The best sets and swim workouts are often the simplest ones.
Complex ladders and descending progressions have a role, but easy-to-explain sets often do well in the water as swimmers can spend less time doing long division on the intervals and spending more focus on getting after it.
And simple doesn’t have to mean “easy” or “does only one thing.”
This pull set is based on a set by Don Swartz and Ken Demont appropriately titled “A Simple Little Set.”
I love it for exactly that simplicity—a short menu of distances that mixes fast and cruise work and stays varied enough round by round that swimmers actually stay engaged.
My version is focused on improving your freestyle pull by layering in both pace control and pull power.
Two benefits, one simple set.
The Simple Pull Set
Here’s my pull twist on the set:
4 rounds:
- 1×50
- 1×100
- 1×50
- 1×25
- 1×50
- 1×25
Gear by rounds:
Focus points:
- Go fast on the 100s and 25s. The 50s are “cruise” effort.
- Equipment can be adjusted as the season progresses—as swimmers get stronger, introduce ankle bands to the pull rounds to increase force production.
- Set a base interval per 25 and scale it up. E.g. 30 seconds per 25 gives you intervals of 1:00 (for the 50s), 2:00 (for the 100s).
- Intervals can also be decreased on subsequent workouts. E.g. 30 seconds per 25 > 25 seconds per 25.
- Add rounds as necessary.
Why This Set Works
Most simple sets are all about doing one thing really well—6x25s all out on 3:00 builds peak power, for example.
This set quietly does two jobs really well:
Pace control
The fast-cruise alternating teaches swimmers to pace their effort in a controlled way. The fast 100s and 25s are easy enough to understand—just get after it.
The pace control comes with the cruise 50s sandwiched between them. These aren’t sloppy easy swimming but a controlled middle gear following fast swimming.
Learning to hold a deliberate 70-80% pace while your heart rate is still up is the kind of gear-management skill that elite swimmers know well.
Pull power
This comes primarily from the equipment progression. Using a pull buoy isolates the catch and pull path. Paddles adds an element of directing force. And introducing an ankle band later on removes any leg assistance and forcing (ha) the pull to do everything.
Keep it simple and happy pulling!
More pull resources:
Pull-a-geddon: A Swim Workout for a Stronger, More Powerful Pull. Looking to really overload the pull? This set mixes pull buoy distance work with brutal ankle-band 50s and short chunks of transfer swimming to carry the gains back into your regular stroke.
Pull Buoys: Pros, Cons, and How to Use Them Properly. Pull buoys are one of the more misunderstood pieces of swim gear that swimmers use—here’s an honest look at how they impact your stroke and training.
