Swimming Workout Suggestions

abbeyjones1994
abbeyjones1994 Posts: 188 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello all!

I am a sophomore in college and am looking to join my school's club swim team. I have been working out consistently for a few months now, but I know swimming is a whole different ballgame. I haven't swam competitively in a really long time, and am just looking for some suggestions of pool workouts to ease myself back into swimming before actual club practice starts in a few weeks. Luckily at club swim practice, there are different levels of difficulty of the workouts, so if anything I can start at the lowest level and work my way up, but I don't want to go into it not having been in the water in years.

I am hoping to swim 3x/week to start out, and do land workouts 3x/week as well.

Thanks! :)

Replies

  • cuckoo_jenibeth
    cuckoo_jenibeth Posts: 1,434 Member
    I enjoy my water aerobics class & have incorporated Styrofoam weights into the routines & bypass the kickboards, relying on core strength during all leg exercises. Stay too deep to touch bottom so that you have to work non-stop to stay head & shoulders out of the water. Sometimes I look like Frankenstein with my arms held straight out as I bicycle walk the width & back over & over, but BIG difference in work load!
  • onlyboys1
    onlyboys1 Posts: 6
    Honestly, I think you just have to jump in and do it. (A little swimming humor there!). Competitive swimming skills will probably come back to you pretty easily, if you've done the drill before. I would definitely suggest joining a master swim class, with folks who swim for exercise. When I was beginning again, I told myself I would swim for 30 minutes (freestyle and breast) at a comfy pace and work up from there. It was a very short period of time before I was swimming for an hour without stopping. Hope this helps.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    1. Find a pool
    2. Get in the pool
    3. Swim
    4. Swim longer
    5. Swim faster.
    6. Repeat as necessary
  • merisaOct3
    merisaOct3 Posts: 197 Member
    Just swim. Lots of laps. 100m/y of each stroke, then maybe 25 m/y free sprints, then whatever else you want. Mix long distance with sprint work. Get a watch so you can start timing yourself, pacing your rests between sprints. Watch youtube videos of swimming for form. Google "swimming workouts" - tons of stuff pops up.
  • onefortyone
    onefortyone Posts: 531 Member
    I trained on a team for many many years (as a child/pre-teen) and our workouts were usually:

    15 lengths freestyle to warm up
    4 lengths medley (1 x back, 1 x breast, 1x fly 1 x free) and then do that 4 times, for 12 lengths total
    4 lengths freestyle with a pull buoy
    4 lengths with a kick-board
    4 lengths medley again
    4 lengths front-crawl sprints (as fast as you can)
    15 lengths freestyle to cool down

    Usually took about an hour. But we were kids, that might not be suitable for an adult team, but it could ease you back into it :)

    Take a sports bottle of water/gatorade and keep it on the side of the pool within reach!

    Good luck!
  • pepin1224
    pepin1224 Posts: 21 Member
    I started by doing easy sets until i got used to the water again.

    200 free
    200 breast
    200 back

    200 free kick
    200 breast kick
    200 back kick

    100 fly (sprint)

    then I repeat as many times as I can.

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