Swimmers Body

Liam88

Hey folks,

Just wanting some advice on a workout that would be good to develop a swimmers body. I realise I wont be able to stick the daily 4 hours in at the swimming pool each day but I will be sticking to doing :

3 days a week swimming an hour at a time

2 days light weights (1 day top, 1 day bottom)

2 days resting in between with a couple of sessions of yoga to develop flexability.

Any suggestions on how I should build up the lengths I do in the pool?

Any good pool/gyms around Kilmainham?

and am I actually just talking out my a*se with this type of timetable?

Cheers folks.
Liam

Sigma Force

Was watching the swimming on tv yesterday, aparently the thing to do now (well ok they were talking about womens swimming but anyhoo) is to obviously swim plenty but also use the gym to improve on upper body strength.

I used to swim years ago 4-5 hours a day, have just started getting back in to it so am very unfit and very rusty but hate the gym. Regular swimming alone will do it but obviously twice a week in a gym will help you hugely or running will help with your breathing.

At the mo I can only go once a week which is a pain but hopefully will be able to go three times asap three times a week is even enough you'll just find as time goes on you'll be able to do one more lap it's so suprising how quickly it happens.

Swimmings brill your body shape should come naturally that's what's great about it trick is to get the strokes right, I've a lot of bad habits so hope to so the 'stroke clinic' to improve.

I'm no expert by a long shot but that routine sounds pretty good.

Liam88

Epic stuff dude, thanks for the reply! Hope to be surprised by the results myself! =D

Unpossible

I have found over the years that people seriously misunderestimate how much work actually goes into getting a good shape out of swimming. I have people comming and complaining that swimming isn't helping them at all. When I ask to see them training I find them not training correctly.

Bottom line going into a pool and swimming for an hour can either be a great workout or just like a walk in the park depending on your session. Try and talk to a coach or former competitor about interval training and make up a few session plans. Also try and find someone to come in with you and do the same session. It makes a huge difference and even if they are lapping you, you will still find yourself pushing yourself harder than you would on your own.

okane1

Unpossible wrote: »

I have found over the years that people seriously misunderestimate how much work actually goes into getting a good shape out of swimming. I have people comming and complaining that swimming isn't helping them at all. When I ask to see them training I find them not training correctly.

Bottom line going into a pool and swimming for an hour can either be a great workout or just like a walk in the park depending on your session. Try and talk to a coach or former competitor about interval training and make up a few session plans. Also try and find someone to come in with you and do the same session. It makes a huge difference and even if they are lapping you, you will still find yourself pushing yourself harder than you would on your own.

This is excellent advise. As a competitor swim/water polo training I've see this several times in pools. People swimming up and down with no effort and complaining about not getting fit.

OP, you need to define what you want to get out of swimming, i.e. training for sprints, long distance or just swimming for the sake of swimming. Like swimming 10 x 50m with 20sec rest would be far better than just swimming 20 lengths. If you state your current pace (fastest time for 50m & 100m), I might be able to point you in the right direction.

Unpossible

OP it would also be worth your while learning how to use the minute/second clock correctly.
In terms of interval training I find its better to have a time to go off, eg:
10 x 100m frontcrawl off 2:00

This means you leave at 0:00 (when a second hand is at 12) and you must complete your 100m before 2 minutes have passed. Your rest depends on how fast you have done the 100m so:
If your 100m took 1:50 you get 10 seconds rest, but if it took 1:55 you only get 5 seconds rest.

The first few times just try to get them done within the time, then set youself a goal (say 1:50 for your 100m) and try to hit that time on every 100m. When you have achieved that comfortably then reduce the target time or the rep time.

The person helping with your sessions will be able to explain that better too.

Carverkid

The important thing is to balance your sessions well. Two years ago I injured my shoulder because the front of my body was too developed in comparison to my back. Alternate between frontcrawl and backcrawl to avoid injury. Also watch your knees with breststroke.