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So, I've been out of the pool and a consistent routine for a couple of years, at least. In the interim I decided it'd be a sweet idea to suck down as many cigarettes and bottles of cheap whiskey as I could, and now my lung capacity is absolutely destroyed. Any particularly good in water/out water breathing exercises (not so much form, that's acceptable for beginning after such a long break) to try and get lung capacity back up? There's nothing more embarrassing than a 30 second breather every 50 yards 
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| # ? Mar 10, 2009 22:16 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 22:26 |
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Saikonate posted:How can you swim something as ridiculous and goofy as sidestroke and not do freestyle well? Freestyle I have problems with the breathing portion. I end up mixing up my breathing and inhaling water after about a lap. (Plus I don't get how you turn your head to the side without inhaling water? I turn to breathe and water runs down my face into my mouth, and then I inhale it. My friend said to tuck my chin into my shoulder when I breathe but that didnt do much so I guess I wait for lessons.) And yeah, I do 250 yards 3x a week, then I go run for 30 minutes. I increase the distance by about 50 yards every 3 weeks. I could swim for longer, but not without treading a lot of water and taking lots of breaks, which Id rather not do come triathlon time. So for now it's swim 3-4 laps until I need a break, break for 15-25 seconds, swim as many as I can again, another break and finish up.
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| # ? Mar 10, 2009 22:17 |
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hypocrite lecteur posted:I asked this in Saikonate's thread but realize this is probably a better spot; has anyone had any experience with Dave Salo's training style? Specifically, doing really intense, "short" workouts in lieu of the traditional 20 hours a week of pool time most competitive swimmers do? There's no way you could do this and be a good distance swimmer. It all depends on what events you're training for.
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| # ? Mar 10, 2009 23:38 |
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hypocrite lecteur posted:I asked this in Saikonate's thread but realize this is probably a better spot; has anyone had any experience with Dave Salo's training style? Sorry I didn't respond in my thread. I meant to. Echoing what others have said, I don't see how you could train effectively for distance swimming without putting in the time/distance. From what I've read (which is hardly anything, admittedly), distance swimmers were/are a little wary of him for this reason, but he's a fantastic sprint coach. Raskolnikov2089 posted:And yeah, I do 250 yards 3x a week, then I go run for 30 minutes. I increase the distance by about 50 yards every 3 weeks. I could swim for longer, but not without treading a lot of water and taking lots of breaks, which Id rather not do come triathlon time. So for now it's swim 3-4 laps until I need a break, break for 15-25 seconds, swim as many as I can again, another break and finish up. Hate to say it, but you're not going to become a better swimmer only doing 250 yards 3 times a week. You need to spend more time in the water, and swim much further. Five or six times what you're currently doing at least. TheLastBasselope posted:So, I've been out of the pool and a consistent routine for a couple of years, at least. In the interim I decided it'd be a sweet idea to suck down as many cigarettes and bottles of cheap whiskey as I could, and now my lung capacity is absolutely destroyed. Any particularly good in water/out water breathing exercises (not so much form, that's acceptable for beginning after such a long break) to try and get lung capacity back up? There's nothing more embarrassing than a 30 second breather every 50 yards Hey, you and me would get along. Here's a timeline of my athletic activity since high school: Fall 2003: In fantastic shape, swam all the time Fall 2003-Summer 2004: Nothing Summer 2004-February 2005: Nothing + Smoking February 2005-Summer 2006: Nothing Summer 2006-Fall 2006: Nothing + Smoking + Drinking tons of cheap booze Fall 2006: Intense as gently caress college swimming + Drinking tons of cheap booze Early 2007-Summer 2008: Nothing + Smoking + Drinking tons of cheap booze Summer 2008: HTFU and start swimming again. For two months my body fought me tooth and nail in the water. But I went, and I put in 2500-3000 yards every time for those first couple months, and then it got easier. My lungs aren't where they used to be still but the only way yours are going to get any better are the same way mine did - HTFU, get your poo poo in gear, and swim like you mean it. The best breathing exercise you can do is to swim.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 01:05 |
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Well my fancy new (extremely flattering) Jammers only took a minute off my 36 lap "mile". Guess I will have to work on my form after all.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 02:13 |
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Minute's good, the rest you need to make up in technique and power.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 02:55 |
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Raskolnikov2089 posted:I do 250 yards 3x a week quote:come triathlon time. You're in some serious need of HTFU. I hate to sound like a douche, but any triathlon you're going to do is going to have a swimming portion that's three times your workout distance, at least. You need to be swimming well beyond your competition swim distance as part of your training regimen, not just barely surviving the distance that's only the start of the race. Yes, you'll be well served by some lessons, but you still need to ramp up your yards at a much faster pace than 75 yds/month, unless you're not competing until 2011. Breathing: quote:My friend said to tuck my chin into my shoulder when I breathe but that didnt do much  Doing so is going to screw you up. Your head position is normally going to be looking more or less forward with your eyes a bit under the water line. If you can't see where you're going, you're doing it wrong. When you breath you simply turn your head right to the side with as little body roll as possible (turn your head to breathe, not your entire body). Your ideal head position while breathing has your mouth just barely coming out of the water. One ear should still be in the water while you take a breath.Your breath starts right as as you finish the underwater pull portion and transition into the out of water recovery You can see that pretty clearly in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcCP...feature=related Note how his head position is generally looking forward and how he turns his head directly to the side, without picking it up out of the water. His mouth barely clears the water, and you can barely, if at all, even see his second eye. Also note that he comes nowhere near tucking his head into his shoulder.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 03:38 |
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I notice in a lot of these instructional videos, the swimmers are breathing on every right-arm stroke or every left-arm stroke. Is it common to breathe every other stroke like that or should I be trying to get three or four strokes to a breath? Also, looks like today is the day I go renew my pool membership. First tri of the season is three weeks away and even though the swim is only 1km, I need to bust rear end to get my endurance back. Sucks that the pool is set for short course until April
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 12:19 |
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Hungryjack posted:I notice in a lot of these instructional videos, the swimmers are breathing on every right-arm stroke or every left-arm stroke. Is it common to breathe every other stroke like that or should I be trying to get three or four strokes to a breath? Technically you're supposed to alternate your breathing. I breathe on the left all the time just because that's how I do. You shouldn't be breathing on every stroke though; breathing fucks your stroke and slows you down. You should be getting as many strokes as you can without having to breathe
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 13:10 |
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It is good to practice alternate breathing if you can get used to it. In highschool I took breaths to both sides all the time (sometimes I would just breathe to the right on one lap, then just to the left on another). When I got to college, I just started breathing on my right, and now it feels like I'm screwing my stroke up if I breathe to the left. I think it's a good thing to be able to breathe to both sides, but it's not absolutely necessary. A lot of times your stroke might become a bit unbalanced toward one arm if you only ever breathe on one side.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 15:00 |
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When you're first learning the technique of the stroke you should be breathing to both sides because it will keep you going straight in the lane and not favor a side. The reason you see a lot of these elite swimmers breathing to one side is because it's what works for them and they've figured that out through the hundred thousands of yards they swam. First you gotta learn the classic way, then modify it later when you've been swimming long enough to know how it might affect your stroke(and how to fix it if it does). I have a weird breathing pattern, I take three strokes, breathe on the left, take two strokes, breathe on left, take three strokes, breathe on right, take two stro... oh flipturn; start over. This is what works for me. Edit: So i guess i favor my left.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 17:30 |
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The flip-turn is coming around acceptably. Can do a passable one with a breaststroke and the only problem I encounter is sometimes I push a little too far downward. Swimming in freestyle I'm having some trouble getting the last breath right before I flip. Doesn't help my technique isn't consistent and I'm never on the same stroke as I approach the wall and I'm just not judging it right. Oh well, still breaks up the boredom.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 20:30 |
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Haha you don't do flip turns with breaststroke. Touch the wall with two hands, flip one arm back over to turn your body around, push off the wall.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 20:32 |
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hypocrite lecteur posted:Haha you don't do flip turns with breaststroke. Touch the wall with two hands, flip one arm back over to turn your body around, push off the wall. What do you do with backstroke? Funny enough, that was the stroke they made me race when I was on the swim team, even though it was my least favorite. But I don't remember how the turns work for it.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 20:39 |
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When you pass the flags, do two strokes(maybe three, you'll have to figure it out for yourself), flip over to your front and go straight into a flip turn. This next part is kinda tricky because you HAVE TO push off the wall and exit on your back. So don't rotate all the way over like you would with free style. This kind of explain it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGGTpELMO-g
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| # ? Mar 11, 2009 21:05 |
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Russian Bear posted:When you pass the flags, do two strokes(maybe three, you'll have to figure it out for yourself), flip over to your front and go straight into a flip turn. This next part is kinda tricky because you HAVE TO push off the wall and exit on your back. So don't rotate all the way over like you would with free style. 2? Thats some long glides. In a 100 I would do about 4-5 then turn over. But hes right. You pretty much spend a couple of times counting how many strokes from the flags it takes you to get close, do one arm that turns you over to your front and do a normal tumbleturn pushing off on your back again.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2009 10:28 |
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Fists Up posted:2? Thats some long glides. No, you just have a particularly low distance per stroke. 2 is normal.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2009 13:44 |
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I think it's usually 3 for people, but I'm 6'4 lanky bastard so it's 2 for me and if you're doing 4-5 then i think you're not doing something right.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2009 22:33 |
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Thats me when im going flat out with my stroke rate way up. If I'm just crusing its lower.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2009 23:14 |
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Different strokes for different folks(lol) i guess. The state champ for backstroke the year I went was amazing, he went 49.8 in the 100 fly and back. On his backstroke he was doing 9 strokes per pool length. It was spectacular and in yards.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2009 00:58 |
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Russian Bear posted:Different strokes for different folks(lol) i guess. Absolutely. I'm just saying that 2-3 is the norm. 4-5 is high. If it only happens while you're sprinting that just means your sprint backstroke suffers from an above average drop in stroke efficiency. quote:The state champ for backstroke the year I went was amazing, he went 49.8 in the 100 fly and back. On his backstroke he was doing 9 strokes per pool length. It was spectacular and in yards. The short course world championships are hilarious because they always pop out right at 15m for the first couple lengths, and from there it's some silly low number of strokes to the wall.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2009 05:34 |
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Went for my first real swim today for a few years. Just moved and found a 50m pool so swimming in that. Did 6x50 x2 + 8x50 to swim a km in total. Rested for maybe a couple of minutes between sets. I was alternating laps between breaststroke and freestyle. I definitely need a lot of work on my technique to improve my speed and efficiency, any particular advice for freestyle other than watch lots of videos on youtube and take classes? What's an 'acceptable' time for a beginner to do 50m in? Last question, I run a lot but it doesn't make me as hungry as swimming does. Does swimming use a ridiculous amount of calories meaning I'm freer to eat lots or is it just something special?
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| # ? Mar 18, 2009 15:46 |
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Sad Panda posted:Does swimming use a ridiculous amount of calories meaning I'm freer to eat lots or is it just something special? Swimming just makes you hungrier.
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| # ? Mar 18, 2009 16:13 |
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Sad Panda posted:What's an 'acceptable' time for a beginner to do 50m in? A sprint off the blocks long course? Probably like 40 seconds Sad Panda posted:I was alternating laps between breaststroke and freestyle. Harden up! Sad Panda posted:Does swimming use a ridiculous amount of calories meaning I'm freer to eat lots or is it just something special? Swimming does consume more calories than running
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| # ? Mar 18, 2009 16:33 |
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Sad Panda posted:Does swimming use a ridiculous amount of calories meaning I'm freer to eat lots or is it just something special?
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| # ? Mar 18, 2009 18:09 |
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I just took a lunch swim. It was my first time in the pool since September and I plodded my way through 1500 yards (short course until April) and I'm tired, sloppy, and with no stamina, but drat it feels good to be back in the water.
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| # ? Mar 18, 2009 19:01 |
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Sad Panda posted:Went for my first real swim today for a few years. Just moved and found a 50m pool so swimming in that. Did 6x50 x2 + 8x50 to swim a km in total. Rested for maybe a couple of minutes between sets. I was alternating laps between breaststroke and freestyle. I definitely need a lot of work on my technique to improve my speed and efficiency, any particular advice for freestyle other than watch lots of videos on youtube and take classes? What's an 'acceptable' time for a beginner to do 50m in? Last question, I run a lot but it doesn't make me as hungry as swimming does. Does swimming use a ridiculous amount of calories meaning I'm freer to eat lots or is it just something special? If you're pushing off the wall and going all out you should get in under :45. So adjust your working sets accordingly. HTFU and freestyle, because if you're having technique issues with freestyle you're probably having bigger technique issues with breast stroke. It's really hard to give specific tips without seeing your stroke. Just remember some key points: -Be looking somewhat forward with the water level at the top of your forehead -Get your hips up and kick harder; legs are the first thing to go when you get tired. -Really think about stretching out your stroke. A drill I like to do is called the butt touch drill(:homo:). Start doing freestyle, but with every stroke glance your butt with the top/side of your hand. This will slow down your stroke, get your elbows up, causing you to stretch and kick harder as a result.
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| # ? Mar 18, 2009 19:19 |
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Oh I'm so sore! This morning was my second day back in the pool. My shoulders and arms are sore and tired because of the long off-season, so I just did 4x25 + rest with a new set every 3:00 and stopped after 1000 yards. I was going to do 1500, but I wasn't sure I was really doing my body any service by pushing beyond this time. I have a triathlon with a 1km open water swim coming up in two weeks This ain't gonna be pretty.
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| # ? Mar 20, 2009 12:02 |
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Hungryjack posted:Oh I'm so sore! This morning was my second day back in the pool. My shoulders and arms are sore and tired because of the long off-season, so I just did 4x25 + rest with a new set every 3:00 and stopped after 1000 yards. I was going to do 1500, but I wasn't sure I was really doing my body any service by pushing beyond this time. hahaha no it's sure not
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| # ? Mar 20, 2009 13:59 |
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Former competitive swimmer here checking in. I swam both winter and summer seasons 4 years in a row and stopped when I got to high school because a) my tiny school in my tiny town didn't have a team/pool, b) I wanted to have a life outside of a pool, and c) I was sick of being wet all the freakin time. 2.5 hour practices 5 days a week after school plus all day meets Saturday and Sunday of almost every weekend equals major burnout for me. I can count the number of times I've been in the water since then, pool or ocean, on one hand. That said, it was the best shape I've ever been in in my life, and what inspired me to start getting myself back in shape last year...it was depressing thinking that I hit my physical peak at 14 when I was placing in my events at states. I plan to start training again on April 7th with a local masters club. I'm a little apprehensive of how much I've lost in the past decade or so, not only in strength, but especially lung capacity. After I quit swimming, things looked like this: 95-96 soccer 97 cross country 98 smoking and doing nothing 99-08 smoking, drinking, smoking phelps-style, and doing nothing 08-present resistance training and cardio I used to do open water multi-mile swims like I was walking downstairs to get my mail, but currently I doubt I'll be able to go more than a few laps without wanting to die. Well, time to HTFU. Wish me luck. I'll keep you guys posted on my progress once I start. dergeist fucked around with this message at Mar 20, 2009 around 18:35 |
| # ? Mar 20, 2009 18:33 |
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Did you quit smoking? Good luck man, the first week will suck , but I think you'll pick it up again decently quick if you use to swim that much. Do you miss the smell of chlorine on your skin? No matter how many times you showered to get it off? :p Edit: Good job to Koala or whoever changed the thread title. Russian Bear fucked around with this message at Mar 20, 2009 around 18:51 |
| # ? Mar 20, 2009 18:44 |
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Russian Bear posted:Did you quit smoking? Good luck man, the first week will suck , but I think you'll pick it up again decently quick if you use to swim that much. Do you miss the smell of chlorine on your skin? No matter how many times you showered to get it off? :p Oh hell yeah, I definitely quit smoking. That was the first thing to go even before I started resistance training. And good riddance. Not surprisingly, I do miss the smell of chlorine Every time I'm near a pool these days it makes me a little nostalgic heh. Someone said earlier in the thread that you're not a real swimmer until you've puked in the gutter. Add to that list: you're not a real swimmer until your hair has turned green from the chlorine (screw swimming with a cap!)
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| # ? Mar 20, 2009 18:52 |
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I live in Germany so sadly there is not a local pool in every city for me to visit like when I was back home in the states. However, I was wondering if based on the different strokes one could almost entirely replace his gym routine by instead going to the pool every day? I have read that is is a full body workout. I go to the gym alot and I have always been jealous of people who have really big shoulders; this tends to often encompass those who go to the pool alot for their daily exercise routine. One of my buds goes to the pool almost every day and swears by it. I go to the local gym every day but I can still never seem to get my body as cut up as his is. Is this the case?; if so how many hours does the average swimmer w/ a nice body work out per day? Russian Bear posted:D Do you miss the smell of chlorine on your skin? No matter how many times you showered to get it off? :p There was actually a report on local television yesterday showing that a bucket of chlorine is odorless, but a bucket of chlorine w/ a drop of urine in it smelled like the pool. Nazi Zombies fucked around with this message at Mar 20, 2009 around 18:57 |
| # ? Mar 20, 2009 18:54 |
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I have really dark brown hair, so all i got were blonde highlights. The funny thing was that people actually asked me if I got highlights, they looked like they were actually done by someone lol. But it was totally dead and felt like straw if you touched it. So now I wear a cap when I do swim(not that much) and I actually got use to it, although I use to hate caps at all and only wore them for races. You're right, when that warm waft of chlorine and the muskiness of the pool deck hits you, it certainly brings back great memories. Edit: The urine thing makes sense, serious swimmers don't have time to get out of the pool in between sets to take a piss. Bonus points if you piss in front of a pool jet. Russian Bear fucked around with this message at Mar 20, 2009 around 19:02 |
| # ? Mar 20, 2009 18:58 |
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Russian Bear posted:Bonus points if you piss in front of a pool jet. IMO best way to "spread it around" so you don't get tell-tale yellow cloud around you.
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| # ? Mar 20, 2009 19:10 |
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dergeist posted:IMO best way to "spread it around" so you don't get tell-tale yellow cloud around you.  Man, you're gonna ruin it. quote:However, I was wondering if based on the different strokes one could almost entirely replace his gym routine by instead going to the pool every day? I have read that is is a full body workout. Yes and no. You can certainly get a great workout by swimming, it's absolutely a great full body workout. You won't get a totally swoletastic physique. In order to put on any serious muscle you need to weight train. If you're looking to bulk up and all you have access to is a pool you need to do a pure sprinting workout. Even then you won't see the results you'd see in a gym. It really depends on your goals. Swimming is great for all-around fitness, but you won't get huge.
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| # ? Mar 21, 2009 00:02 |
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bauen posted:There was actually a report on local television yesterday showing that a bucket of chlorine is odorless, but a bucket of chlorine w/ a drop of urine in it smelled like the pool. This is true, but the urine wasn't necessary. Active chlorine is odorless, and if I recall correctly, tasteless as well. After reacting with other chemicals in the water it starts to smell. You'd have to ask an actual chemist what is going on, that was all I needed to know back in my pool maintenance days. So how do you get rid of the smell? More chlorine.
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| # ? Mar 21, 2009 01:40 |
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bauen posted:However, I was wondering if based on the different strokes one could almost entirely replace his gym routine by instead going to the pool every day? I have read that is is a full body workout. If your goal is to "(ambiguously) be in good shape" and "be good at swimming", then sure. quote:I go to the gym alot and I have always been jealous of people who have really big shoulders; this tends to often encompass those who go to the pool alot for their daily exercise routine. One of my buds goes to the pool almost every day and swears by it. I go to the local gym every day but I can still never seem to get my body as cut up as his is. The difference between you two is probably related more to your diets than anything else. quote:Is this the case?; if so how many hours does the average swimmer w/ a nice body work out per day? Again, the answer is probably more related to diet than anything else, but you don't have to put in a gazillion hours in the pool each day to look good. Swimming enough to be a good swimmer requires much more swimming than swimming enough to have a nice body.
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| # ? Mar 21, 2009 02:35 |
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Swimming won't make you bulky, ever. It may if you have favorable genetics and you only train sprints. But really, it's best just to keep lean and be generally fit. I leaned out to 180lb when I was swimming competitevely(i'm 6'4), but my club was more distance based than sprints. I was a skinny motherfucker. So personally, if you want bulk, lift weights. If you swim, that's great, but watch your food intake afterwards. You're going to want to eat ten pounds of pasta after you're done swimming a hard workout so be careful. Edit: A lot swimmer's don't have very attractive bodies.
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| # ? Mar 21, 2009 07:21 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 22:26 |
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You can put on size from swimming but only if you're small to begin with. That said after 3 months of 90 minutes a day 4-5 days a week swimming and after about a year of hard weights was the first time my lats actually started to look decent. My lat pulldown also went from 140x5 to 180x8. It has to do with fiber types. Your skeletal muscle has different types of fibers. Type 2 fibers get big and tire easily but are very strong. Type 1 fibers stay small but are very hard to tire and don't get very strong. Swimming mostly builds type 1. Weights mostly build type 2.
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| # ? Mar 22, 2009 07:58 |
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