A new kind of Brick

Make the most of your time in the pool this winter with this new type of brick workout. Aquajogging (deep water running) gets a bad wrap. We see the older folks in the pool doing it, and my injured athlete begrudgingly strap on the belt to wait out the time for their stress fractures to heel, but why should aquajogging be reserved for the elderly and injured? It shouldn’t. It’s a valuable workout and now its time to reap the benefits of it- young, old, injured or healthy.
This winter incorporate it into your swim session to both maximize your time in the pool, and save your legs (and mind) from pounding out the miles on the treadmill. You can maintain and even improve your fitness by working your cardiovascular system with deep water running. With the use of a heart rate monitor you can train your aerobic energy system just as you would on dry land.
How to do it: You can either use a deep water jogger belt, or you can go without. In the deep end of the pool run as you would on land. Be mindful not to just tread water (that’s cheating and you will have a harder time hitting your heart rate zones). Instead mimic your run gate, flex your ankles, knees and hips as you would while running. Your deep water run gait should look like your running stride on land- complete with arm swing and all. Depending on the space you have available (watch for divers here) you can either move across the pool or you can stay in one spot (or jog in small circles). The most important thing is that you are not out there watching the peaceful snow fall while mindlessly moving your legs, but rather I want you working. The run is an aerobic workout, you should be breathing hard (and even sweating).
For the tempo intensities- speed up your gate, just as you would on a track or on the treadmill when it came time for the tempo portion of your workout. Using a heart rate monitor will help orient you to maintaining that tempo intensity. If you know your tempo run zone, use it. If not to determine your tempo zone you need to do a little math. Your tempo zone should be 96% of your average heart rate for a 5k race (this is assuming your 5k race average heart rate is approximately your lactate threshold, depending on your level of fitness this might vary slightly). Your running tempo zone should be within 5 beats of the zone you are shooting for in the water. Deep water jogging is not an easy way out of a workout, instead it should be a tempo intensity workout in a more interesting and unique venue. After all, keeping workouts interesting throughout the long winter months is a challenge, and crucial to your spring and summer success.

The workout:

Warm up: 300 meter swim, 200 meter pull, 100 meter kick
Swim Set 1: 800 meter at race pace
Jog 1: 20 minutes: warm up- 2 min, set: 3 x 5:00 tempo intensity, 1 min recovery
Swim Set 2: 500 meters race pace
Jog 2: 15 minutes: 5 x 2 min hard, 1 min recovery
Swim Set 3: 3x250 race pace on 15 seconds rest
Jog 3: 10 minutes tempo
Cool down: 50 meters

Workout totals:
2700 meter swim
45 minutes jog with 35 minutes at tempo

Use this workout to spice up your winter swimming by breaking up the monotony of endless laps in the pool. It doubles as a low impact tempo day to keep you fit without pounding the pavement (or the treadmill as the case may be). As with any new activity deep water jogging will take some getting used to. It is easy to slack off with it and use it as a low intensity recovery, but that is not the purpose of this particular workout (there’s a time and place for everything). This workout is meant to be high intensity with low impact. Watching your heart rate monitor and sticking to your tempo zone (96% of you’re your lactate threshold or 5k race pace heart rate) will be the key to the successful completion of this workout.

After all who wants to go outside with wet-hair and not get the most out of their pool session?