How They Train: The Work of ASU Standout Jonny Kulow Under Coach Herbie Behm (Full Week of Sets)
Early on, a Wyoming coach suggested to Bob Bowman that Lander Valley High School swimmer Jonny Kulow was someone to watch. Coming out of high school, Kulow was SwimCloud’s top-ranked swimmer in Wyoming (31T nationally) and a 9x NISCA All-American. He also set five individual and three relay state records.
50 free 20.07
100 free 44.14
200 IM 1:50.94
100 fly 48.29
100 back 50.08
200 MR 1:32.97
200 FR 1:24.44
400 FR 3:05.88
Upon graduation, he became a Sun Devil training under the watchful eyes of Bowman and sprint coach Herbie Behm. And develop he has. Now in the middle of a productive year, Kulow is a junior microbiology major, a team captain, 10 x CSCAA A-A, former USA National Junior Team member and NCAA record holder in the 400-yard medley (2:57.53) and 400 free (2:43.40) relays. Internationally, he won six medals at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
On the blocks and in the water he is a pure sprinter and one tough cookie. ”Psychologically Jonny is one of the most competitive athletes in the world,” says his coach Herbie Behm. “Most of his training is designed to harness that competitiveness. On his ‘specific days’ we train at a specific race pace. However, we never assign pace times to those sets. Instead, we create a set that simulates a race and put athletes in heats that create a competitive environment and just make them race. We track the results of those sets and use that as an indicator of training progression.
“On our ‘individual days,’ we create workouts that target individual weaknesses. That can be metabolic or technical but we always keep the athlete in the forefront. Jonny’s weaknesses have evolved over time. With a limited training background, he started with a low work capacity. So as a freshmen, those workouts were mostly 3-4k working technique. Now, we can do 5k workouts still very technically focused but with some intensity mixed in.
“The goal is to work as hard as we can today while still being fresh for tomorrow. Whether the workout is race specific or individual specific, the work should never be draining. This allows consistent adaptation in the desired direction,” says Behm.
Jonny Kulow Progressions
Behm uses the following microcycle when training Kulow:
Monday AM: SCY – UW kicking + Power
Monday PM: SCY – Fartlek (Speed endurance)
Tuesday: LCM – 200 pace
Wednesday AM: SCY – Recovery + general movement exploration
Wednesday PM: SCY – 100 Specific Development
Thursday: LCM – Zone 1
Friday AM: SCY – Max speed (Resisted)
Friday PM: SCY – Max speed (Not-resisted)
Saturday: SCY – Specific Endurance
Below is an entire week of workouts from early December that gives a good sense in how the training elements fit together. “I believe you need to hit a lot of things each week which is why we have a fairly polarized schedule,” says Behm.
December 2 (A.M.)
December 2 (P.M.)
December 3 (A.M.)
December 4 (A.M.)
December 4 (P.M.)
December 5 (A.M. – Main)
December 5 (A.M. – Short)
December 6 (A.M.)
December 6 (P.M.)
December 7 (A.M.)
