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swimming for fitness

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  • 25-08-2007 7:28pm
    #1
    culabula88
    Closed Accounts Posts: 401 ✭✭


    When you are swimming for fitness , are you better off swimming for lot of lengths together or swimming hard for a shorter length and then a recovery.

    If anybody would care to post up a proposed training schedule to train to get fitter.

    I have found before that i can swim about a mile or half mile no bother in the pool , but if i go for a run , im out of breath in no time ?Whats happening here - is it different muscles im using ?


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    #2
    cunnins4
    Closed Accounts Posts: 882 ✭✭✭cunnins4


    I'm no expert, but yeah, you are using completely different muscles: swimming-mainly arms/shoulders, running-mainly legs/calves.

    I'm the opposite. Pretty fit for running/cycling, but when it comes to swimming i'm not "fit". Fitness is a loosely used term, and it's really dependent on your goals and what you'd like to do. If you wanna be a swimmer, you're fit as you are. If you wanna be a runner, you're not. They do compliment each other though as you're exercising your cardiovascular system but if ya wanna run, run. If ya wanna swim, well, swim!

    A starter training program to become running fit would be to try to get out 3 times a week. What distance can you run at the moment? if it's let's say 3 miles, run 3 miles 3 times a week for a couple of weeks. Then up it to 3.5 miles if ya feel like it. Many people will tell ya not to increase by more than 10% every week. Each to their own buddy. Do what you feel comfortable with.

    As for training in the pool, again, a sprinter wouldn't be nearly capable of swimming a mile in any decent time, but a distance swimmer wouldn't be able to swim 100m fast. It's all relative!

    People always say to me "god, you must be mad fit?". Put me on a football pitch and i'd be dead in 10 mins. Give me a bike and i can go for hours. The term fitness is often misunderstood.


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    #3
    hunnymonster
    Registered Users Posts: 5,365 ✭✭✭hunnymonster


    Yes, fitness meansdifferent things to different people. You'll never find a better illustration of this than by having a look at the
    rec>fitness forum here on boards.

    OP, What is it you would like to achieve? This might help us explain to you what you should be doing.


    As for posting a plan. I'm a relatively weak swimmer but the race I train for has a 3.8 km (2.4 mile) swim. For this I swim 3 times a week. One is a long swim, one is a swim mostly made up of drills and the last is a speed/technique session.


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    #4
    Killgore Trout
    Registered Users Posts: 681 ✭✭✭Killgore Trout


    culabula88 wrote:
    When you are swimming for fitness , are you better off swimming for lot of lengths together or swimming hard for a shorter length and then a recovery.

    If anybody would care to post up a proposed training schedule to train to get fitter.

    I have found before that i can swim about a mile or half mile no bother in the pool , but if i go for a run , im out of breath in no time ?Whats happening here - is it different muscles im using ?

    If you're doing 1.5 miles no bother (~2400M) you're doing something good. I reckon mixing longer and shorter distances is the way to do it.

    I'm no coach or expert and i don't know your form - so In can't make a schedule for you - I can share some of my recent pool sessions. My bias would be towards training for open water courses from 1000M to 2000M

    All front crawl - except for swimdown.

    With the club - single session:
    1*400M Warm-up
    2*200M
    4*150M
    6*100
    6*50M
    1*200M swimdown

    Solo:
    300 Warm-up
    6 * 200 Hard - 1 minute rest
    1*200 Easy
    6*100 Hard - 1 Minute rest
    1*200 Easy
    1*500 Easy
    1*200 swimdown

    Solo Pyramid (i like this one because it's a good boredom beater and it eats into the distance.
    300 Warmup: (for each 50M take 5 sec rest - so 50M - 5s rest 100m 10s rest...)
    Pyramid
    50
    100
    150
    200
    250
    300
    250
    200
    150
    100
    50
    4*100 Easy
    swimdown

    Again - can't advise on what times you should be doing: But say in the 200s on the solo swim i was aiming for 3.15 for each 200 - if i come in on 3:00 i get 15 seconds rest - if i come in on 3.10 i get 5 seconds.

    Obviously you don't want to be killing yourself - so you gotta allow time for you heart rate to come down. So you'd be starting with longer breaks and allowing having longer times for distances and as you improve both should decrease.

    Also i believe training with a club or other people is a great way of improving your skills.

    As i said - i'm no expert, so feel free to disagree with above...

    Can't advise on running - I couldn't run to save my life.


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    #5
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,373 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    cunnins4 wrote:
    People always say to me "god, you must be mad fit?". Put me on a football pitch and i'd be dead in 10 mins. Give me a bike and i can go for hours. The term fitness is often misunderstood.
    Same here. I think the OP needs to explain their goals and what they consider fitness.

    I am pretty much as "fit" as I need to be, I cannot run at all but have no need to in my daily life. To me fit means being uninjured and able to do daily tasks easily, and not be overweight. So I can cycle a lot faster than most- cycle to work. I do not play any sports so have no need to run (if I have to get somewhere fast I cycle), I can run for a bus and that is about the only time I need to run! I can swim alright but again am not in competition so have no reason to be that good, I enjoy it. I also do not run for fear of injury, a lot of guys I know who do sports have had some running related injury before.

    To some people "get fit" really means "lose fat", in that case I would recommend lifting weights.


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    #6
    Shane_C
    Closed Accounts Posts: 305 ✭✭Shane_C


    rubadub wrote:
    To me fit means being uninjured and able to do daily tasks easily, and not be overweight.

    To be fit is to have a relaxed heart rate which is as low as possible and to be able to regulate your heart rate as quickly as possible after a burst of physical activity.

    Cardiovascular activity is like doing weights for your heart and lungs allowing them to become bigger, stronger and more efficient.


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    #7
    Steyr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,266 ✭✭✭Steyr


    Here is mine:

    25M Pool

    60 Laps freestyle under 25minutes.

    20 Laps upperbody freestyle with ball shaped float between legs.

    25 Laps quick breaststroke.

    10 Laps underwater swim ( preffered breaststroke ).

    6 Laps cooldown ( 3xlaps freestyle relaxed, 3xlaps breaststroke relaxed )

    Session Ends.

    I must also add i do this 6 days a week, so basically every day except Saturday.

    :D


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    #8
    Killgore Trout
    Registered Users Posts: 681 ✭✭✭Killgore Trout


    Steyr wrote: »
    Here is mine:

    25M Pool
    10 Laps underwater swim ( preffered breaststroke ).

    Woah - you must have gills :D


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    #9
    the_syco
    Registered Users Posts: 37,295 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    When I was swimming regularly (was a while back when I was in Naas: no pools near Leixlip yet), this was my routine:

    (pretty sure it was a 25M pool)
    4 lengths warm up front crawl (easy, not too fast)
    4 lengths side stroke
    4 lengths rest stroke (life-safety stroke, or breaststroke)
    Swim as fast as possible front crawl for as long as possible. Not recommended for anyone with heart problems, as I do it to push myself to as far as I can go. Having a set target in mind makes it easier, as it'll be a case of "one more length, then a breather", rather than "f**k this, I'm taking a breather"

    As for meaning of fit: being able to do run longer without going out of breath. If I run for the train now, I'm f**ked halfway :( due to being unfit. When fit, I could run, and not be breathing heavily untill I got into the train.


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