Variety might be the spice of life and mixing things up in your training can be a good way to keep things interesting. I have come across coaches who make a point of never setting the same session twice for this reason. They also like to add (in my view, unnecessary) complexity to sessions. However, there is underappreciated value in repetition and in keeping things simple. Depending on how often you swim, there’s a lot to be said in favour of a simple but challenging training session you repeat weekly or fortnightly.
Firstly, regularly repeating the same training session is a great way to gauge your fitness, recovery and motivation, especially if you can do it at the same time and place each week. On a weekly basis, you get to feel how your swimming is impacted by total training volume, what you did the day before, what you’ve eaten and how much you’ve slept. Secondly, you can monitor long term changes in your swimming. Another advantage is that you don’t have to tax your imagination, thinking of something different to do each time. And if you swim with other people, once you’ve agreed what the session is once, you avoid discussion and debate each week.
THERE’S A LOT TO BE SAID IN FAVOUR OF A SIMPLE BUT CHALLENGING TRAINING SESSION YOU REPEAT WEEKLY