Warm Up 400 M Slow and Easy Breaststroke

Here are some meet warm-ups from our Fike Swim pros. They're all very different but none of the swimmers are wedded to exactly the same warm-up. Current photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography

Swimmers are constantly searching for the perfect meet warm-up, that balance between doing too little to be ready and doing so much we ruin our races.  For a lucky few, a 500 paired with some dryland exercises is enough.  That's not true for most of us, though.  Have you ever had an amazing swim at the end of a hard practice at the end of a hard week?  Sometimes your body needs a long warm-up to shake out the butterflies and get the muscles ready to work hard.  Here are some meet warm-ups from our Fike Swim pros.  They're all very different but the common thread is that none of the swimmers are wedded to exactly the same warm-up- they adjust the warm-ups based on how they feel and what their bodies tell them.  Hopefully you can find something in here that helps you SWIM DIFFERENT!

Aly Tetzloff Loves Equipment

National Teamer, LA Current swimmer, and versatile sprinter Aly Tetzloff does a warm-up that "utilizes a lot of equipment and is based a lot on how I feel.  It incorporates what we do in training and what I'm used to so I can compete at a high level."

• 300-400 swim
• 300-400 kick and the last 100 some blast 25s
• 300 with buoy and paddles
• 10×25 on :15 rest
  • #1-4 with a kick band and snorkel, blasting the legs with the arms in  a speed position kick
  • #5-8 15m sprint
  • #9-10 scull with a snorkel working on feeling her catch
• 2 or 3×100/75/50 (distance depends on how she feels) on 1:00/50 building the heart rate from 180 to 190 to 200
• 4 or 8×50 drill (4×50 if she only swims one stroke that day but 8×50 if she swims two strokes)
• 4×25 on :45 variable speed with fins
  • #1 fast/easy
  • #2 easy/fast
  • #3 easy
  • #4 fast
• 1×50 free from a push at threshold effort (LCM :28-:29)
• 1×50 whichever stroke she is racing that day (fly :29-:31, back :31-:32, free :27-:28)
• 50 easy
• 1 start race to 25
• 100 easy

Emily Escobedo Keeps It Simple

National Teamer, NY Breakers swimmer, and elite breaststroker Emily Escobedo does a bit more of a traditional type of warm-up, but it's "adjusted depending on how I feel- sometimes I need more sprints and less pace.  Sometimes I need more kick if my legs are very sore.  I try to get a good feel of my body and what I need and go from there."

• 200 pull
• 200 kick
• 200 IM drill/swim
• 3×100 build choice (usually breast or IM order)
• 4×50 (usually breast or IM order)
  • #1 drill/swim
  • #2 drill/swim
  • #3 smooth distance per stroke
  • #4 build (long)
• 50 EZ
• 2 or 3 50s @ 200 pace
• 25 sprint off the blocks
• 200 cool down

Megan Kingsley Stays Flexible

One of the things you'll notice about the most persistent swimmer in the world (*cough* Golden Goggle Perseverance Award) is that she stays flexible in warm up, literally and figuratively.  She doesn't stick to intervals.  Her distances vary based on how she feels and what the meet requires.  And she tries to keep those butterfly shoulders loose.

• 400-600 choice usually 75 free/25 back or 100 free/50 back
• 400 reverse IM order 25 kick 50 drill 25 swim
• 200-300 kick IM order
• 200-300 pull usually done 25 fly, 25 free, 50 back, 25 breast, 25 free, 25 fly, 25 free
  • "This depends on what my race is for the day because I like to feel power in my stroke so I try to mix it up.  I feel best when I do 25s fly at a time and also doing longer pulling backstroke because it makes my shoulders feel really good."
• 4×100 25 strong underwater, 50 easy drill or scull, 25 build usually IM order
• 4×50 fast/easy
• 2 x :30 vertical kick dolphin or breast
• Some more pulling or kicking depending on how she feels and what kind of meet it is.
• Pace or a start

"I will usually use fins for the first 800 or so, and I do kicking on my back or stomach, and I rarely use paddles."

Sarah Gibson's "Shock and Awe"

That's the best way to describe people's reaction when DC Trident swimmer and elite butterflier Sarah Gibson tells them her 4K warm-up, but it works for her.  Sarah knows it takes her muscles longer to get ready to race.

• 400 swim
• 400 kick
• 400 drill/swim
• 400 kick faster
• 400 swim light aerobic

Depending on how crowded either:

• 10×100, 5×200, 2×500, or 1000 high aerobic (ie HR 160+)
• 300 50pace/50ez
• 100 drill
• 100ez

Finally, it's push pace, starts, and warm down that total around 400.  For a taper meet the amount of high aerobic drops or goes away.

Hopefully this helps you rethink your warm-ups.  Remember, if you do the same thing over and over, you'll get the same results, so SWIM DIFFERENT!  You can support all of our ambassadors on their journeys to Tokyo by following them on social, and you can get the latest Fike Swim news, product updates, and videos by subscribing to our newsletter and YouTube channel and liking us on Facebook.  And you can get a candid look at Fike Swim's journey to help swimmers SWIM DIFFERENT by following them on Instagram.

About Fike Swim

"We design products exclusively for the toughest athletes in the world.  We unapologetically place swimmers on a pedestal.  The rigors they embrace on a daily basis can only be understood by another swimmer and they deserve a company focused 100% on helping them succeed.  Whether you're just starting out or training for Tokyo, we stand behind you."

–James Fike, Founder

Fike Swim Products was born when founder James Fike put a brick on top of a kickboard and transformed just another legs-only kick set into a total body workout felt into the next day.  Since then it's been our mission to create unique swim equipment with the single-minded goal of making you faster.  We don't sell toys.  We create tools to help you reach your potential.

^{Courtesy: Fike Swim, a SwimSwam partner}

In This Story

• Emily Escobedo

  Emily Escobedo

• Megan Kingsley

  Megan Kingsley

• Sarah Gibson

  Sarah Gibson

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Source: https://swimswam.com/the-4k-meet-warm-up-fike-swim-ambassadors-share-their-routines/

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