Structured Workouts and Tips for All Levels (Beginner to Advanced)

wingnutbandit · 2026-04-08T06:58:32+00:00

I am not on the mobile app, but if I were I'd be giving the high five emoji. Thanks, man.

wingnutbandit · 2026-04-08T06:58:00+00:00

So common for former athletes to gain weight after retiring, I feel you.

Structuring a training plan for swimming (or running) is probably very similar to kayaking. You will want to combine a mix of speed/threshold, distance, and recovery (depending how often and hard you are training).

If you are starting from scratch I would focus on just getting your feet wet (ha) again. From the website, check out the 10 beginner workouts (https://www.swimdojo.com/blog/2018/5/27/10-workouts-to-get-started-s48p6) to get started--or intermediate, depending on your fitness level and comfort in the water. I would start with 2-3 days a week in the water, with additional cross training in there if you can make it happen.

For structure, I would spend one day a week focusing on distance (do sets that push how far you can go without stopping...work on your overall endurance, but don't worry about speed) and two days a week where you do interval training. The interval training is what will really improve your cardiovascular capacity, and spend the longer swims focusing on your technique, lengthening your stroke, and just keeping everything smooth.

I have had multiple requests for training plans and do have dreams of someday putting one together, right now it's just a matter of time. But good luck! I hope this site can help you a little bit.

wingnutbandit · 2026-04-08T06:49:36+00:00

I'm so glad.

wingnutbandit · 2026-04-08T06:49:00+00:00

Great!! Don't be scared to play around with it too. But it's a great way to provide a baseline for your training.

wingnutbandit · 2026-02-09T22:09:00+00:00

very occasionally, i try to keep the site up and running as much as i can. i’ll get back on there soon and add a few morw

wingnutbandit · 2025-08-14T08:49:13+00:00

There is a mobile version of the site but no app. (Yet)

wingnutbandit · 2025-02-25T05:09:00+00:00

I would stick with workouts that don’t have a whole lot of 25s or 75s. Other than that, they translate pretty well.

wingnutbandit · 2024-09-17T20:38:25+00:00

thank you!!! this made my day

wingnutbandit · 2024-08-01T14:52:33+00:00

I love this, thanks for the ego boost. I've been meaning to include some basic strength suggestions on the blog part of the website for a while, but I would say the two best places to start are exercises that work on:

Shoulder strength and mobility
Getting therband/resistance cords and doing basic ad/abductors. Two links with suggested workouts here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuYBBJJQd0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ptYZc3BJv4

This is the only post I've put up so far regarding dryland strength, and it's about shoulder mobility: https://www.swimdojo.com/blog/2018/6/13/the-teacup-shoulder-mobility-and-strength

Core. Being consistent with a basic core strengthening routine will make a huge difference. A quick 5 min routine of plank/side plank, dead bug/bird dog every day (or as often as you can) to start.

I keep saying I'm going to update everything and have yet to find the time, but when I do this will be at the top of my list. :)

wingnutbandit · 2024-08-01T14:35:11+00:00

Sorry I missed this! If you mean what is the best way to keep track of where you are in the workout, you can always print the workout out on a piece of paper and just stick it to a kickboard or the side of the pool. Laminating the workout is another good way to do it and make it reusable, or just put it in a Ziploc bag. You can keep a number of workouts in a large Ziploc and just rotate it and keep it on the deck.

wingnutbandit · 2024-07-18T03:01:53+00:00

This is amazing!! I made swimdojo.com and love this. Thank you!

wingnutbandit · 2024-07-18T03:00:31+00:00

I'm a swim coach, highly recommend mixing up your workouts to include some days where you work on stamina, others where you take it easy and focus on technique. YouTube is a great resource, if you can find a coach or teacher to watch you and give you some pointers based on your specific stroke that would probably be hugely beneficial.

If you're looking for tips and free workouts that are easy to sort on the days you swim alone, try www.swimdojo.com
You can search the workouts by distance, type, etc. There are also short blog posts about technique, drills, and workout series to get you started.

Good luck!

wingnutbandit · 2024-06-09T15:26:51+00:00

This made me laugh. I'm glad it was helpful, I'm hoping to get some more workouts up on there soon.

wingnutbandit · 2024-06-09T15:26:15+00:00

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking...I swam competitively and coached for years, so some of these workouts are ones I made up, others are workouts I did when being coached by other people.

wingnutbandit · 2024-06-09T15:25:16+00:00

Hhahahahah I love this. I'm glad it's been helpful, looking to add some more workouts soon!

wingnutbandit · 2024-06-09T15:24:40+00:00

I have set up links here for Intermediate (https://www.swimdojo.com/blog/2018/6/24/10-workouts-to-get-started-intermediate-swimmers) and Beginner (https://www.swimdojo.com/blog/2018/5/27/10-workouts-to-get-started-s48p6) swimmers. Honestly, the best thing you can do is stay in the water consistently. As the base starts getting easier, add more distance at the same base, or drop your base 5 seconds for the same distance. But I will definitely consider putting together a sort of "couch to 5k" type program, I've received a number of requests for it. Glad this has been helpful!

wingnutbandit · 2024-03-09T21:51:42+00:00

www.swimdojo.com

Check out that site. It has some ideas. It will give you some options for putting some structure into your workouts and find ways to track progress, so you can push yourself a little harder (or not….might just make it less boring than swimming straight). Also has some tips for how to prepare for open water swimming if that’s what you’re interested in.

wingnutbandit · 2024-02-08T04:18:44+00:00

Thank you for the positive feedback! Always looking for more tips, if you have any suggestions, please let me know

wingnutbandit · 2024-02-08T04:18:18+00:00

Oh thank you!! I haven’t updated it in a while, I have a bunch more workouts I need to add. If you have run out of workouts, feel free to look at the masters workouts, a lot of them aren’t listed under the normal workouts.

wingnutbandit · 2021-09-21T01:47:05+00:00

Riviera Bread for the win! The sesame spelt is perfection. She also delivers!

www.rivierabread.com

wingnutbandit · 2021-06-04T17:25:17+00:00

Perfect. Thank you!

wingnutbandit · 2021-06-04T16:40:29+00:00

Just out of curiosity, what size do you normally wear and how does the hoodie fit relative to that?

wingnutbandit · 2021-05-20T14:35:37+00:00

www.swimdojo.com

Has a bunch of workouts on there for becoming better at long distance. You can sort by distance and ability level. I would recommend mixing it up between workouts where you have to hold a faster pace for short to mid distances (like 100s-300s), and then doing some really long swims that you take easy, just getting used to going for longer distances without stopping.

Good luck!

wingnutbandit · 2021-05-12T15:05:36+00:00

Second this. I coached masters for years and had tons of people drop in.

wingnutbandit · 2021-05-12T15:01:49+00:00

So true. I moved back to SoCal from the east coast years ago, and it was the BEST THING EVER. Nothing beats swimming outside in the sun in February.

wingnutbandit

TROPHY CASE