Philosophy
Why I built this.
I freakin love swimming man. I had a lot of ups and downs with it over my life but it truly is the one workout that makes me feel joy. I love the feeling of cool water, seeing the sunrays glisten off the tile in a clear outdoor pool, almost hearing the steam rising off the water on a cold morning, watching the little bubbles that form on the tips of your fingers hang on for dear life when you’re reaching out ahead of you. The Apple Watch really connected me back to swimming in a way I haven’t felt in a long time. A personal coach on my wrist was awesome and I wanted to make an app that expands upon that functionality, keeps things fresh, and is super duper easy to use. No friction to getting up and going for a swim.
Core Principles
- You swim because you love to swim.
- Enjoyment is a training variable. Variety is how you keep enjoying it.
- You’re already good. You’re training to get better — not to compete.
- The goal is the right amount, not the most you can survive.
- Your stroke is great. Holding it together when you’re tired is why it’s practice.
- You have a life. Other workouts, travel, bad weeks and misses are fine — the calculator sees all of it and adjusts.
When I started swimming again I scoured the web, USA Swimming, Facebook, Reddit, and a randomly stumbled upon Tumblr account to find any and every workout. They’re all fixed and not very interesting. That or they require a whiteboard at the end of your lane. Almost none of them accounted for the rest of your life.
But also calling it “cross-training” is sort of lame. You lift because you want to and you like getting a pump. You run because you like running with your friends Saturday mornings and you sign up for maybe 2 or 3 10ks a year and a turkey trot. You keep trying new meditation apps in the hopes that one will stick — heard. We’re all just trying to be a little bit better.
With those things in mind I put together everything I know about swimming, why I swim, and what I do in life. One calculator that sees all of it.
What’s baked in
EN1/EN2/EN3/SP energy system sequencing, the foundational framework of competitive swim training applied to a non-competitive context. I grew up swimming in the 90s and early 2000s and this is how we did it.
three weeks progressive load, one week consolidation. The body adapts during the easy week, not the hard ones. Deload is non-negotiable.
the recovery score infers how ready you are from HealthKit signals and swim recency instead of asking you to rate every session.
cardiovascular fitness returns 3-4× faster than connective tissue. Shoulder protection in Chapter 1 exists because of this. Your rotator cuff needs more time than your lungs. Plus we’re old now.
the Lungbuster sets are a structured CO2 tolerance program, not just a drill. Remember doing 500s of these?
drill work embedded into every session. Mechanics improve faster when you practice them kinda worn out.
you lift, you run, you have bad weeks, and sometimes you miss. The calculator sees all of it and adjusts. Strength work and cardio create different downstream fatigue. It knows the difference.
stimulus rotation sequenced around recovery time. EN2 threshold first when you’re freshest.
same three sets recur every 4th week so you can see whether you’re actually getting faster or just feeling like it.
29 named set shapes rotating through the program. Interesting on purpose.
variety, named progressions, humor, interesting set shapes. A swimmer who enjoys the session works harder without noticing.
What’s NOT here (and why)
you’re not racing. If you are, get a coach.
a time trial at the public lap pool while sharing a lane is not happening.
SP sets use full rest. Compressed intervals in the pool are a different methodology for a different goal. Did HIIT in the gym yesterday? The calculator sees it.
no dryland, no resistance bands, no block work. You’re probably doing other exercises anyway.
butterfly lat work, breaststroke hip flexors, etc.
this is a workout app. Drink your Gatorade and take your creatine.
beyond passive HealthKit data. Go to bed.
Not sorry.
When I was 17, heart rate sets meant keeping it above 205. Today, getting to 205 without cardiac arrest isn’t happening. Sets are prescribed by pace and effort. Your watch can read your heart all it wants.
if you’re racing again, you need a coach, not this app.
public lap pool, shared lane, butterfly sets aren’t happening. Binary stroke toggle only.
see above.