5 x 400 m Steady Aerobic Freestyle
A 2900 m session with five 400 m freestyle repeats at a steady pace below threshold, a staple aerobic set for triathletes and masters.
- Duration
- 1 hestimated
- Distance
- 2,900 m
- Effort
- 77
- Level
- Intermediate
- Focus zone
- Tempo
Your values
Targets relative to your threshold values. Enter your values to see absolute numbers.
100% is your threshold pace. Higher values are faster, lower values are slower.
| # | Step | Length | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warm-upEndurance Easy freestyle | 400 m | 85-92% CSS pace |
| 2 | Rest | 20 s | |
| 4 ×Repeat these steps | |||
| 3.1 | Warm-upEndurance Freestyle, build each 50 | 50 m | 85-92% CSS pace |
| 3.2 | Rest | 15 s | |
| 5 ×Repeat these steps | |||
| 4.1 | IntervalTempo Freestyle, steady, CSS plus 5 to 8 s | 400 m | 92-95% CSS pace |
| 4.2 | Rest | 30 s | |
| 5 | Cool-downRecovery Easy choice of stroke | 300 m | 75-85% CSS pace |
About this workout
Five 400s with 30 seconds rest give you 2000 m of steady work in pieces long enough to feel like a race, with a short reset in between. The pace sits about 5 to 8 seconds per 100 m slower than your CSS. That is clearly harder than easy swimming but still controlled, the kind of effort you could hold for well over an hour.
Swim each 400 as four even 100s and note your time at the wall. The fifth 400 should be as fast as the first. If it is clearly slower, the pace was too ambitious. If the last two feel easy, take 5 seconds off the rest next time rather than speeding up.
This is a good weekly aerobic set in the base and early build phase. Newer intermediate swimmers can start with 4 x 400, stronger swimmers can extend to 6 or 8 repeats.
Tips
- Hold the same stroke count on each length of every 400.
- Breathe every three strokes on the first 100 of each repeat to settle the rhythm.
- Use a send-off of your 400 time plus 30 seconds if you prefer to swim on the clock.
Good forPoolMasters swimmingStandard-distance triathlonHalf-distance triathlon
Season phaseBaseBuild