Ido — training plan, September–December 2026

Built 2026-09-21 from the wiki (pm workspace). Sections: swim plan → the 18 swim workouts step by step → gym plan → the home version of the gym days. Every table on this page is the wiki text, unchanged.

Swim plan — 4.5 km race, version 2 (research-based, age 46)

Version 1 (2026-09-20, earlier the same day) was built only from Ido’s 2026-09-17 Garmin session. Version 2 rebuilds it on published research on swim training zones, intensity distribution, masters (40+) physiology, tapering and open-water racing. Ido is 46, swims with a Forerunner 970, weighs 76 kg, and trains with a running club and the Triathlon Association (expenses). Race: Friday 2026-10-30 (stated 2026-09-20) — 40 days, so the plan is six weeks, Monday 2026-09-21 → race. No wetsuit (Ido, 2026-09-20); Israeli sea water in late October is ≈ 24–25 °C, so that fits. The venue is still unknown.

Review page (public, unlisted): https://ido-training-2026.pages.dev — the three plan pages as one site, rebuilt and published with python3 bin/reports/training-plan/build.py --deploy (Cloudflare Pages project ido-training-2026, first deploy 2026-09-21).

What the research says, and what it changes

Paces and zones (set from the CSS test; today’s estimate in brackets)

Heart rate in water is about 10 beats lower than on land for the same effort; the numbers above are swim numbers from the 2026-09-17 session (max seen 167).

Race target: finish ≈ 1 h 20 – 1 h 27 min, HR 145–152, negative split.

The weekly structure (two hard days, everything else easy) — days fixed by Ido 2026-09-21

Ido’s week: swim Mon / Wed / Fri, gym Sun / Thu (gym-plan-full-body-2026). The Israeli week starts on Sunday, so the table runs Sun → Sat.

Rules: A and C are the only hard swims, 4 days apart (Mon → Fri) and 3 days back (Fri → Mon). Each gym day sits the day before a swim, so: gym in the morning, swim the next day, and every gym set stops with 2 reps in reserve — the swim is the priority. If life removes a session, drop B or a gym day, never C. Sleep 7–9 h; protein about 1.6 g per kg per day (≈ 0.4 g/kg per meal); a hard day is followed by an easy day, always.

Week by week (Mon 21.09 → race Fri 30.10)

Gym on Sun + Thu every week (week 1: Thu 24.09 only; Sun 25.10 light; nothing on Thu 29.10) — see the race-week rules on gym-plan-full-body-2026. The taper is 14 days from the rehearsal on 16.10 to the race — at the top of the 8–14-day window from the meta-analysis, so week 5 keeps the fast pieces. The VO2 block appears once (week 2) because the block is short; week 4’s hard day is the re-test.

History: the first layout (2026-09-20) had A Tue / B Thu / C Sun with a dryland routine Mon + Thu; Ido fixed the days on 2026-09-21 (swim Mon/Wed/Fri, gym Sun/Thu).

Expected result on 30.10 with this block: 1:39–1:43 /100 m pool-equivalent, i.e. ≈ 1 h 22 – 1 h 28 in open water without a wetsuit (drafting well saves a few minutes). The 1:30 target stays a 6–9-month project (see below); the week-4 re-test shows where it stands.

Nutrition at 76 kg

• Protein ≈ 120 g a day (1.6 g/kg), about 30 g per meal, one serving within an hour after the hard sessions.
• Carbohydrate on hard days 5–6 g/kg (380–450 g); easy days 3–4 g/kg.
• Race: breakfast 3 h before with ≈ 150 g carbohydrate; in the water one gel or 200 ml drink at 45 min (≈ 25–30 g); drink 500 ml with electrolytes in the two hours before the start (sea swims dehydrate).
• Taper: same protein, slightly less carbohydrate (volume is down), no diet — the goal is a full glycogen store on 30.10.

Race day (from the open-water research)

1. Start below race effort for the first 400–500 m; let the fast starters go.
2. Find feet of a swimmer of your speed within the first kilometre and sit 0.5 m behind them (11 % less oxygen cost); leave them only if they slow you down.
3. Sight every 6–8 strokes with the eyes only; breathe to both sides so waves and sun do not dictate the side.
4. Middle at Z2 effort, HR 145–152.
5. Gel or 200 ml drink at 45 minutes if the course has a feed point or a personal boat.
6. Last 1,000 m: raise the stroke rate (this is what the 5 km study’s open-water swimmers did), last 300 m all-out.

Dryland D — replaced by the gym plan from 21.09.2026

From 2026-09-21 the two full-body gym sessions of gym-plan-full-body-2026 (Mon + Thu, about 60 min each) replace this routine. The band work — external rotation, face pulls, Y raise, dead bug, glute bridge — is inside the gym warm-ups and finishers, so nothing is lost. The gym plan also carries the race-week rules (taper: 2 sets; Mon 26.10 light; nothing on Thu 29.10). The original 20-minute routine, for weeks without a gym: 2 rounds of banded external rotation 15/side · banded face pulls 15 · floor Y raise 12 · banded row 15 · dead bug 10/side · plank 45 s · superman from floor 12 · banded glute bridge 15.

Ido’s target: 4.5 km at 1:30 /100 m (stated 2026-09-20)

1:30 /100 m over 4,500 m = 1 h 07 min 30 s. What the numbers say:

An improvement of 8–11 s per 100 m at threshold is real but it is not an 8-week change for a trained masters swimmer: with consistent work, 3–4 s per 100 m in the first 8–12 weeks is a good result, then 1–2 s per block. So:

• This 6-week block is the first block. Its realistic race outcome on 30.10 is 1:39–1:43 /100 m pool-equivalent and 1 h 22 – 1 h 28 in open water without a wetsuit. With a wetsuit and good drafting, open-water pace comes close to the pool pace.
• 1:30 is a 6–9-month target: three blocks of 8 weeks, each ending with a CSS test. Milestones: CSS 1:32 at the re-test on 12.10, 1:28 after block 2 (≈ mid-December), 1:25 after block 3 (≈ February). From block 2, weekly volume rises to 12–15 km with a fourth swim, and one session a week holds goal pace in broken form (e.g. 15 × 300 at 1:30 with 20 s rest, only once CSS ≤ 1:27).
• The single fastest lever is stroke rate: speed = stroke length × stroke rate, and at 23 strokes a minute the length is already long. Session B’s stroke-rate work is where the 1:30 will come from, not from more effort.

If the race is in a pool or has a current (a river or a point-to-point sea swim), tell pm — each of those moves the estimate several seconds per 100 m.

The sessions, step by step

Every set, rest and note of the 18 workouts: swim-plan-4-5km-2026-workouts.

On Garmin Connect — not at the moment (reset 2026-09-20)

The plan was pushed to Garmin on 2026-09-20 (18 workouts named 4.5k …, 28 calendar dates on the old Tue/Thu/Sun layout) and removed again the same afternoon when Ido asked for a full Garmin reset (“start from scratch”). To put it back on the new days: bin/garmin-swim-upload.py upload, then schedule 2026-09-21 (A Mon, B Wed, C Fri; week 1 shifted for Yom Kippur; no dryland — the gym plan has that). Method and API: pm-garmin-connect.

What is still open

The venue (sea, lake or river; a current changes the estimate). Wetsuit: decided — none, so the rehearsal on 16.10 is also without one; the estimates above already assume that.

Source: wiki/topics/swim-plan-4-5km-2026.md

Swim plan 4.5 km 2026 — the 18 workouts, step by step

The exact sessions of swim-plan-4-5km-2026 (race Fri 30.10.2026, no wetsuit), as they were built for the watch: 17 pool sessions + 1 dryland routine. They were on Garmin Connect on 2026-09-20 and removed the same day at Ido’s request (full Garmin reset, see pm-garmin-connect); this page keeps them. Source of truth for the structure is bin/garmin-swim-upload.py (markdown prints this list; upload + schedule <monday> put it back on Garmin).

How to read a table: interval = swim; warmup / cooldown = easy swim; rest = stand at the wall for that time; a bold n × line repeats the indented steps below it. Pool 25 m. Zones from the CSS test: Z1 = CSS+12–18 s /100 m, Z2 race pace = CSS+6–10 s, Z3 = CSS, Z4 = CSS−5–8 s (with CSS ≈ 1:34: Z1 1:46–1:52, Z2 1:40–1:44, Z3 1:33–1:35, Z4 1:26–1:29).

Review page (public, unlisted): https://ido-training-2026.pages.dev — the three plan pages as one site, rebuilt and published with python3 bin/reports/training-plan/build.py --deploy (Cloudflare Pages project ido-training-2026, first deploy 2026-09-21).

Which session on which day (Ido’s days since 2026-09-21: swim Mon / Wed / Fri, gym Sun / Thu)

Gym sessions are on gym-plan-full-body-2026 (Sun = deadlift day B, Thu = leg press / bench / pull-ups day A). The dryland workout at the end of this page is the no-gym fallback only.

The workouts

4.5k W1 A · CSS test 400 + 200

2000 m · about 55 min. Week 1: critical swim speed test. Swim 400 m and 200 m at full effort with 10 min easy between. CSS per 100 m = 100 × (T400 − T200) / 200. Set zones from it: Z1 = CSS+12–18 s, Z2 race pace = CSS+6–10 s, Z3 = CSS, Z4 = CSS−5–8 s.

4.5k W1 B · technique

1800 m · about 45 min. Easy day (zone 1–2), week 1: drills, stroke rate 26–30 per minute, sighting with the eyes only every 6–8 strokes, breathing to both sides. This session is never hard.

4.5k W1 C · long 1250 + 1250

2900 m · about 55 min. Hard day 2, week 1: long swim 1250 + 1250 m, NEGATIVE SPLIT — first quarter below race pace, last 1,000 m with a higher stroke rate. Pool pace 1:40–1:44 /100 m; in open water hold the effort (HR 145–152), not the pace. Second half faster than the first.

4.5k W2 A · 10×100 @1:34 + 6×50 VO2

2100 m · about 58 min. Hard day 1, week 2: 10 × 100 m at CSS (1:34 /100 m), 20 s rest, then 6 × 50 fast (VO2max block). HR 150–160 on the repeats. Easy day tomorrow.

4.5k W2 B · technique

1800 m · about 45 min. Easy day (zone 1–2), week 2: drills, stroke rate 26–30 per minute, sighting with the eyes only every 6–8 strokes, breathing to both sides. This session is never hard.

4.5k W2 C · long 3000

3400 m · about 64 min. Hard day 2, week 2: long swim 3000 m, NEGATIVE SPLIT — first quarter below race pace, last 1,000 m with a higher stroke rate. Pool pace 1:40–1:44 /100 m; in open water hold the effort (HR 145–152), not the pace. Last 1,000 faster.

4.5k W3 A · 5×300 @1:35

2300 m · about 50 min. Hard day 1, week 3: 5 × 300 m at CSS (1:35 /100 m), 30 s rest. HR 150–160 on the repeats. Easy day tomorrow.

4.5k W3 B · technique + race starts

2200 m · about 45 min. Easy day (zone 1–2), week 3: drills, stroke rate 26–30 per minute, sighting with the eyes only every 6–8 strokes, breathing to both sides. This session is never hard.

4.5k W3 C · long 3500 OW

3900 m · about 73 min. Hard day 2, week 3: long swim 3500 m, NEGATIVE SPLIT — first quarter below race pace, last 1,000 m with a higher stroke rate. Pool pace 1:40–1:44 /100 m; in open water hold the effort (HR 145–152), not the pace. NO WETSUIT (race rule): expect about 5 s /100 m slower than the pool; sight every 6–8 strokes; draft 0.5 m behind feet. Open water, in a group, no wetsuit: swim on feet 0.5 m back (drafting).

4.5k W4 A · CSS test 400 + 200 + 6×100

2600 m · about 55 min. Week 4: critical swim speed test. Swim 400 m and 200 m at full effort with 10 min easy between. CSS per 100 m = 100 × (T400 − T200) / 200. Set zones from it: Z1 = CSS+12–18 s, Z2 race pace = CSS+6–10 s, Z3 = CSS, Z4 = CSS−5–8 s.

4.5k W4 B · technique

1800 m · about 45 min. Easy day (zone 1–2), week 4: drills, stroke rate 26–30 per minute, sighting with the eyes only every 6–8 strokes, breathing to both sides. This session is never hard.

4.5k W4 C · long 4500 OW

4900 m · about 91 min. Hard day 2, week 4: long swim 4500 m, NEGATIVE SPLIT — first quarter below race pace, last 1,000 m with a higher stroke rate. Pool pace 1:40–1:44 /100 m; in open water hold the effort (HR 145–152), not the pace. NO WETSUIT (race rule): expect about 5 s /100 m slower than the pool; sight every 6–8 strokes; draft 0.5 m behind feet. RACE REHEARSAL 14 days out, same weekday as the race: open water, race kit, NO wetsuit, negative split, gel at 45 min. Note the time.

4.5k W5 A · 6×100 @1:34 + 4×50 fast

1600 m · about 58 min. Hard day 1, week 5: 6 × 100 m at CSS (1:34 /100 m), 20 s rest, then 4 × 50 fast (taper: less volume, same speed). HR 150–160 on the repeats. Easy day tomorrow.

4.5k W5 B · technique (taper)

1600 m · about 45 min. Easy day (zone 1–2), week 5: drills, stroke rate 26–30 per minute, sighting with the eyes only every 6–8 strokes, breathing to both sides. This session is never hard.

4.5k W5 C · long 2000 + 500

2900 m · about 55 min. Hard day 2, week 5: long swim 2000 + 500 m, NEGATIVE SPLIT — first quarter below race pace, last 1,000 m with a higher stroke rate. Pool pace 1:40–1:44 /100 m; in open water hold the effort (HR 145–152), not the pace. Taper: 2,000 easy then 500 at race pace.

4.5k W6 A · 4×100 @1:34 + 4×25 fast

1300 m · about 58 min. Hard day 1, week 6: 4 × 100 m at CSS (1:34 /100 m), 30 s rest, then 4 × 25 fast (taper: less volume, same speed). HR 150–160 on the repeats. Easy day tomorrow.

4.5k W6 B · technique (taper)

1200 m · about 45 min. Easy day (zone 1–2), week 6: drills, stroke rate 26–30 per minute, sighting with the eyes only every 6–8 strokes, breathing to both sides. This session is never hard.

4.5k D · dryland shoulders + core

about 20 min. Masters swimmers: shoulder is the most common injury; a corrective programme cut upper-limb injuries by 44 %. Light band, slow tempo, Mon + Thu. Stop anything that hurts the front of the shoulder.

Source: wiki/topics/swim-plan-4-5km-2026-workouts.md

Gym plan — two full-body sessions a week, next to three swims (from 21.09.2026)

Ido’s weekly structure from 2026-09-21: 3 swims (Mon / Wed / Fri) + 2 gym days (Sun / Thu) — the days are his choice (2026-09-21). This page is the gym half. The swim half is swim-plan-4-5km-2026 until the race on Fri 30.10.2026, then whatever swim plan follows. Ido is 46, 76 kg. Built on the research below (his standing rule: every sport plan is research-based). The two gym sessions replace the “Dryland D” routine of the swim plan; its band exercises live on inside the warm-ups here.

What the gym is for, in order: (1) more pulling and hinge strength — the two things that transfer to swimming; (2) a shoulder that does not break — the number-one masters-swimmer injury; (3) keep muscle and bone at 46+. Two sessions of about 60 minutes each.

Review page (public, unlisted): https://ido-training-2026.pages.dev — the three plan pages as one site, rebuilt and published with python3 bin/reports/training-plan/build.py --deploy (Cloudflare Pages project ido-training-2026, first deploy 2026-09-21).

No gym that day? Do the same session at home — gym-plan-home-2026 (two 10 kg dumbbells, a barbell, a pull-up bar; Home A ↔︎ Gym A, Home B ↔︎ Gym B, one to one).

Ido’s numbers (2026-09-21) — these are the week-1 working sets

Reading of “1083”: 10 kg dumbbells, 8 reps, 3 sets — the same weight × reps × sets order as the other lines. All five sit in the 70–80 % zone, which is exactly the 8–12-rep strength + muscle zone the research below asks for, so week 1 keeps them as they are; the progression rule takes it from there.

What the research says → what the plan does

The week (Ido’s days: swim Mon / Wed / Fri, gym Sun / Thu)

Both gym days sit the day before a swim, so two rules carry the week: (1) gym in the morning, swim the next day — about 24 h, never less than 6 h; (2) every gym set stops with 2 reps in reserve in the race block. If a gym session must move, the free days are Tuesday and Saturday — never onto a swim day, and never two gym days in a row (Saturday + Sunday is not allowed; if Thursday’s session goes to Saturday, Sunday’s goes to Tuesday).

Week 1 is short: Sun 20.09 has passed and Mon 21.09 is Yom Kippur, so week 1 is Gym A on Thu 24.09 only (the swims: CSS test Wed 23.09, long swim Fri 25.09). From Sun 27.09 the full rhythm: Gym B Sunday, Gym A Thursday.

Warm-up — both sessions, 8 minutes (this is where Dryland D went)

1. 4 min easy on bike or rower.
2. Band external rotation 2 × 15 per side · band face pulls 2 × 15 · floor Y raise 1 × 12.
3. Two ramp sets on the first lift of the day (empty bar/half load × 8, then 75 % × 4).

Session A — Thursday (about 60 min)

Session B — Sunday (about 60 min)

“Starting guess” loads: in the first session, find the weight that leaves 2 reps in reserve at the top rep and write it down — that is the week-1 load from then on.

The progression rule (double progression)

1. Every set stops at 1–2 reps in reserve. Reps are counted; the number is written down.
2. Stay at a load until all three sets reach the top of the range with 1–2 RIR.
3. Then add: barbell upper body +2.5 kg, deadlift +5 kg, leg press +10 kg, dumbbells +2 kg per hand, pull-ups +2.5 kg (or +1 rep per set until 10, then load), cable stack one plate. Reps drop back to the bottom of the range and climb again.
4. If a lift stalls for three sessions in a row: keep the load, add one set for two weeks, or drop 10 % and climb back. Never add load and reps in the same week.
5. Deload every 6th week: 2 sets per exercise, −20 % load, same exercises. The race taper below is the first deload; the next one is the week of Sun 13.12.
6. Over the months the barbell lifts move to heavier, shorter sets — the swim-transfer finding: e.g. deadlift 3 × 8 at 90 kg rather than 3 × 15 at 70.

The race weeks (until Fri 30.10.2026)

Where the rule takes you by mid-December (if every session is done)

Estimates, not promises: deadlift 3 × 10–12 @ 80 kg (e1RM ≈ 105); bench 3 × 8–10 @ 65–67.5 kg; leg press 3 × 12–15 @ 120–130 kg; pull-ups 3 × 10 +5 kg; incline curl 3 × 10–12 @ 12 kg. Roughly +10–15 % on every lift in 12 weeks with 6 of them at reduced load for the race — that is a normal rate for a trained 46-year-old, and it is the transfer the 400 m study saw.

Eating and sleeping around it

Protein 1.6–2.0 g per kg = 120–150 g a day, 25–40 g within two hours after the gym (a shake, or 200 g cottage cheese / 150 g chicken). On gym days that follow a swim, eat a carbohydrate meal between the two. Sleep 7–9 h; a poor night → keep the session, drop a set from each exercise.

Open points

• Equipment: the plan assumes a barbell, bench, leg press, pull-up bar and dumbbells (the five references imply them). The cable exercises have a no-cable alternative in the table.
• The swim days are the current race plan until 30.10; the swim plan after the race is not written yet.
• Garmin: not uploaded (Ido’s reset of 2026-09-20). When he says so, both sessions go up as strength workouts through pm-garmin-connect and onto Sun + Thu.

History: the first draft (2026-09-21, morning) had Gym A on Monday and Gym B on Thursday next to swims Tue/Thu/Sun; Ido fixed the days the same day.

Source: wiki/topics/gym-plan-full-body-2026.md

Gym plan — the home version (two 10 kg dumbbells, a barbell, a pull-up bar)

For the days Ido cannot get to the gym (asked 2026-09-21). Each home session replaces the gym session of the same day one to one: Home B on a Sunday instead of Gym B, Home A on a Thursday instead of Gym A (gym-plan-full-body-2026). Same movement patterns, same order, same warm-up, same race-week rules; only the tools change. A home session counts — there is no make-up session at the gym the next day.

Equipment (Ido, 2026-09-21): two dumbbells of 10 kg, a barbell, a pull-up bar, and the band from the shoulder routine. (Assumed: the barbell has no or few plates — if it can be loaded to 40 kg or more, use the barbell options marked ⊕.) Also useful: a sturdy chair or step, a backpack, and two chairs to lay the barbell across for inverted rows.

Why a light home session still works — what the research says → what the plan does

The backpack rule (how 10 kg dumbbells keep progressing)

Bodyweight moves get harder in a fixed order, one step at a time, when 3 sets reach the top of the range with 1 RIR:

• Push-ups: floor → hands on the dumbbells (deeper) → feet on a chair → band around the back → backpack with one 10 kg dumbbell inside → backpack + feet up.
• Pull-ups / chin-ups: more reps → 3-second lowering → backpack with a 10 kg dumbbell → two dumbbells.
• Split squats / step-ups: two dumbbells in the hands → 3-second lowering → front foot on a step (deeper) → backpack with a 10 kg dumbbell as well.
• Hinge: single-leg RDL with two dumbbells → 3-second lowering → one dumbbell in the backpack → ⊕ barbell RDL when the bar can carry 40 kg or more.

Warm-up — the same 8 minutes as at the gym

4 min easy (stairs, skipping, jumping jacks) · band external rotation 2 × 15 per side · band face pulls 2 × 15 · floor Y raise 1 × 12 · one easy set of the first exercise.

Home A — replaces Gym A (Thursday): legs, push, pull-ups (about 50 min)

Home B — replaces Gym B (Sunday): hinge, incline push, rows (about 50 min)

Rules that stay the same as at the gym

• Write the reps down. Progress = more reps to the top of the range, then the next ladder step; the double-progression rule of the gym plan, with ladder steps instead of plates.
• Race weeks (gym-plan-full-body-2026): Thu 15.10 light (2 sets, no split squats), taper week 2 sets, Sun 25.10 light without the hinge, nothing Thu 29.10.
• Gym in the morning / home in the morning — the swim is the next day either way.
• Stop anything that hurts the front of the shoulder; the shoulder band work stays in every warm-up.

What is lost and what is not

Lost on a home day: the heavy hinge and the heavy bench — the two lifts that build maximal strength. Not lost: the muscle, the pulling volume, the shoulder work, the leg work (one leg at a time makes 20 kg feel like a 40 kg squat). Two home weeks in a row are fine; a whole month at home would need the ⊕ barbell options to keep the hinge and the bench moving.

Source: wiki/topics/gym-plan-home-2026.md