Swimming

arcana7609
arcana7609 Posts: 212 Member
edited November 23 in Fitness and Exercise
Last week I started swimming regularly. I swam 122 laps or 3.6 miles over five days. I tried to do a half mile a day. I did some water Aerobics in there as well. It was the intermediate class, but it didn't really seem to do anything, or wasn't challenging. I feel like I get more out of doing laps. This week I have swam a mile every day. My goal is to end up with 5 miles for the week. Next week I'm going to add some strength training in the exercise room. What machines should I work on and how many reps? I don't want to injure myself. Any advice is appreciated. Also, the calories burned seem really high to me.

Replies

  • ephiemarie
    ephiemarie Posts: 264 Member
    First of all, your swim mileage is amazing! I swam 7 miles total for the MONTH in August, and I'm currently training for a triathlon.

    My first thought when I read your post was, "Uh oh, watch the shoulders!" Swimming can be really, really hard on the shoulder joints, so upper body work in the weight room would be helpful in avoiding injuries. I'm sure others on here can give you ideas as to how many reps, etc.

    It's hard to know how accurate the calories are for you, but for me personally, MFP is generally 30% too high in its estimates, sometimes more.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Wow! I am impressed. I started swimming in the pool a few months ago, and the first week, I started with just 500 meters per day, which was all I could manage while trying to figure out how to properly breathe while swimming laps. I have doubled that, but it has taken me 4 months. So, well done :)
    I am new in swimming, so I have no idea what is the best strength training routine to complement swimming. I was strength training long before I started swimming and I do a whole body routine, with free weights. I do have a few close friends and relatives who are seriously into swimming, one of them a competitive athlete, and their strength training routine is mostly body weight exercises. I go to the pool currently right before the local girls polo team session, and from what I have seen they start too with a bodyweight routine, TRX-based.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    ephiemarie wrote: »
    First of all, your swim mileage is amazing! I swam 7 miles total for the MONTH in August, and I'm currently training for a triathlon.

    My first thought when I read your post was, "Uh oh, watch the shoulders!" Swimming can be really, really hard on the shoulder joints,
    Same here - are you doing the same stroke every time, OP? Switch it up if you have the ability to do that, or use a kickboard now and then. Google shoulder (& scapular) stability exercises (eg scapular wall slides) - look for "prehab" or "injury prevention" "exercises for shoulder". Good for you for thinking long-term :)
  • arcana7609
    arcana7609 Posts: 212 Member
    edited September 2015
    I found out my membership I get a free 1 hour session with a trainer so I will ask them. Thank you to all 3 of you for the encouragement!! I mix my strokes, front crawl, dog paddle, side stroke, back stroke, mostly I do what I call the polar bear crawl. It takes me 90 minutes to swim a mile. I am an inefficient swimmer, which is why ok they say you burn more calories when you suck.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited September 2015
    arcana7609 wrote: »
    I found out my membership I get a free 1 hour session with a trainer so I will ask them. Thank you to all 3 of you for the encouragement!! I mix my strokes, front crawl, dog paddle, side stroke, back stroke, mostly I do what I call the polar bear crawl. It takes me 90 minutes to swim a mile. I am an inefficient swimmer, which is why ok they say you burn more calories when you suck.

    haha, yeah, that's a bonus :) i'm not a fantastic swimmer myself, and can only do a limited number of modified movements, currently. if you have full range of motion and no current issues, though, it might be worth taking a couple of lessons to improve your technique, which can also help protect your joints. most community pools offer group and even private lessons for adults, you could do just a couple one-off classes.
  • arcana7609
    arcana7609 Posts: 212 Member
    edited September 2015
    I did the mile in 77 minutes today! I ended with 235 laps for the week, 6.7 miles. My goal for next week is 10 miles. Fitness pal says I burned 15,717 calories this week with 759 minutes of swimming, so take 30% off that? Keep in mind I weigh around 400lbs. So that's why my calorie burn is so high
  • rbakedq
    rbakedq Posts: 142 Member
    If the place you swim has it get involved in the Masters Swim Program. I did when I was training for triathlons many moons ago, but it made all the difference. I started early in my swim training and had very good coaching. By starting early, you have less bad habits to break. Swimming well is a lot about form, thus the importance of good coaching.
  • arcana7609
    arcana7609 Posts: 212 Member
    rbakedq wrote: »
    If the place you swim has it get involved in the Masters Swim Program. I did when I was training for triathlons many moons ago, but it made all the difference. I started early in my swim training and had very good coaching. By starting early, you have less bad habits to break. Swimming well is a lot about form, thus the importance of good coaching.

    thanks I'll look into that! Sounds fun. I've bee swimming for 43 years so going to have quite a few bad habits to break lol

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I was also going to recommend the masters swim program. I do that now, for triathlon training, and having drills and some stroke coaching REALLY helps. I was a pretty strong (as in good endurance) swimmer with poor technique before and would get bored/frustrated at how slow I was just doing laps. Having drills and things to work on makes it more fun to me.

    I don't coordinate my strength training with swimming, but general strength training is super helpful. I'd suggest investing in something like New Rules of Lifting for Women (or for Life, which is a more updated program for both sexes) and following it. Or the basic StrongLifts 5x5 lifts are great too.
  • arcana7609
    arcana7609 Posts: 212 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I was also going to recommend the masters swim program. I do that now, for triathlon training, and having drills and some stroke coaching REALLY helps. I was a pretty strong (as in good endurance) swimmer with poor technique before and would get bored/frustrated at how slow I was just doing laps. Having drills and things to work on makes it more fun to me.

    I don't coordinate my strength training with swimming, but general strength training is super helpful. I'd suggest investing in something like New Rules of Lifting for Women (or for Life, which is a more updated program for both sexes) and following it. Or the basic StrongLifts 5x5 lifts are great too.


    That sounds exactly what I am looking for. I have endurance, but I am very very slow.

  • asciom16
    asciom16 Posts: 29 Member
    Hello, I'm a former college distance swimmer and congratulations on not only swimming the mile but taking that much time off of it as well :) I agree with the stated above, finding a masters program and a coach. They'll be able to give you what's called a set which is basically your workout for the session. The sets vary in times and distance and mix things up as swimming nothing but laps can get boring quickly. If you want I can message you some of my workouts and help you tailor them to your speeds :)

  • arcana7609
    arcana7609 Posts: 212 Member
    Thanks I'd like that!
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