swimming / b-ball / gym...mid year's resolution!!

candy chaos

Hi,
I am a now unfit 22 year old. I used to be quite involved in sports at school and college but this has now fallen by the wayside between one thing and another (and lots of lame excuses!)

After years of bull****ting myself about crap diets and pathetic attempts at excercising to lose weight short term I'm now prepared to do it for that yes, but also to feel healthy and generally do something good with my time away from the pub!! I've been walking lots more and eating my 3 square meals, no snacks and drinking water all that...but...

I Was wondering if anyone has advice on the following...

1. As far as gyms go - would anyone recommend the YMCA or the Marcievich (spelling sorry!) gyms in terms of equipment and classes. I want somewhere with a variety of classes (YMCA seem quite good I think) that's based Dublin city centre and isn't going to cost the earth to join (not working much at the moment)

2.Does anyone know of women's b-ball teams city centre or south dublin based that take on new players to train with them and eventually play friendly or whatever. I'm definitly not up to a full match at the moment but I love the sport so much I'd love to be training and playing again after a few years out of it.

And (thanks, you're very patient for reading so far!)

3. I have not been in a swimming pool since I was 12 and I would love to take up swimming - having a basic (very basic) idea of how to get from one end of the pool to t'other - should I take lessons? And also, does anyone know from experience (this is the part where I'm a silly self-conscious girl!) of pools that are good for beginners and silly girl ones at that!?

It's grand if no one can help, I've been reading the boards and there's lots of helpful info as it is - it's just the swimming and b-ball thing I've not seen too much on.

Cheers

poobum

ok i can answer on the pools bit id advise you to take lessons before you get into bad habits! if you get in to these it can take years of lessons to sort them out!
as for pools look for shallow pools pools like the one in carlisle or templeogue are great for beginners(shallow the whole way across) where do you live? so i can be of more help!

candy chaos

Thanks Poobum,
It was actually your post on how great swimming is that got me thinking about it again!

At the moment i'm in the process of moving but i'm going to be somewhere in the Rathmines/Rathgar area. I was looking on the net and the Marcievich place (near trinners) has a swimming pool and they do 10 weeks of lessons for E65 - that sounds reasonable eh?
I'm really quite nervous about the whole experience so I guess I should get the lessons. Otherwise I'll just be splashing about getting no physical benefit.
Maybe I'll hold off the basketball and focus on the pool first!
cheers

copacetic

there is a pool in the mespil estate just over lesson street bridge that new lessons for a reasonable pric and that will be a lot nearer to you...
its on the web at:
http://mespilpool.com/

poobum

candy chaos wrote:

Thanks Poobum,
It was actually your post on how great swimming is that got me thinking about it again!

At the moment i'm in the process of moving but i'm going to be somewhere in the Rathmines/Rathgar area. I was looking on the net and the Marcievich place (near trinners) has a swimming pool and they do 10 weeks of lessons for E65 - that sounds reasonable eh?
I'm really quite nervous about the whole experience so I guess I should get the lessons. Otherwise I'll just be splashing about getting no physical benefit.
Maybe I'll hold off the basketball and focus on the pool first!
cheers

65 isnt bad! you should come along to watch a lseeon before you join do! to make sure the instructor is any good! sometimes you get ppl who do nothing with you! basically you can get some crap teachers! just make sure your one is good! and dont be afraid to talk to him/her after class if you arent happy with your progress or how he is teaching the class! but before you get in make sure he knows you havent swam in ages so he can get you working on your technique early!

Sarsfield

I learned to swim at the Markievicz centre last year. Excellent value for €65 - I recommend it to everyone!

poobum

Sarsfield wrote:

I learned to swim at the Markievicz centre last year. Excellent value for €65 - I recommend it to everyone!

65 for how long?
how many lessons?
how long were dey each?

Sarsfield

10 lessons over 10 weeks, 45-50 minutes per lesson. About 10 in the class.

They also do one-to-one lessons where you get an instructor and a lane all to yourself but I can't remember the cost.

candy chaos

I rang the Marcievich (will I ever spell that right?!) on Friday and they were very helpful and friendly (much more so than some 'supergyms' with 'super snappy' sales reps on the phones!) They're sending me some info out. They've just started a course of their swimming lessons and they run for 10 weeks so that'll be some time to get my basic fitness back up so I can really go for it - learning something new can be really hard work!
I'm definitely going to give it a go!
Thanks for letting me know - word of mouth is better than a sales pitch or brochure any day.
Cheers!

candy chaos

Sarsfield - just one more thing - how capable a swimmer were you when you started - I'm pretty much starting from scratch - where the other people in your class at different levels/ages/fitness levels etc?
thanks

Sarsfield

I was basically not able to swim. I could splash about and maybe get a few yards before I had to stop and stand up, that's all. By the end of the course I was happily swimming multiple lengths of the pool, using proper strokes, treading water in the deep end etc.

Some people were able to swim a bit from the beginning, others had never been in a pool. I'm sure fitness levels varied but I saw no sign of people being left behind in the class or being held back by weaker learners.

The age range went from early 20's to a couple of ladies who were probably around 60. However they didn't stay when after a couple of classes they realised the lessons were about how to actually swim properly (I think they expected a 'water confidence' type class). Mostly 20s & 30s though.

poobum

if you are in doubt of the classes before you join you should watch a class to see how good they are and if you think its the type of class you would like to participate! also dont worry or feel belittled if the teacher treats you like a child as remember adults and children and adults do the same drill and stuff! its nothing personal but you have to start from the basics!!!

candy chaos

Thanks guys,
Good advice all round. It's really strange, since I've made the decision I've seen loads of posting on various boards about learning to swim - better get my name down for those lessons a.s.a.p.!
As for the teacher - I really prefer someone who breaks things down into itty little pieces!
I can wait now!
The next classes don't start for a while but I'm going to go to the pool with my friend just to get used to being in the water etc...sounds strange but it's so alien to me!
thanks again!

Sarsfield

I'd be curious to hear from anyone else who's learned to swim recently (especially at Markievicz).

Having read my posts on this thread I could be mistaken for their sales department!

Did I have a particularly good experience? Was I lucky, or just an undemanding customer? Or are the courses and instructors actually as good as I feel they were?

One final point candy chaos. It doesn't matter where you learn, but just doing the lessons once a week won't be enough. You really do need to practice, both to get the technique right and to build up some fitness.