Ideas for Swimming HIIT

[Zozo]

Anybody got any ideas of how to make Swimming a really tough workout? I love laps.. but I don't feel anywhere near as worked out as I do doing Cathe. I'm going on holiday for three weeks soon, and although I'll be taking my dvds, the weather and lack of airconditioning will make swimming my primary form of exercise. Anybody got any ideas?

 

[carres1973]

I am hoping A-Jock comes in with routines for you to do. I think she is our resident "wet exercise" expert. I find swimming laps incredibly difficult so can be of no help to you!

Carrie

 

[FiddleFit]

Oh my gosh, there's a zillion ways to make swimming HIIT. For starters, after a good warm up, start sprinting as hard as you can for 1 lap, rest for 10 secs, do it again. Repeat 8 times. Rest for 2 mins. Repeat all 8 sprints again. Take another 2 min rest. Repeat all 8 sprints again. That will take about 20mins, and should tire you out pretty good (It's a Tabata routine).

If you want some terrific routines, check out www.swimplan.com. Put in the info they ask for, tell it how much time you have, how hard you want to work, and it'll spit you out a good routine...for free! I love this site.

HTH,
Sandra

 

[Zozo]

Thank you! That's great. It really does help. I'm excited now!

 

[Aquajock]

Oh my gosh, there's a zillion ways to make swimming HIIT. For starters, after a good warm up, start sprinting as hard as you can for 1 lap, rest for 10 secs, do it again. Repeat 8 times. Rest for 2 mins. Repeat all 8 sprints again. Take another 2 min rest. Repeat all 8 sprints again. That will take about 20mins, and should tire you out pretty good (It's a Tabata routine).

If you want some terrific routines, check out www.swimplan.com. Put in the info they ask for, tell it how much time you have, how hard you want to work, and it'll spit you out a good routine...for free! I love this site.

HTH,
Sandra

In addition to Sandra's suggestions, also intersperse traditional swimming laps with kickboard laps in which you do a hard, fast prone flutter kick for at least one length or a complete lap. The legs, especially the quads (which include the hip flexors) and hams / glutes work tremendously hard, and you get a lot of good core work in as well because the abs brace to keep your back from hyperextending in the prone position.

AND

If your pool has those styrofoam dumbbell-looking devices (in aquaticspeak these are called hand buoys), use those in lieu of a kickboard! The surface area of the dumbbell-discs creates extra resistance that make the laps harder; plus you can vary the hand position (hands close together or more widely spaced) to vary the workload and the muscle orientation.

AND

If you have those hand-buoys, you can actually do the flutter kicks backwards in a SEATED POSITION, holding the buoys underwater with your arms straight down along your sides (palms turned in); make sure the trunk is perfectly vertical and the legs are perfectly horizontal to the floor of the pool. I (I think) invented this flutter kick variation, and you will be dying before you're halfway to the other end.

AND

Do flutter kick drills in a strict vertical position, extending the arms overhead as straight as you can. (This drill is stolen from synchro-swimming.)

AND

Intersperse your lap work and flutter kick work with vertical treading-water sets, putting your arms and legs into a big range of motion but making sure you don't torque your lower back out.

HTH!

A-Jock

 

[aveggiegirl]

No HIIT tips here but good luck and have fun with your swimming.

I just wanted to say that my niece is on a swim team and I was at a party with about 20 of the swimmers. Some were tall, some short, some medium height. However EACH one of them had very nice developed backs and shoulders (most were wearing tank tops and shorts) and a very toned lower body. This convinces me that swimming is THE exercise to do!! Too bad I am not near a pool. I should have been on the swim team in my younger years!

Have fun swimming!!!!

 

[dorothyrd]

My son was on swim team, my daughter is now, and I swim laps. For ideas on work-outs you might look at www.usms.org. There are work-outs posted on their forums, and there are good hard sprint work-outs.

 

[Zozo]

Aqua Jock, they're very helpful! Thank you!

And that website looks wonderful Thanks

 

[Carmen829]

I recently did an Aqua Zumba class. It was a blast. Also I bet you could do a KPC workout in the pool (shallow end water up to chest level). I may try that this weekend.

Carmen.

 

[moose quitar]

If you want some terrific routines, check out www.swimplan.com.

Just did my first swimplan workout, that was great! Keeps things interesting and moving along. The first plan was a little easy, but you can tell it to make things harder (or easier) next time, until you feel good about the level of difficulty.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[moose quitar]

If you have those hand-buoys, you can actually do the flutter kicks backwards in a SEATED POSITION, holding the buoys underwater with your arms straight down along your sides (palms turned in); make sure the trunk is perfectly vertical and the legs are perfectly horizontal to the floor of the pool. I (I think) invented this flutter kick variation, and you will be dying before you're halfway to the other end.

Whoa. Tried this, got all of ten feet--maybe. Between the isometric core to keep trunk vertical, plus the relative weakness of fluttering in this position, PLUS the huge resistance of your own back facing "forward".... yikes!!!

 

[Aquajock]

Whoa. Tried this, got all of ten feet--maybe. Between the isometric core to keep trunk vertical, plus the relative weakness of fluttering in this position, PLUS the huge resistance of your own back facing "forward".... yikes!!!

Yeah, Moose Quitar, you really discovery how much surface area resistance your back creates when you do the flutter kicks in this position. I really like it because of this, and because you recruit the glutes and the top of the hamstrings a little more than in the traditional prone position.

I also forgot to note that, when you use the handbuoys rather than a kickboard, you can also do flutter kicks in a side-lying position as well, either traveling from one end of the pool to another, or anchored against the wall.

I also forgot to note that you can also do prone flutter kicks anchored against the wall, AND you can also do prone whip kicks (from the traditional breast stroke) either traveling or anchored on the wall. You can also do combos against the wall: 16 counts of prone flutter kicks, 16 counts of whip kicks, 16 counts of right-side-lying flutter kicks, 16 counts of whip kicks, 16 counts of prone flutter kicks, 16 counts of whip kicks, 16 counts of left-side-lying flutter kicks, 16 counts of whip kicks finished off with 16 counts of prone flutter kicks.

The possibilities are endless. ENDLESS, I tell you!

A-Jock