New to Swimming Laps

If you follow a structured program you'll amaze yourself with what you can accomplish, I could barely swim 100m when I signed up for my tri club's program. This year (in addition to a few triathlons) I did a 3km (approx 2 mi) swim in the Ottawa River.

Depending on how much time you have and how far you can swim right now you could start of with simply swimming one lap, resting 15 to 30 seconds depending on what you need, & repeat. After a couple of swims you could add a couple of 100m swims into the set and gradually build on that until you're swimming your goal distance.

Here's a link with some workout suggestions.

https://fitnessmagazine.com/workout/swimming/swimming-pool-workouts/

I also picked up this book through Amazon

https://amazon.ca/gp/product/1931382743/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Some pools will have kickboards & pull buoys available, some you may have to supply your own. A good set of goggles is worthwhile too. Persoanlly I'm partial to the Aqua Sphere Vista goggles, they have larger but very comfortable silicon skirt and I found them less claustrophobic for swimming in open water with poor visibility.

Have fun!

I'd say take your time for sure as when you are tired, form goes a bit to pot!
I started back at swimming around 3 years ago and was swimming 30 lengths (25m pool) in 35 minutes with breaststroke. Added 2 front crawl/freestyle and thought I would die. Each day I added a front crawl length. So I would be taking more breaks to recover and reset my form but swimming more front crawl 'in a row' if that makes sense. After few months I was at 30 front crawl solid in 25 mins.

Now, after increasing number of laps regularly and a couple of you tube tips about stroke I have done 5km in 1hr45 and my regular swim is 1km in 20mins. When I have more time in the mornings I do 2.5km and alternate using my hand fins and the pull buoy.

I still swim for enjoyment rather than pushing myself to get much faster though.

The pull buoy is good to get leg and body alignment while working your arms and I like the hand fins as they make it feel like you are just zooming through the water! (I was told to be careful with them when I started as using them with poor form can lead to shoulder issues.......fair warning! )

I truly benefited from stroke coaching at the start. It's amazing how much efficiency you pick up with small adjustments to your stroke. It's not like running, where you will develop your own natural stride. Swimming isn't all that natural!

Don't follow what I did. Ha!
First time I got back in the pool to try adding it for fitness I made 6 laps before getting exhausted. It was weeks before I tried again.
It took me about 2 years to get up to a mile. That was mainly because I was inconsistent.
Spent about a decade swimming a mile sporadically.
When my weight climbed over 300, I got motivated to change.
One thing that helped me rebuild my endurance and unproven my technique was zip fins. The first time I did 125 laps with the fins I decided it was time to wean myself of them.
A 90 video on the catchup drill helped me improve my stroke and decreased my stroke per length don't.
Today, I swim 4 miles a day before work when I'm home. Longer in weekends.
Did 10km yesterday at a 20m pool in Hangzhou China.
I've never been on a swim team. Never been particularly athletic. So I figure if I can build my swooning endurance, anybody can.
After all, anyone can do just one more lap.

BrianSharpe wrote: »

Some pools will have kickboards & pull buoys available, some you may have to supply your own. A good set of goggles is worthwhile too. Persoanlly I'm partial to the Aqua Sphere Vista goggles, they have larger but very comfortable silicon skirt and I found them less claustrophobic for swimming in open water with poor visibility.

Have fun!

Love Aquasphere goggles. Truly no fog. I've tried some more expensive brands but stick with Aquasphere now.
I ended up buying my own kick board and pull buoy on Amazon. Both are Speedo brand. The ones at my Y were in the small side.

Check out Roka jammers. They are the longest laying and midst durable jammer i have found.
Pull Buoy is kind of misnamed. It provides buoyancy to keep your legs up while you do drills that focus on upper body technique.

fishgutzy wrote: »

Pull Buoy is kind of misnamed. It provides buoyancy to keep your legs up while you do drills that focus on upper body technique.

Exactly. The purpose is to provide buoyancy when you do pull drills. If you are wearing shorts, they will naturally pull you down/create drag, all the more reason for the added buoyancy of the pull buoy. If your pool doesn't have pull buoys, you can always use a kickboard held between your thighs or calves.

Join out group here called: "Swimmers!".
Lot of advice for beginners and experienced swimmers.

Noting beats a stroke improvement/adult training swim program for improvement, focus and breaking the monotony of swimming laps. Plus doing the same thing as swimmers who are roughly the same speed saves you a whole truckload of lane rage. So much of swimming is about your stroke and efficiency (energy is expended propelling you forward rather than laterally). If that kind of program isn't an option, there are some good stroke improvement videos on youtube. I've been checking-in with some (and shoulder stability exercises) now that I've started back with a formalized training program after an injury.

From my own personal observation, adults who didn't competitive swim as kids struggle most with body positioning. For men, it seems to be sinking legs. Working on body position so your legs are high and you are kicking from your hips rather than your knees, is more important than building strength in your pull. Men tend to have the upper body strength to pull themselves through the water despite the sinking legs. If my lane mate could kick more from his hips he'd smoke me. Of course, I would no longer be able to recover on the kick sets as much.

Also don't be afraid of the other strokes. Try to at least incorporate some back and breast into your workouts to recruit different muscles and to break up the sets of free that everyone wants to do.

Good luck.