and I was looking for ways to keep going without paying to continue at other pools. This is a great alternative! I think I'm at the point where I want to swim alone and on my own for awhile working on technique, and this program offers that. I agree with other reviewers that it's not the best "beginner" program. When I was a true beginner, which was only a year and half ago, I could figure out how to read a workout sheet 10 x 25 pull with buoy, catchup, kick, whhhhaaaatttt????!! A beginner may feel intimidated with this book. If you sit through it, I'm sure there are ways a beginner could figure it all out because the drills are well detailed, PLUS there are videos you can watch! So don't be discouraged from buying this set if you are a true beginner, just know it's okay to be confused, we've all been there.I like the program lay out and will be working through this full set doing the two times a week workout (maybe three). What I didn't like are the cards. When my four year old pulled them out of the box and ALMOST got them all mixed up, I realized I have a potential problem. You could put them back in order, but it would take time. SO, I bound mine!One thing is that each workout includes time to tube. I recommend this set: AmazonBasics Resistance Band Set with 5 Bands, Foam Handles, Door Anchor, Ankle Straps, and Carrying Case. I like using the resistance bands, but I'll be the first to admit, I'm not going to do this at the pool, for so many reasons I won't mention, all related to my own insecurities, but I will gladly do them at home :) Plus, I need time to work that part of my workout out since I've never done it for swimming before.Overall this is a GREAT set, and I can see now why it has so many five star reviews.

Great workouts with lots of variation. Most workouts are around 2000-2500 yards/meters, plus some optional swimming. I enjoyed the blend of drills, short intervals, and longer endurance swims -- it makes it quite easy and entertaining to swim 2000 yards and more. On the other hand, this can make some of the workouts quite convoluted. You most likely will want to bring the cards to the pool with you (which is no problem, they handle getting wet very well).A big plus is that all the workouts have a specific purpose, so you know what you are working on and what you are supposed to get out of it.This set combines quite well with information from other sources, such as the Swim Smooth series. The author and the Swim Smooth team seem to have somewhat similar philosophies about swimming, and mixing in one of the workouts from this set into the Swim Smooth staple of threshold/CSS swims and endurance swims improved my swimming quite a bit.This set also includes concise and very helpful information on swimming technique, various drills, and training more generally. The author is a big fan of 'tubing' for strengthening. I haven't tried that yet, but I suppose that could be useful when being away from a pool while traveling or on vacation.

Firstly, relevant to mention that I didn't swim when I was young and also it is very clear that even if I decide not do anything in my life rather than swim, I will never swim like those guys in the other lanes - I mean neither the 60+ masters or the teenagers (probably my fast 100m's are equivalent to their warm-up speed).I am following Swim Speed workouts since July and the results are amazing. My times during training and races today are maybe the best ones since I have started to do triathlons, around 17 years ago. Even though my aerobic conditions today are far worse than they were some day in the past (the time I run 1K today used to be my pace in 21), I am swimming faster and surely the credit goes to Swim Speed method (in average I am swimming only 2x week).The cards themselves also are very practical and I take them to the pool for every practice. Almost 1 year using them and they are still good.The drill videos in youtube are also very good and from time to times I check them again to review I still doing them correctly. My next step now is to film my swimming and see what more can be improved.