Swimming (Read 2098 times)

Go swimming and do yoga for the meanwhile Daddyo. I didn't run or swim for 2 months - Aug & Sept. due to my broken toe, but did some road biking. What amazed me is that I didn't gain any weight. I know that some people with hate me for this. I think if you can get your hips and legs to be more flexible you will have less injuries from running. The sad fact is the older we get the tighter and stiffer our joints get. I know exactly how you feel. Hang in there. Boston can become a reality for you. Never ever lose hope!

I recently went to a cross-training seminar at my local running store, and they strongly recommended pool running over swimming -- better workout, and it mimics running much more than regular swimming.

I've done the aqua jogging when I had a stress fracture in one leg and tendonitis in the other. It's more fun than a migraine, I have to give it that. Personally, I just swim. I didn't learn how to swim until I was a sophomore in college. I try to get at least one pool workout a week up until I really ramp up to my marathon training, and usually only have 30 minutes total to swim since I do it on my lunch breaks. (Driving, changing, showering, getting back, and eating take up the other 30 minutes, although it is usually more like 40) I have a couple of workouts that I do. First, I swim laps straight the entire time, and I do that 90% of the time. I count 5 lap sets and hit my watch so that I can compare workouts, and I try to see how far I can get in 30 minutes. I have not yet made a mile, but I've come pretty close. I got 30 laps once. Normally, when I've been swimming regularly and I am in shape, I do 27-29 laps. Right now getting back into it, I call it quits at 25 laps which is 28-29 minutes. I could get more in, but hey I just ran a marathon a few days ago. The other workout that I do are two lap intervals with varying rest between 10 seconds and 30 seconds. In those workouts, I try to work on breaking a sweat. I have to admit, when I was learning to swim and had a training partner and swam for more than 30 minutes at a time, it was much easier to break a sweat. I have no trouble elevating my heart rate, though. I generally just swim free style, although I really should start working on some other strokes again. My wife's (former) coach is trying to get me to join the masters group, but I'm cheap and haven't bothered yet.

Daddyo-- Patience, brother. I got ITBS the first time I tried running relatively high miles--the summer before college. I couldn't run the whole month of August. I was worried, but by the end of September, I was running much faster than I ever had. Take some time off. Get in the pool if you feel like it, but you don't have to. If you feel like training, then stretch instead. Two months from now, you can still be dealing with this injury or you can be running pain free and faster than you ever have. Smart "training" now means taking a break.

Jeezum. After lurking on this thread, I got into a pool today for the first time in YEARS... did 5 laps (500m total). Yeah, two words: HUMBLE PIE... Only room for improvement, right?

Hi, I am a swimming teacher.... A few tips... Presuming your technique is pretty good, a lot of newbie swimmers fail on: 1. Try to relax on the recovery part of the stroke, Eg,for front crawl as your arm comes out over the water, make sure you bend your elbow to the roof and have a loose arm. I see many swimmers having tension all the time in the stroke and that tires one out fast. So have a think about that when you are swimming. Breathing, If again you are doing front crawl, practice your face in the water; water at your hairline, looking down and forward (Think you are swimming through a pipe, this will help you keep your arms close to your body) with a float and breathing to the side, not looking up forward. Think about just your legs doing the work and the rest of your body, (trunk) is relaxed. If you usually breath every stroke, (same side) try holding your breath for three strokes then trickle blow then last moment explosive breat out to clear so you are ready to in hale again.... Breath when you need to, so when you get tired if you are on 4 stroke breathing take some one strokes for more oxygen. And regarding your heartbeat, put some sprints in or faster paced swimming for say 6 lenghts. I did a heap of training back to swimming last summer, and for a girl i had great toned arms! I was hammering the swimming though, doing fly and lots of sprints. I hope this helps those getting back into their swimming.. regards Gail (thats a tenna please!)

Cheers ears! If anyone has a few questions.. give me a shout.. thanks Gai

Hi Everyone! I completely agree that swimming is good cross-training. It is the only activity that works your entire body. It also has helped my core quite a bit. It's always great to get into the nice, cold, low impact water once and a while. It's also true that it's really hard to get into...here are some tips. 1). Don't give up! It's hard, but it gets so much easier. 2). If you're having problems with your pull, use hand paddles. They teach you how to pull the water correctly and they also strengthen your arms. 3). Learn all the strokes. Variety is the spice of life! Throwing some backstroke or breaststroke into the mix helps break the monotony of all freestyle. Other strokes also work different muscles.