In this week’s installment of the Workout of the Week we are rolling through the Individual Medley. Commonly known as the “IM”, the individual medley is a combination of all four competitive swimming strokes put into a single swim. The order of the strokes go as butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. For those who feel more comfortable swimming more freestyle and less butterfly, a common style of swimming the IM is known as Free-IM or FRIM, where the strokes go FR/BK/BR/FR.
This week we’ll hit the legs hard with some IM-order kicking, put all the strokes together to log some aerobic work, while ramping up the intensity with some fast freestyle swimming at the end of the main set.
Be sure to keep an eye on when to put your watch in Drill Mode (all kicking and drilling should be done in Drill Mode to ensure accurate lap tracking).
Click on the below button on your mobile device to view this workout in the Swim.com app.
Warmup: A classic 4-3-2-1 warmup here. At 1000yds, you’ll get in some kicking and drilling to help prep you for the rest of the workout. On the 300 Kick, 200 IM Drill/Swim and 100 IM Kick, it’s best to keep your watch in Drill Mode. You can separate the three segments, or just set the Drill Mode distance to 600yds; the total for the 3-2-1 portion of the warmup.
400 Choice
300 Kick
200 IM (25 Drill/25 Swim)
100 IM Kick
Preset: Our preset actually mirrors our main set this week. At 1000yds, you’ll get the heart rate up on the 50’s while hurting the legs on the 25’s kick. All the 50’s should be descending to strong, fast, faster and fastest as you go through each chunk. All the 25’s should be a steady, strong pace on each stroke.
- 3×50 FR @ :15 rest
- Desc. 1-3, to STRONG
- 4×25 FL Kick @ :10 rest
- 3×50 FR @ :15 rest
- Desc. 1-3, to FAST
- 4×25 BK Kick @ :10 rest
- 3×50 Fr @ :15 rest
- Desc. 1-3, to FASTER
- 4×25 BR Kick @ :10 rest
- 3×50 Fr @ :15 rest
- Desc. 1-3, to FASTEST
- 4×25 FR Kick @ :10 rest
Main set: At 1300yds of IM work, this main set is sure to have you hurting by the end! With each series of 100 IM’s, try your best to descend each 100 to max speed. While aiming to be considerate of everyone’s comfort level, you have the option on the 100’s to swim regular IM or Free-IM “FRIM” where the butterfly is replaced with freestyle goes FR/BK/BR/FR Take extra rest if you need to – aim for having a quality and meaningful increase in effort as you go through the set.
- 4×100 IM or FRIM @ :15 rest
- Desc. to MAX SPEED
- 2×50 FR EZ @ :10 rest
- 3×100 IM or FRIM EZ @ :15 rest
- Desc. to MAX SPEED
- 2×50 FR EZ @ :10 rest
- 2×100 IM or FRIM @ :15
- Desc. to MAX SPEED
- 2×50 FR EZ @ :10 rest
- 1×100 IM or FRIM @ :15 rest
- RACE!
Cool down: Make sure to get at least a 300 in here, and cycle through as many different strokes you need to get your heart rate down to resting. If you plan to mix some kick or drill in, set your watch to Drill Mode!
300 EZ (25 Fr/25 Non-Fr)
Total Yardage: 3,600yds
Click on the below button on your mobile device to view this workout in the Swim.com app.
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