building up to swimming every day

TicTacToo

I'm wondering how to increase my fitness so that I can swim every day. And presumably if I swim every day I'll increase my fitness!

I currently swim Mon and Fri with a coach... I'm in the intermediate group where I usually manage 2000m of a 2400m,1 hour set. I also swim Wed by myself and do around 1600m, often doing whatever I remember from the Monday training session. How should I build up to swimming every weekday? Should I aim for a similar distance every day? (I'm exhausted just thinking about it.)

Also I do (old people's) weight training on Tue and Thu with a different coach, and I'm not sure how to fit swimming in with this... should I swim before or after weight training? And should I do shorter sets on the days I have weight training too?

I have access to the My Swim Pro app but I'm not sure what to ask it for.

sijomial

You have a swim coach and a weights coach - would suggest they would know you and your capabilities far better than random people on the interwebz and be able to give you far more personalised and specific advice.
Remember to tell them your full exercise program and plans and not just their individual parts as it's the total training stress and recovery you will need to manage.

There are generalised guidelines but they need to be put in a personal context. e.g. An intermediate will not be able to advance as quickly as a beginner, an older person needs to take more care over recovery..... If I said "aim to increase 10% per week" it could be inappropriate for you.

There aren't universal rules around swim first or weights first as that's very much goal, person and intensity dependant. e.g. I have very high cardio fitness so my capacity for doing cardio before a hard weights session without impacting my workout at all would be very different to someone who might be fatigued by cardio first. Your "old people's" weights might not fatigue you at all before a swim session and it could also be it's easy enough for you to do after a hard swim session. All options are possible!

TicTacToo

sijomial wrote: »

You have a swim coach and a weights coach - would suggest they would know you and your capabilities far better than random people on the interwebz and be able to give you far more personalised and specific advice.
Remember to tell them your full exercise program and plans and not just their individual parts as it's the total training stress and recovery you will need to manage.

I'm not too sure how to talk to the weights coach. The original program she wrote down for me nearly 8 weeks ago was quite easy and I've increased the weights a fair bit since then (eg leg press was originally 3 X 12 @ 20kg and now 3 X 12 @ 50kg... lat pulldown was 3 X 12 @ 15kg and now 3 X 12 @ 25kg). I did tell her I was doing swim training so she set me a fair amount of upper body work, which is good, although I can easily get through the program in 30 minutes.

The swim coach says I'm doing fine. That doesn't help me feel any less frustrated because I am definitely the least fit swimmer in the group :-/

Maybe I need someone to coach me in being more zen.

NorthCascades

Those are some very long swims! I just swam every day for a week, until the weather went bad, but 1,800 yards per day has been more typical. Even that is a lot of work. You're talking a mile and a half, which feels like walking almost ten miles!

Why do you want to swim every day? Would shorter distances achieve that for you?

michael6186

1-What's your end goal? Are you swimming to increase your gym performance or are you lifting to increase your swim performance? Or are you doing both to increase something bigger like your health or is there a competition you're preparing for? There's a lot to be unpacked with these types of things.

Start with why. Determining why will then dictate what and how. Why do you want to swim everyday? Knowing that will help you to figure out how to best accomplish that. Swimming to exhaustion on some days means easy swimming or no swimming on other days. That then feeds into your gym days as well. If you want to swim everyday then it's very important to manage total load.

2-If you have coaches for your physical activities then it's best to consult them. It would be even better if you could get them to work together. That way they can address managing your total load for recovery and stress. As an intermediate athlete, you no longer have the luxury of swimming as a standalone to improve swimming. You now need to start getting more structure on your technique and addressing your weaknesses. If swimming is the priority then your gym workouts should be tailored to help you do that.

allaboutthecake

I too swim in a 50m pool. My target is 1mile and so far I have not been able to complete it under 1hr 20min. Am slow as molasses. I will swim 2 days on, 1 day off. I will swim 4 days a week when feeling good. Hydration and food are key (other than lots sunblock!). If you find yourself not as ambitious, Aftershokz are good music (bone conducting vs in the ear) that can keep your groove going. Personally, I like to get a nice form in when in the pool. And have watched tons of utube videos for proper form. Haven't distanced-swam in 4 decades, so I just want to encourage and tell you keep on kicking!

*thoughts on weight training w/swim...I would build in days "off"; give your legs muscles a break.

TicTacToo

michael6186 wrote: »

1-What's your end goal? Are you swimming to increase your gym performance or are you lifting to increase your swim performance? Or are you doing both to increase something bigger like your health...?

Main goal is to avoid dying from a heart attack. I can't do anything about my age or genetic predisposition, so I'm left with controlling my weight and boosting my cardiovascular fitness.

Secondary goal is to rock a pair of Levi's

michael6186

TicTacToo wrote: »

michael6186 wrote: »

1-What's your end goal? Are you swimming to increase your gym performance or are you lifting to increase your swim performance? Or are you doing both to increase something bigger like your health...?

Main goal is to avoid dying from a heart attack. I can't do anything about my age or genetic predisposition, so I'm left with controlling my weight and boosting my cardiovascular fitness.

Secondary goal is to rock a pair of Levi's

Haha I have to respect that, "Levi's".

So there are 4 limiting factors in addressing your goals. Which one you need is not something I can determine but I can point you at these and perhaps you can speak with your coach(s) on how to best assess and then address which one it is.

Technique and skill will always play a factor but it's going to come down to:
1) Cardiovascular=Heart and lungs
2) Cardiorespiratory=Breathing (the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide).
3) Muscular=Endurance
4) Movement=Technique and mobility restrictions. Having good technique will reduce your energy demands and proper movement of the body (free of injury and restrictions) will also reduce those demands.

A fifth factor is a holistic approach from proper programming to rest and recovery through diet and sleep as well.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

I can't see swimming on a day that you're also weight training. I know I would find that difficult, and it could also be counterproductive.

The way to add swim days is to do shorter workouts some days. Presuming that your coached days are your hard days, you could add some much shorter days (1000 yds or less).

But, you could consider cross training on "leg-aerobics," instead, which could mean jogging, cycling, spin bike, elliptical, aerobics class, etc. on non-swim days. This rounds out your workouts and you might like it better. (That's what I do. It's fun.)

TicTacToo

Thanks for all the suggestions :-) I spoke with the swim coach and weights coach. Both have suggested I should do some rowing on non-swim days, so I did my first 1km on a rowing machine today. (Hey, the only way is up!) Also the weights coach has added some flys and chinup/dippy things into the mix. And when I pulled a face at the idea of machine-assisted dippy things at my body weight she did kinda tease me and say I'm probably fitter than I think.

Also I finally got the hang of proper body rotation for freestyle yesterday and it was a lightbulb moment. Swimming is massively easier when you're doing it right!

Jthanmyfitnesspal

I think an interesting aspect to swimming is that you can improve due to form as well as strength!

I wouldn't have particularly picked rowing for cross-training on swimming-- I'd pick something more specifically leg-oriented. If you pick jogging or spinning, for example, you can work toward aquathon or triathlon (lots of fun and easy community-level events). However, if you like rowing, do it!

AnnPT77

Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »

I think an interesting aspect to swimming is that you can improve due to form as well as strength!

I wouldn't have particularly picked rowing for cross-training on swimming-- I'd pick something more specifically leg-oriented. If you pick jogging or spinning, for example, you can work toward aquathon or triathlon (lots of fun and easy community-level events). However, if you like rowing, do it!

Rowing is a leg sport.

TicTacToo

And I have great legs