Workout writing guide

The basics

Type a set like you’d say it:

2 x 300 @ 5:00 kick build

Commit reads all of it: 600 yards, kick, building intensity, and your pace per 100. Type just 300 and the defaults kick in (freestyle, swim). Add stroke, type, equipment, or intensity words anywhere in the line and they all count.

Let the parser work. It understands more than you think

None of these need brackets. Every one tracks in your stats:

6 x 100 on 1:25 odds sprint evens easy

Odds and evens each get their own intensity. This is real data, not a note.

12 x 50 1-4 kick @ 1:00, 5-8 paddle pull @ 0:55, 9-12 swim @ 0:50

Rep ranges: reps 1 through 4 are kick, 5 through 8 are paddle pull (yes, the paddles count as equipment), 9 through 12 swim, each on their own interval.

300 choice (50 drill 25 swim)

Patterns in parentheses split the distance: this logs the drill and swim portions separately.

4 x 100 free @ 1:30 descend 1-4
6:00 easy swimming, focus on technique
2:00 rest
100 d/k

Descend reads as intensity. Time-based lines log minutes. Rest lines are understood. Shorthand like d/k (drill/kick) and 75 k 25 d works.

Brackets are the opt-out

Only use [brackets] for words you don’t want Commit to read:

4 x 50 @ 0:50 fly - [strong underwater kick off the wall]

The coaching cue stays on the printout but out of the parsing. If your instruction is something Commit tracks (a stroke, a type, an intensity, an odds/evens split), leave the brackets off and let it count.

Headers and indentation

Name a block, then indent its sets underneath:

Warmup
    100 drill
    100 choice

Headers organize the printout and the stats roll up per block. Write set notes on the same line as the set, not indented under it. Indenting a description makes it look like it belongs to a header.

Circuits

A number-x line multiplies everything indented under it:

3x
    100 kick
    200 pull

That’s 900 yards, written once. Circuits nest as deep as you like, and you can label them (“Warmup 3x”):

2x
    100 kick
    4x
        3 x 50s
        100 easy

Rounds

Rounds change something on each pass through a circuit. Write the per-round variation right on the circuit line, in whichever style you’d put on the whiteboard:

3x fly/ back/ free
    100 kick
    200 pull

3x 1 fly, 2 back, 3 free
    100 kick
    200 pull

3x round 1 fly, round 2 back, round 3 free
    100 kick
    200 pull

All three mean the same thing: round one is fly, round two back, round three free, and each round tracks with its own stroke.

Why this matters

Everything the parser reads becomes your training data: volume, stroke and type breakdowns, and intensity by the words your group uses. Write naturally, skip the brackets unless you mean them, and the reports build themselves.

Common questions

My yardage total looks wrong. Check for a number in a comment that should be bracketed, or a bracketed instruction that should not be.

Do I have to write this way? No. Commit reads normal coach shorthand. These habits just get you the cleanest data.

Where do intensity words come from? Each training group’s intensity list. Rename the levels to your energy-system language and write with those words.