The majority of triathletes consider a brick workout to be a bike-run session. Rarely do they include a swim-bike brick in their training plan. If you haven’t tried a swim-bike brick before, you are missing out on a valuable training opportunity!
Here are the top 3 benefits of adding a swim-bike brick into your routine:
1. Energy Management. The energy cost of the swim is quite often overlooked. As a coach, I emphasize structured, challenging sets that require large outputs so the athlete can experience the fatigue prior to the bike. Swim-bike bricks will help simulate race day energy management challenges.
2. Improved Flexibility. If an athlete’s low back and hip flexors are tight, (which most are) then the swim — especially when wearing a wetsuit — will cause a pre-loading of theses muscles before you get on the bike, which adds to your fatigue. This brick workout can help you address these weaknesses in your training rather than on race day.
3. Nutrition Testing. The energy burned during the swim-bike brick will force you to monitor fluid and food intake under conditions that are similar to race day. This fine-tuning of your performance nutrition during training will help you avoid GI issues during an event.
I’d recommend adding this session into your routine once a week for about 6 to 10 weeks leading up to your race. It’s a great tool to help you get accustomed to the rigors of race day, instills confidence and gives you a leg up on the competition.
If you do give this workout a try, let me know how it goes. Get in touch with me on Facebook or Twitter.
Swim
Warm Up
400 with 3 lengths double arm backstroke to stretch the back and hip flexors.
1st Set
8 x 50
Swim these progressively: Hold an even pace on the 1st through 4th intervals, and then slightly increase your pace on the 5th through 8th intervals (but don’t smash it).
Rest Interval (RI) 15”
Main Set
300 free holding either Olympic distance pace or Half IM pace.
4 x 75
Go fast on these!
RI 20”
Repeat the set 2 to 3 times.
Ironman distance athletes can repeat up to 4 times.
The goal and purpose of the set is to swim the 300s steadily and at your race pace.
The 75s require a large output and increasing the tempo recruits your fast twitch muscles fibers. The 75s — combined with the steady 300 — give athletes the opportunity to replicate the nuances of the actual race where the pace may vary due to the competition.
I like to implement this training stimulus even though the 75s are much faster than ideal race pace.
3rd Set
12 x 25
With fins alternate 25s back flutter and back dolphin to stretch out the hips. Moderate effort.
RI 10”
Cool down for 100 and take a minimum of 5’ and a maximum of 15’ for your transition to the bike.
Bike
The purpose of this bike session is to provide variable speed during the main set to simulate race day conditions.
Warm Up
6’
This is a short warm up and should be in a lower gear for the first 2’ holding RPMs at 98 – 102. Shift into your Time Trial Gear (TTG) or preferred gear for the final 4’ holding 88 – 92 RPMs.
Main Set
Normally my workouts will be governed by total elapsed time instead of distance, but this main set mixes it up a bit and gives each athlete a precise volume of effort for race day. The total elapsed time of the workout will vary on ability. Each segment of the main set includes a 5km interval at varying efforts to help simulate race day conditions, and to build strength and stamina.
1st Segment:
5km at your threshold pace or pace you can hold for an hour.
The purpose is to “up the ante” from the outset! Quite often, at the start of the bike, athletes exert themselves at too brisk a pace. This session replicates that and then teaches you to settle into your targeted pace.
2nd Segment:
5km
Include 2’ of standing, 2’ of Lower Gear and 2’ of Bigger Gear anywhere within the 5km segment.
Effort is at race pace (but if you’re racing an Olympic distance race go, at 70.3 Ironman pace because it’s often difficult to hit Olympic pacing in a workout). You may also pace by effort level equal to a medium to medium-fast effort.
3rd Segment:
5km at race pace in TTG with 5 spikes of 20” very hard.
Spread these out and stay seated during the hard efforts.
Repeat both 5km segments so you’ll end up doing 4 – 9 times 5km. Or, 30km – 90km in total
Cool down for 10’.
Total Time:
Swim = 60 – 70’ Bike = 90’ – 3.5 hrs.
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