Swimming

ashleyisdoingit

Hello MFP World:)

I have been swimming to get my body in good enough shape to run for more than 2 minutes. Swimming has been the best exercise I have done! Swimming laps and using pool weights have been very helpful for me! Are there any other swimmers out there? Does anyone have any good pool exercises to do? I am not sure how many laps to swim or how long to swim. I am usually in the pool until I get really tired and can't move my arms anymore. Not sure if this is good or bad?

Sending out positive vibes to all!

-Ashley

Skye_NS

Hi Ashley,

Swimming is great. It sounds like you are working hard. I'm a complete newbie in the pool - only 2 classes left in basics then I move to strokes class when my gym starts the summer sessions. I reached my goal of starting lane swims a couple weeks ago and love it so far. It's not pretty... but I'm doing it. :blushing: Hopefully the next group of lessons to help me put some style into my freestyle and add some speed as well! lol

Is swimming your main workout right now? I decided to learn so I can swim during my 'off days' in the gym. Maybe you could join an aquafit or aqua zumba class to add some variety. Best of luck with your swimming and running goals! I wish I had some real advice to add other than keep pushing yourself, have fun with it & stay safe in the water! When you decide to start running take it slow at first. Maybe look up the couch to 5k or beginning runner's workout.

I hope you get some great answers from more experienced swimmers.

holly1283

I'm an oldster not young like you are. 62. Anyway my main exercise is swimming. I now swim 1 mile(1600M) 3x a week and have and aqua zumba class once a week. I have no desire to run so I can't help you in that dept. However, this is how I started. I swam 300M and it took me pretty long in time. The fall of that year I joined the Y and started at 500 M in about 50 minutes. Slow I know! After about a month to 6 weeks I added another 100M for the same amount of time. This was all freestyle. I kept adding by 100M increments until I hit the mile in the same amount of time. Then I added some breast stroke and finally one length of as fast as I could go at the end of my freestyle 6 times during the workout. My latest routine is 75Mbreast, 50M freestyle with 25M freestyle fast. I alternate this way so that I can rest on my brest stroke and add another 100M breast to finish off the mile. It has taken me 1 and 3/4 year to this point. BTW when I added the breast stroke it took me more time. I can't do that in the 50+ minutes. I love it. I wish you well.

aperrillioux

Hey!

I think swimming till your arms are exhausted is a great amount of time to swim. I have a hard time focusing in the pool, which is why I joined a summer adult league. At practices, we stay in for an hour. Usually, I get to the point where I don't feel like I can finish, but I do. And I love that feeling of exhaustion. However, what I really wanted to tell you is that I don't think building up your swimming endurance/strength will help with your running. The only real way to improve with running is to start. Now, if you're swimming to lose weight before you start running, that makes sense. But swimming and then expecting running to be easier will probably not be the case. Your lungs might be stronger but these sports use completely different muscles. Anyway, both are great so just enjoy it!! =D

ashleyisdoingit

Hey aperrillioux! Thanks for your reply:)

I am swimming to lose weight so I can start running. I am too scared to start running with all of this weight and hurt my knees and ankles again. I love swimming so much more than running though do I feel like keeping with it as the weight comes off. I started with the elliptical and I was exhausted after a mile which was only 13 minutes of working out. In the pool, I am using muscles I didn't even know I had and feel like the water resistance is really helping me! Joining an adult league sounds like a great idea! I hope I can get to that point:)

Good luck to you and I appreciate your advice!

ashleyisdoingit

Wow holly1283! You are a wonder woman! I am so impressed with your workout. I will have to try to pace myself and work up my meters as you do. You are an inspiration! Congrats on the 77 lost pounds. Keep it up! Thank you for your advice. I am really going to try to start going for the mile. I will have to work myself up to that, but hopefully I will get there:)

Good luck to you!

ashleyisdoingit

Thank you for your reply, Skye_NS!

Swimming is my main workout right now. I have had some past injuries with my knees and ankles so having all this extra weight puts too much pressure on them to do any running. I was hoping to shed some pounds so I can start the elliptical again and start running a few times a week but I get such a great workout in the pool and I am hooked! After I lose about 50 pounds I will start doing other exercises outside of the pool but for now I am getting used to working out again and swimming has been great:) It sounds like you have a great routine going as well! Keep it up!

bullsfan22

Swimming rocks! I am in the same boat as you, with certain heel injuries I have went away from running as my main form of cardio and only do that about 3x a week. I currently swim 6-7 days usually after work to relax, it is a total body exercise and one of the best in my opinion as it is very easy to do once learned and can provide pain free (besides muscle aches) cardio.

One tip my instructor taught me was engaging your core more for a better ab workout while doing any stroke, however if you want to target it more try dolphin kick with a kick board, really just push your abs as hard as possible, it works better than crunches and aren't as hard on the back.

Don't let it turn into "I have to go swimming because it is my exercise for the day" I try to think of it as my way to relax after work, quick 30-45 min swim usually helps me sleep better too.

ashleyisdoingit

Thanks for the advice bullsfan22! I do about 45 minutes after work too. It is very relaxing and I have been sleeping like a baby! I am definitely going to stick with swimming. So far I feel like it has helped me a ton.

Good luck to you!

Skye_NS

Thank you for your reply, Skye_NS!

Swimming is my main workout right now. I have had some past injuries with my knees and ankles so having all this extra weight puts too much pressure on them to do any running. I was hoping to shed some pounds so I can start the elliptical again and start running a few times a week but I get such a great workout in the pool and I am hooked! After I lose about 50 pounds I will start doing other exercises outside of the pool but for now I am getting used to working out again and swimming has been great:) It sounds like you have a great routine going as well! Keep it up!

I have so many things I want to say. lol I understand your concern about adding stress to your joints. I used to be very active as a kid. I was on the volleyball team but my first love was Track & Field. I loved, loved, loved sprinting... and long jump... and even discus & shot-put. I wasn't overly skilled in any but they were my passion. Then I started getting severe shin splints & knee pains. Looking back, I think it was mostly growing pains & really *really* cheap running shoes. Long story short, I ended up quitting all of the teams by the time I hit high school, leaving me with pick up touch football games and floating on the lake in the summer as my exercise. The other reason I can really relate is because of my mom. Looking at her is like looking into a mirror that shows the future. She is me in 20 years if I don't get this weight down. I'm the same size as she used to be at about the same age. Before I started working out, my movements were starting to be very much like hers: it hurt to get out of the bed in the morning; it took about a dozen steps to get from seated position (especially from the floor) to fully up-right; my feet hurt every morning, like all the muscles and tendons shrunk over night.... I could go on... but I won't. My mom managed to lose a lot of weight in the last 10 years but sadly, a lot of damage has been already done. She had to have a knee replacement & needs the other one done. She also has major issues with her back. I love my mom and it breaks my heart to see her go through all of this - especially when I don't live close enough to help her out. It feels insensitive to say it but I don't want to be her - at least not physically. I had my son later in life that she had me, I don't want to be a creaky old mom chasing little man through the park when he is 5 or 10. I want to be a physically fit old mom! LOL

When hubby & I joined the gym we were clueless about where to start so we signed up for a intro program where the trainer set us up with a program and we met with her 4 times a month to discuss different things health/fitness wise. It really helped. I went from dying after 5 mins on the elliptical to being able to do 30 min plus the routine she designed on the weight machines. For our last meeting we did measurements again, talked about fitness goals and she designed new individual programs for us. This one really kicks my butt - Agility ladder, dumb bells, running stairs... but, it's also so much fun! It takes me back to the awesome workouts I used to pull off when I was much younger (and smaller). If you can sign up to a program like that, its called Face2Face at my gym, do it. It's so worth it.

It's great to hear that you are getting hooked on your pool workout! I look forward to my class every week and usually try to sneak a swim in at least one other day. My son is 2.5 and loves the pool, so sneaking means I have to drop him off at child care, run to change & swim for as long as possible, "dry off", run back to get him and then play in the leisure pool for another hour or so with him. It's lots of fun but A LOT of work.

Keep at what you are doing and you'll be seeing results in no time!

alfmaster

I am a runner myself who is just starting to swim to prepare for my first triathlon but my 11 year old son is on a swim team and they occasionally have to do their own workout when the coach is not available so we get the e-mailed workout. Here is a sample and maybe you can create your own workout based on this based on your skill level (as a note, this is in yards (a regulation pool set up the short way) not meters (a regulation pool set up the long way) so if the pool you are swimming in is meters, adjust appropriately):

Warm-Up
400 Free
300 IM
200 Kick Choice (*this means only kick using whichever stroke kick you want to do and use a kick board*)
100 Underwater

Set # 1
6 x 100 Free on 1:45 - keep it long and smooth (focus on steady kick)

Set # 2
12 x 50 Choice (25 Drill/25 Build to fast finish) on :60

16 x 25 on :45

1.) Underwater or No Breath Free
2.) Sprint Choice
3.) Kick on Back Choice
4.) Free (1/2 pool sprint, 1/2 pool easy)
*Repeat x 4*

Cool Down
4 x 75 (Kick/Drill/Swim by 25) Choice on 1:30

Total Yards: 2900

I myself can only do the back and free style so the IM becomes a switch between the two strokes.

Good luck!