Question for swimmers

kristan

kristan

Cathlete
I've been swimming 1+ miles for cross training for most of my life. I usually swim in the summer and in the winter (like now) when my kids are taking lessons at the Y. Does any other experienced swimmer ever feel swimming is too easy? The only way I can ever get myself out of breath is to challenge myself with laps of butterfly. Any easy way I can mix up my occassional swims to get more of a workout? I know objectively that swimming is great exercise, but I never feel as wiped out as I think I should. I've considered a masters class, but I don't think I can commit to the time. thanks. Kristan
 
Hi Kristan,

I love to swim, have been on swim teams all through school and even for a while on a master's team. When I swim on my own, it can be difficult to challenge myself they way a team practice does. What has helped me is a book called "Workouts in a Binder". There are a few different versions... "Swim Workouts for Triathletes" contains pretty much exclusively freestyle workouts, and I don't have this one, but you can read other reviewers on amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Workouts-Bind..._bbs_sr_2/102-9067601-3188166?ie=UTF8&s=books

"Swim Workouts for Swimmers, Triathelets, and Coaches" is the one I bought, because its workouts are more of a mix. It is divided into sections (Distance Free, IM, Middle Distance, Sprint, and Stroke work). Each page is a card with a workout on it. It is in a spiral-bound book, and the publishers claim that it is waterproof. I have found that water gets and stays between the pages, however, so I took the spiral binding out, hole punched the pages, and put them instead into a six-ring "organizer" folder from the goodwill. Now I just take one card out at a time, do that workout, dry the card off, and tuck it back in. The workouts are longer than one mile each, but it is easy to adapt them (maybe make the warmup shorter or something). This book has really helped me to take a little more of an "interval training" approach in the pool, swimming sets or portions of sets at higher intensity levels than others. This will really make you work harder! I couldn't find the link to this second book, but here is the isbn # (Boarders - or any bookstore - should be able to locate it using this #):1-931382-74-3.

Good luck and happy swimming. :)
 
There's always swimming with pantyhose on, increases drag.
you can sandwich a "block" between the legs and swim arms only, use a kickboard and then swim legs only.
 
Kristan,

If you want a *great*, hard swim, start looking around for workout routines. There is so much you can do in the pool. My personal swim bible is by Jane Katz: "Swimming for Total Fitness". She has 4 levels of workouts, and each one is filled with challenge and variety.

Interval training, tempo swims, pyramiding, drills....it's all in there, and lots of fun, too.

Also, you can work on your lung capacity by doing a bit of this:

100m (4 lengths):
1. breathe every 3rd stroke
2. breathe every 5th stroke
3. breathe every 7th stroke
4. breathe as often as you want
5. rest
Repeat if desired.

HTH,
Sandra
 
Thanks for the tips! I'm doing my first triathalon in June (was mainly a runner until I injured my IT band in Sept), so I need these swimming tips! I hit the pool this morning & know this will be my weakest link for the tri!!
 
I coached synchronized swimming for 4 years, below are a few of the drills that should help "wipe you out":
a) 4 lengths of eggbeater, one length in each direction (make sure you have your shoulders out of the water...if that's too easy put your hands on top of your head while you do them)
b) 4 lengths of rotating flutter kick (arms straight, start on your front kick 16 times, roll to your side (16 kicks), roll to your back (16 kicks) and then roll to your other side. To pick up the intensity do the first 8 kicks as hard as you can and then do the next 8 kicks at regular intensity.
c) Butterfly, backcrawl, breaststroke, front crawl and repeat series 5 times
d) V's This means going foot first to the bottom and push up forming the shape of a V. As you get deeper you work harder. In the shallow end jump as high out of the water as you can.
e) 4 lengths of head up front crawl
f) swim underwater without coming up for air as far as you can (without passing out of course). Each time you go see if you can go a little bit further. Do NOT hyperventilate before trying to do it. Just take 2 to 3 deep breaths.
Let me know if you know how to scull as I know of some evil (insert chuckle) abdominal drills that involve sculling.

Have fun!
 
Thanks for the great tips everyone. Alhambra, I'm trying the eggbeater for sure. When you say sculling, do you mean that thing when you're on your back "flapping" your hands underwater to move?
 
I go to www.USMS.org and grab work-outs off the work-out forum. If you discipline yourself to stick to intervals, you can get real kick butt work-outs. I like to vary my swim work-outs every time I swim, sometimes all out sprint stuff, sometimes focusing on IM, sometimes distance, timing myself and really working on swimming it hard. Sure I could just swim at a moderate pace the whole time, but just like doing an IMAX work-out, intervals in swimming will work you.
 
Kristan,

I highly recommend a master's group, but if the time does not permit, you have received great suggestions already. You will push yourself harder to "keep up" and it is great company. Just like on land, we need to change it up in the water when it gets too easy. Try something different. Utilize the time clock and sprint. That will surely get you winded. ( leave on the "30" for every 50 meter swim) Which for me would not leave much "rest"time. I don't want to assume, but for training purposes, you should be swimming freestyle for the majority of your training. But hey, if you can do "laps" of butterfly, my swimcap is off to you! I swam a 50 butterfly recently for a charity benefit meet and could barely pull myself out of the pool!

Have fun in the pool!
 
Swimming laps does get boring and 'easy'. The best advice is get yourself some swimming workouts. There are plenty of good books out there with various workout routines to mix things up.

I had to laugh when I read your original post though. One time I complained of the same thing, that lap swimming was getting too easy and a poolside friend said, "Try this. Tread water without using your arms and see how long you can do it". Yowzah. That shut me up. But it also got me out of the 'lap swimming' monotony and made me start doing more unorthodox things in the pool like swimming with a block held between your feet (excellent suggestion already), doing sprints in the shallow end, etc. etc. etc.
 
I don't find swimming laps boring at all or easy. I do hard interval work-outs that I lift off of www.USMS.org. I usually pick the "stroke" ones so I am always mixing up the strokes, doing kick sets, doing pull sets, varying the length. I could see how swimming 2000 yards freestyle straight would be painfully mindnumbing, but what I do is not boring at all.

An example which is actually a mostly free work-out, but you could change it to be stroke:
1:40
Warm up: 2x300 free every 4th length n.f.
4x75 @ :10 RI (rest :45-60)
• ODDS: 25 FT drag, 25 6-3-6 w/ scull, 25 full stroke
• EVENS: easy free swim, breathe every 3rd
Main Set: Super 1600, all lines add up to 400 on 7:00
100 @ 1:45 + 200 @ 3:35 + 100 @ 1:40 +
300 @ 5:20 + 100 @ 1:40 +
100 @ 1:40 + 300 @ 5:20 +
100 @ 1:40 + 200 @ 3:35 + 100 @ 1:45
Rest :60
300 pull, easy pace, max DPS
Rest :30
3x50 kick @ 1:20
100 easy
 
Hi
I think if you are finding your swim sessions too easy that you would really enjoy and benefit from taking just a few masters sessions from someone who is a well regarded coach. I know my kids are in incredible shape from swimmming. My DD has muscular shoulders and arms and her lower body is to die for. Now she swims 3 hours a day six days a week, and sometimes she swims 2x a day during heavy training periods. She also does alot of dry land training (running, chinups pushups, frog jumps etc) But I believe you can get a great swim workout even in 1 hour, with the right sets and drills. Even if you just took a couple sessions, the coach might help you write out a few workout sessions (sets and drills) to follow on your own. Sometimes I see the coach even hooking my DD up to a bungee cord and then she swims freestyle or breaststroke in the water pulling against the cord. Very difficult and effective muscle/endurance work, that will do alot in a short amount of time. I also think if you tried to swim certain distances for time, you would get a terrific workout. HTH /karen
 
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