Resources · Effort Scale
How Hard Am I Supposed to Swim?
A 1–10 feel-based effort scale, mapped to the words you'll see in every Swim Workout Club set.
In short: Effort words describe a feeling, not an exact pace. Tap through the 1–10 scale below to see what each level should feel like.
Show me
A 1–10 feel scale, mapped to SWC's words.
Tap a row to see what it should feel like.
1–2
Recovery
Barely swimming — meant to help you recover, not train. Should feel almost effortless.
3–4
Easy / Aerobic
Comfortable and sustainable for a long time. You could hold a conversation.
5
Moderate
A step up — noticeable effort, still sustainable for the whole set.
6–7
Strong
Comfortably hard. This is where most quality aerobic work happens.
8–9
Hard
Close to your limit — sustainable for a short set, not a long one.
10
Sprint
All-out, maximum effort. Only sustainable for seconds.
Walk me through it
Same set, different effort — different workout.
4 x 100 easy
RPE 3–4
Comfortable pace, generous rest, focused on smooth swimming — not a challenge.
4 x 100 strong
RPE 6–7
Same distance, same repeats — but now it's meant to be genuinely hard to hold.
Worth remembering
Effort is individual — and it varies by day.
"Aerobic" for you might be a different pace than "aerobic" for someone else — that's expected. And your own RPE 6 on a good day might feel like an 8 when you're tired. Go by feel, not by matching someone else's numbers. Don't turn every workout into a race — save the hard efforts for when the set actually calls for them.
Remember thisEffort words describe how the swim should feel, not one universal speed. Match the feeling, not a number on someone else's watch.
Pick your effort and get a matching workout.
The generator builds the whole set around the intensity you choose.
Generate My Workout