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Swimming
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| winston |
Hey all, next quarter I will be enrolling for an intermediate swimming program. The only requirement is to swim from one end to the other without stopping once.
I am in good shape right now, I can run about 4.2 - 5.0 miles in 45-55 minutes and I lift weights. I do this three to four times a week.
Are there any swimmers in the c0r that can tell me how i can prepare for this course? if there are exercises (other than the aforementioned) that I can carry about until the quarter begins? |
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| ziptnf |
Interestingly enough, I'm a former competitive swimmer that swam on the national level. Swam for about 14 years, and I currently teach kids to swim on the weekends.
Swimming, unfortunately, is completely different from running. It requires muscles that running would never use. The only preparation I could offer you would be to familiarize yourself with the water again, know what all the strokes are beforehand, and basic techniques. Swim at most a 500 (20 laps, Short Course), any style, and prepare yourself.
I know practically everything there is to know about stroke technique, so if you're interested, feel free to ask in this thread or in a PM. |
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| winston |
| Nice, I will start getting myself used to being in the water. Should I continue with my current routine? are there any specific exercises I should follow while I begin? |
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| Theresa |
| quote: | Originally posted by ziptnf
Interestingly enough, I'm a former competitive swimmer that swam on the national level. Swam for about 14 years, and I currently teach kids to swim on the weekends.
Swimming, unfortunately, is completely different from running. It requires muscles that running would never use. The only preparation I could offer you would be to familiarize yourself with the water again, know what all the strokes are beforehand, and basic techniques. Swim at most a 500 (20 laps, Short Course), any style, and prepare yourself.
I know practically everything there is to know about stroke technique, so if you're interested, feel free to ask in this thread or in a PM. |
Hey... I am very interested in what you know. Please share! |
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| ziptnf |
| quote: | Originally posted by winston
Nice, I will start getting myself used to being in the water. Should I continue with my current routine? are there any specific exercises I should follow while I begin? |
Here's a simple workout that will definitely pay off for the first time you get back in. Nothing more difficult than a little Freestyle and Backstroke. Let me know if this isn't enough, and you would like a little more challenging of a workout ;)
100 Freestyle swim (warm up)
6x50's (2 kick with kickboard, 4 swim any style - increase speed each 50)
4x25's Fast Freestyle
100 Warm Down
| quote: | | Hey... I am very interested in what you know. Please share! |
Any questions you have? I'd be more than happy to answer ANY inquiry regarding all things swimming related. |
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| zoogla |
awesome, zip! i love swimming! i swim about 20 laps a day, very refreshing after my workout routine. not an olympic size pool or anything.
i wish i could do that thing when you reach the wall and you go under, twirl around and jump off the wall...that is such a cool thing. also doing the wave with your body to extend the distance you go underwater when you push off the wall. |
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| owien |
1 key tip i can offer make sure when swimming keep your head inline with your body. try not to allow your head to raise up this can slow you down and make you loose form.
also any upper back and shoulder exercises will help in giving you some power. and core workouts to will help |
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| ziptnf |
| quote: | Originally posted by fayraree
awesome, zip! i love swimming! i swim about 20 laps a day, very refreshing after my workout routine. not an olympic size pool or anything.
i wish i could do that thing when you reach the wall and you go under, twirl around and jump off the wall...that is such a cool thing. also doing the wave with your body to extend the distance you go underwater when you push off the wall. |
The first thing you mentioned is called a Flipturn. Doing thousands of them have rendered my body to do them as second nature. :o
Butterfly kick off the wall became very popular around the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Generally, swimmers who are proficient in butterfly practice this regularly off every wall. It is legal to do this in all strokes except Breaststroke.
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| ziptnf |
| quote: | Originally posted by owien
1 key tip i can offer make sure when swimming keep your head inline with your body. try not to allow your head to raise up this can slow you down and make you loose form.
also any upper back and shoulder exercises will help in giving you some power. and core workouts to will help |
Excellent tip. I go blue in the face with the amount of times I've told all my kids to quit lifting their heads to breathe. Always breathe to the SIDE, with your ear on your arm, and look straight down at the bottom while you take strokes.
Regarding core strength, and upper body strength, you can be the strongest guy in the world, and be useless in the pool. Michael Phelps isn't beastly powerful, but his form and technique rip the pool to shreds. Focus on technique, THEN strength. |
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| zoogla |
| yeah i'm gonna look up the flipturn in youtube to learn how to do it. |
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| ziptnf |
| quote: | Originally posted by fayraree
yeah i'm gonna look up the flipturn in youtube to learn how to do it. |
:stongue:
Good luck with that :)
If you can take any advice from me, practice your body balance in the water, face down, first. Secondly, practice flipping in an open area of water, starting face down. Tuck your chin to your chest, give a powerful downward kick, and allow that momentum to carry your legs over top of the water. While your legs are flipping over top of the water, attempt to curl your body into a ball. If you get water up your nose, be sure to plug your nose by scrunching it or blowing bubbles out of it while turning.
After you get used to actually flipping in the water, practice swimming freestyle, and after a few strokes, allow your face to follow your most prominent hand under the water and carry those legs over top of the water.
It will take a lot of practice, and you will probably look silly doing it, but you will eventually get it! Best of luck! |
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| owien |
that's true muscles trained for swiming is very diffrent for other sports ect. but all sports will benifet from having a good core strenth and lowerback flexibility.
as the body is made up off different muscle fibers fast and slow twitch,fast being the ones used for speed and power. |
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