While you may prefer to keep your feet on dry land, you won’t get a better return on your investment than from swimming — especially if you’re a new runner or you’re prone to injuries. introduces new ranges of motion and strengthens muscle groups that have been neglected, helping a runner avoid classic overcompensation injuries. It can also help develop lung capacity, improve ankle flexibility, strengthen your core muscles, and allow you to boost your weekly training volume without risking injury.

Research

In fact, hopping in the pool may do more to help you bounce back from a tough run than compression socks, ice baths, or Normatec boots, according to a study published in the .

Researchers at the University of Western Australia had nine well-trained triathletes perform an interval run consisting of 8 Ă— 3 minutes at 85–90 percent VO₂ peak velocity on two separate occasions. Ten hours after the run, the triathletes either swam 2,000 meters or lay down for an equal amount of time. Fourteen hours after that, the subjects performed a high-intensity run to fatigue to assess how well their running performance had recovered from the previous day’s interval sessions. Interestingly, the subjects were able to run for 13 minutes, 50 seconds after swimming for recovery compared to only 12 minutes, 8 seconds after lying still for recovery. That’s a 14 percent difference.

The researchers also found that swimming for recovery was associated with much lower levels of C-Reactive Protein, a biomarker of inflammation, 24 hours after the interval run. This finding suggested that swimming for recovery enhanced performance in a subsequent run by attenuating muscle tissue inflammation resulting from the first run.

How to Get Started

It’s easier than you think to get started. Simply swap one or two runs (think an afternoon recovery run or a 4-mile morning jog) each week , using our quick tips.

What You’ll Do: Choose (and alternate) between water running or lap swimming. There are two types of water running — shallow water running (where you’re in waist-deep water, running across the bottom of the pool) and deep water running (where you’re in deep enough water that your feet don’t touch the bottom of the pool). Both forms of water running work the body in a similar manner and require the same mechanics.

When water running, the body should remain as vertical in the water as possible, avoiding leaning forward at the chest, with the arms and legs pumping like pistons — similar to the motion of running on land. Deep water running can be completed with or without a flotation belt (though beginners should start with a belt — it’s far more difficult to maintain proper form without it).

The great part about pool running is that you can do nearly identical workouts to those you’d do on the road or track. For instance, if you had an 8 × 400-meter workout planned and you usually run 400 meters in about 90 seconds, simply surge in the pool for the same amount of time.

In the same manner, if you simply need a short easy day, jog in the pool at a relaxed pace for 30 minutes. You can apply these same principles to lap swimming, as well. If you’re looking for aerobic exercise, you may simply swim steady laps for a certain amount of time. For a more anaerobic workout, however, you can do pool sprints. Not unlike intervals done on the track, this requires you to surge for a certain distance. For instance, you could do 10 × 50-meter sprints with 30 seconds recovery in between, increasing the number of intervals as you get stronger.

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British middle-distance ace Sebastian Coe once said, “I’ve always felt that long, slow distance produces long, slow runners.” To improve your run performance, you need a balance of easy days and hard, faster intervals.

The purpose of these interval track sessions is largely related to the principle of “progressive overload,” which states that performance only improves with added training stress. Not only does this underscore the importance of adding interval training on top of aerobic miles, it also points to the fact that once you start these workouts you must continue to up the ante from one session to the next. “The beautiful thing is that your body is able to evolve and adapt with added stress—otherwise your fitness plateaus,” says Beth Baker, head coach at Running Evolution in Seattle.

For track sessions to make sense within your training, interval mileage shouldn’t exceed 7–15 percent of your total weekly mileage. As your mileage increases, so will the length of your interval sessions; however, they should still constitute the same percentage of your total training. Check out the following workouts and tweak the pace and number of intervals depending on your goal race and fitness level.

Mixed Intervals

Warm-up: 15 min

– 3 x 400m at 15 seconds faster than 5K pace with 2 min rest

– 1,000m at 10 seconds faster than 5K pace with 2 min rest

– 4 x 200m sprints with 1 min rest

Cool-down: 10 min

Up the ante: After 2–3 weeks of mastering this workout, add distance depending on your goal race. If you’re preparing for a half marathon or marathon, add one to two 1,000m intervals at the same pace. For shorter distance training, add two to four 200m sprints at the end of the workout.

Yasso 800s

Warm-up: 15 min
– Take your marathon goal time and convert the hours and minutes to minutes and seconds. For instance, if your goal is 3:45, your 800m pace is 3 min and 45 sec.

– Begin with four 800m intervals with equal jogging rest in between each.

Cool-down: 10 min

Up the ante: With each passing week, add 1–2 800m intervals at the same pace until you reach 10 reps. If you’re looking to add a bit of easy mileage to your week, increase your warm-up and cool-down to 20–25 min.

Ladder

Warm-up: 15 min

– At 5K race pace, run 400m, 800m, 1,200m, 800m, 400m. Give yourself 2–3 min rest in between each interval.

Cool-down: 10 min

Up the ante After 2–3 weeks of this session, you can add distance and/or intensity. If you’re training for a longer race, top out at a 1,600m interval, meaning that you’ll run 400-800-1,200-1,600-1,200-800-400. If you are more interested in speed, consider increasing your base pace. Drop 10–15 sec from your 5K race pace and convert to fit each interval.

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