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The few posts I have seen here on swimming were not from experienced or serious swimmers.
Swimming for fitness can and should be a demanding workout. However many just get in the pool and noodle around. They swim breaststroke with their head out of the water and cover one 25 yard pool length in one minute, rest, and do it again.
Novice or unskilled swimmers will usually find swimming very tiring if they actually try to swim at a reasonable speed. Triathletes learning to swim are often in this category. Novice swimmers are very INefficient and consume huge amounts of energy compared to skilled swimmers.
Skilled swimmers will comparatively swim very fast in workouts. Elite swimmers move through water effortlessly at high speeds.
Swimming is a great exercise though - even if exertion levels are low. It is kind to the joints and good in hot weaher.
I find it interesting that none of the other posters on this thread actually posted what THEIR swim workouts consist of, yet you automatically conclude they are inexperienced and not serious about swimming. You must be a good swimmer AND a psychic!
BTW, thank you for your dissertation on what makes a good swimmer....quite lengthy yet remarkably devoid of information. Bravo!
Do you have anything to offer other what your workout was yesterday morning and putting other people down?
I bet it's about the same as riding motorcycles. Your vehicle (or horse) is doing the propulsion, but it takes lots of energy to keep your body lifted out of the saddle. Jockeys don't sit on the saddle, they perch above it in a very low squat. And the entire time you're on a horse, you grip it with your thighs to hang on. That is hard work. Sure, some chunky people ride motorcycles, but those who do it competitively tend to be very lean.
I remember an old cowboy telling me, "You have to move your legs right to help your horse. If you're doing it right." I still have no idea. I can only sit on the horse. BTW: He was lean & tough.
I'm not a good swimmer. When I swim 100 yds, I am out of breath. Ride the bike, hike the desert, yes. Swim? Not so good. So swimming would be a good workout for me.
Since I don't have specific advice on a swimming routine, here's some generic advice. Lao, it comes from you. INTENSITY. On the bike you can dawdle along at 10-12mph and hardly sweat. Or you can blast along at 20mph or so and really feel it. You can set the pace to whatever INTENSITY you can handle or need. Surely swimming is the same? Then it becomes a matter of intensity vs duration.
I'm not a good swimmer. When I swim 100 yds, I am out of breath. Ride the bike, hike the desert, yes. Swim? Not so good. So swimming would be a good workout for me.
Since I don't have specific advice on a swimming routine, here's some generic advice. Lao, it comes from you. INTENSITY. On the bike you can dawdle along at 10-12mph and hardly sweat. Or you can blast along at 20mph or so and really feel it. You can set the pace to whatever INTENSITY you can handle or need. Surely swimming is the same? Then it becomes a matter of intensity vs duration.
Yeah, but unfortunately swimming isn't about pushing the pedals harder or getting one foot in front of the other faster. Before you can increase intensity of a swim workout, you need to really find technique first.
The beginning swimmer finds swimming to be an intense workout because they have bad form...bad body position in the water, poor stroke technique, bad breath control. I guess if all you are looking for is a hard workout, then I guess you can go swim and not worry about technique! You'll be clinging to the lane-lines, gasping for breath before you know it!
Swimming with improper technique is basically fighting the water..and there is always going to be more water than that is you!
However, which some instruction and ALOT of practice you can learn the proper technique, and only then should you increase intensity. Otherwise, you'll be reinforcing bad habits/bad form. Its a commitment and unfortunately it's not as easy as going for a run or jumping on a bike.
Lao, I'm sorry to hijack your thread, because I know you are looking for specific advice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by broadbill
Yeah, but unfortunately swimming isn't about pushing the pedals harder or getting one foot in front of the other faster. Before you can increase intensity of a swim workout, you need to really find technique first.
The beginning swimmer finds swimming to be an intense workout because they have bad form...bad body position in the water, poor stroke technique, bad breath control. I guess if all you are looking for is a hard workout, then I guess you can go swim and not worry about technique! You'll be clinging to the lane-lines, gasping for breath before you know it!
Swimming with improper technique is basically fighting the water..and there is always going to be more water than that is you!
However, which some instruction and ALOT of practice you can learn the proper technique, and only then should you increase intensity. Otherwise, you'll be reinforcing bad habits/bad form. Its a commitment and unfortunately it's not as easy as going for a run or jumping on a bike.
I am not a good swimmer. I took lessons years ago and did OK, but for a long time my experience in the water has been just general playing around. Treading water, pool volleyball, floating around, swimming a little to get to something or someone. We went to a big outdoor pool recently and I thought I might swim a ways, and I realized that I just don't know what I am doing anymore. The last time I swam across an Olympic size pool was when I was in middle school, and even across a backyard pool has been several years.
How do I fix this? Are there swimming lessons for adults? I can't watch something on YouTube and just go fix my technique. How do I learn how to swim correctly?
Lao, I'm sorry to hijack your thread, because I know you are looking for specific advice.
I am not a good swimmer. I took lessons years ago and did OK, but for a long time my experience in the water has been just general playing around. Treading water, pool volleyball, floating around, swimming a little to get to something or someone. We went to a big outdoor pool recently and I thought I might swim a ways, and I realized that I just don't know what I am doing anymore. The last time I swam across an Olympic size pool was when I was in middle school, and even across a backyard pool has been several years.
How do I fix this? Are there swimming lessons for adults? I can't watch something on YouTube and just go fix my technique. How do I learn how to swim correctly?
There are any number of things you can do:
There are indeed swim lessons for adults...any YMCA should be able to help you out with that.
Books/videos can also help if you are looking for an illustration of a specific technique. But you kinda have to know what you are looking for.
Sometimes just having someone who knows how to swim well to help you out can also be useful. They may not be able to help you will every little detail of your form, but they can help pointing out major issues....positions of your body in the water, your stroke, etc.
Some things to keep in mind:
Swimmers are ALWAYS working on form, even the really good ones. They are always doing drills, having others watch them swim, even videotaping themselves swimming to critique themselves. Its a constant process since better technique means faster swimming.
Becoming a good swimmer means being totally comfortable in the water. Many people have issues with being in water, consciously or not. The only way to feel totally comfortable in the water is to swim, and swim, and swim some more!
Lao, I'm sorry to hijack your thread, because I know you are looking for specific advice.
I am not a good swimmer. I took lessons years ago and did OK, but for a long time my experience in the water has been just general playing around. Treading water, pool volleyball, floating around, swimming a little to get to something or someone. We went to a big outdoor pool recently and I thought I might swim a ways, and I realized that I just don't know what I am doing anymore. The last time I swam across an Olympic size pool was when I was in middle school, and even across a backyard pool has been several years.
How do I fix this? Are there swimming lessons for adults? I can't watch something on YouTube and just go fix my technique. How do I learn how to swim correctly?
There ARE swimming lessons for adults. If you can swim a few hundred yards you might find joining a "Masters swimming" group to be useful. These are adult swimmers, some competitive, most not, that "train" with a coach several days a week. Most masters groups welcome swimmers of all levels. The coaching quality varies widely, but often they are very good.
Many triathletes are in this bucket. They are good runners and cyclists but horrible swimmers. I have seen them improve dramatically in six months to a year in my masters group.
I am a competitive masters swimmer, but many who swim with us in the mornings are not good at all - at least at first.
Pool Workouts are typically made up of "sets" that vary in number, intensity, distance, type of stroke, and rest time. A typical workout would consist of 2-3 sets...usually a warm-up, main set, and cool down.
For example a 1000 yard set could be: "10 x 100 yard freestyle with 10 seconds rest" or "10 x 100 yards freestyle on 2 minutes"-which means swimming 100 yard then resting until the 2 minute mark where you start the next 100 yards.
The combinations are endless....
Sets can be aerobic, anaerobic, sprint work, form-work, kicking only, no kicking, kicking with fins, Kicking with kick-board, swimming with hand-paddles, etc., etc.
Hope this helps, what specifically do you want to know?
I have completed mile swims by alternating strokes every four laps. I have also gone shorter distances 1/4 - 1/2 mile and tried to complete the distance in a short time. I have also done sprints by going a lap or two as fast as possible and doing a particular number of them.
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