What Was Your Work Out Today?

Djproulx wrote: »

MikePfirrman wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

(snip)

I wish more people pushed their kids to swim at a young age. Not only for safety, but its a fairly low impact workout that can stay with us as we age. I see some real great swimmers who are in their 60s and 70s.

@Djproulx: Yes, endorsed - from a perspective of failure, in my case.

I can't blame my parents, who sent me to swimming lessons, and my aunt tried to do remedial help, but as a child - to my discredit - I wasn't having it. I still dislike swimming, maybe I would've disliked it even if better skilled, I don't know. I had to take adult learn-to-swim classes and then lap swim classes (in my 50s) to get myself to a point where I felt even barely competent at actually swimming freestyle. I wish I'd been less stupid about it as a child, honestly.

(To be clear, as a longtime canoeist/kayaker/rower, I've been adequate to save myself in the non-challenging water where I paddle/row, by swimming on my back. But my general swimming skills were terrible, and I wish it had been otherwise. They're still sub-par, and I try to practice some in off-season, but I've been avoiding the Y totally during the pandemic . . . which may be an excuse, in the case of visiting the pool. 🙄)

@Ann, understand that story. Many of my friends are terrific athletes who wish they could swim, or swim better. I'm in the latter camp. Swam for fun and took lessons as a kid, but never kept at it. The "refresher" lessons at 52 yrs old were humbling. Its such a technique driven activity, like golf.

Back around 10 years ago, not too long after I originally lost the weight, I wanted to get more into swimming. I never could get the breathing timing down -- but with that said, getting the breathing calm is what helps you understand your form better.

I cheated and used those Finis swim snorkels. Helps you to concentrate on your stroke. And if, like me, you're just wanting to swim for exercise, it wasn't necessary to swim without it, though it's a great transition piece for learning to swim laps again.

After relearning to swim laps, it isn't as hard to stay calm and work on your breathing timing without the fin.

Now that we have a pool in the backyard, I always kid my wife how can I even float again without a huge oversized pool noodle!

@Mike - Yes, many folks feel anxiety over breathing and that gets in the way of keeping your head down and focusing on staying long and flat in the water while pushing the water backwards (not down) with each stroke. I have a bunch of swim aids including the swim snorkel and use them regularly in my drill sets before the main swim. Allows me to concentrate on specific elements of the stroke without too much fatigue. (pull buoy, swim fins, hand paddles, snorkel).

For those who are real newbies or having trouble with head down breathing, a couple things that seem to work are 1) pull buoy between legs to stop legs from sinking and 2) repeating a mantra to yourself as a reminder not to hold your breath when head is in the water. The mantra I used when starting out was " Bubbles.....Bubbles.....Breathe" since I breathe bilaterally on every third stroke. So saying "bubbles" slowly during each stroke reminded me to exhale a constant, controlled stream of breathe into the water, and when I turned my head to breathe, the lungs would be empty so I didn't have to exhale then quickly gulp a mouthful of air.

The other thing that helped (and is silly to write!) was a trick to help new swimmers keep their legs straight and not bend the knees (knees bent =legs sink). The mental image to reinforce core tautness and straight posture was "Think of squeezing a coin between your butt cheeks and don't let it drop" because doing so forces glute activation and erect posture.

I wish I understood better what goes on with my swimming (technically): I don't seem to have trouble with the mechanics of breathing, or have stress/anxiety about it. (Like you, I breath on every 3rd stroke to alternate sides, exhaling in between.) But I feel very out of breath after about one length, so tend to alternate a length of freestyle, then a length of backstroke. My swim teachers worked with me on visible technical things like the legs straight and body, pushing against the water, etc.

I don't know whether I'm not getting enough air on the inhales, trying to go too fast (trust me, I'm slow in reality), or what. The last instructor I had (which was when my basic breathing mechanics were adequate enough that this problem showed up), seemed to think it was just aerobic capacity/conditioning. I know conditioning is sport-specific, but my aerobic capacity in other contexts isn't terrible, and this problem doesn't seem to improve with practice. 🤷‍♀️

shazmorgan wrote: »

I'm nowhere near as fit and active as the rest of you on this thread, but I'm getting there. 😉
My morning workout:
1 - 3.2km Interval run
2 - 9.6km brisk walk
3 - 1hr Iyenga yoga

Am aiming to achieve a minimum 5km full run, followed by 5km walk and 1.5hr yoga by the time we enter our Australian springtime.

No need to excuse your efforts. Someone will always be faster or slower more fit etc etc.. Important thing is what you do working for you? It’s refreshing to see folks of all ages putting in effort and sharing their experiences. Enjoy the community keep sharing with us and congrats on your efforts and future accomplishments.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Back on the stationary bike, the usual "whatever pace" easy-ish workout, little slower this time (94W 10K, 80W 3' CD after), Z3 and below but mostly Z2. I need to start remembering to turn on the ceiling fan: I'm hot, sweat insanely much even at low exertion like this . . . just genetics, I guess?

This followed a couple of hours of homeowner-type "functional fitness": One hour of humdrum rake/weed/prune, then an hour of pulling up to 30' or so Concord grape vines out of trees and hand-hauling them to the brush pile. Playing tug-of-war with entwined sturdy vines is surprisingly effortful! 😆 Obviously, I should keep up better with the chores in the woodsier bit at the back of my lot, to avoid future repeats.

I'm well versed in "functional fitness." I spend at least three hours a day doing housework. I'd much rather go diving or hiking. Doing the laundry just doesn't raise the endorphins. Ya know what I mean??

RaquelFit2 wrote: »

I'm well versed in "functional fitness." I spend at least three hours a day doing housework. I'd much rather go diving or hiking. Doing the laundry just doesn't raise the endorphins. Ya know what I mean??

My approach is to go diving or hiking and defer the housework. As a result, house is slightly chaotic. For example, my dining room is unusable for its original purpose. having a random mixture of scuba, caving and climbing equipment. I haven't eaten in it for at least 8 years. (I seem to be looking after some club and a friend's equipment as well as my own. So the tanks alone are three 15l tanks; three 12l tanks; one 2x12l twinset; one ali 80 stage; and a 3l pony.)

Yesterday was climbing. It was really good fun. I lasted 2 and a quarter hours. Normally, at the end of a mammoth session I don't get anything sensible, but I actually got a long-term project right at the end. There were two choices for the crux - a quick dyno; or a long and involved slightly bonkers static route. I'm terrible at dynos, so I got the static approach to work.

This morning, I did a quick (15 minute) run before work. I have no idea how far it was - normally Fitbit tells me, but it didn't this time.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

.....I don't know whether 1) I'm not getting enough air on the inhales, 2) trying to go too fast (trust me, I'm slow in reality), or what. The last instructor I had (which was when my basic breathing mechanics were adequate enough that this problem showed up), seemed to think it was just aerobic capacity/conditioning. 3) I know conditioning is sport-specific, but my aerobic capacity in other contexts isn't terrible, and this problem doesn't seem to improve with practice. 🤷‍♀️

@Ann, I'm no swim expert, but I've had some coaching and spend time with some good swimmers. With that disclaimer, a few thoughts that may or may not be helpful:

In most freestyle swimming (not 25 meter sprints) the following concept applies "Slow is smooth and smooth is efficient." And efficient becomes fast with volume and intensity.

Your post leads me to believe that your mechanics are generally good enough so that you might be categorized as an "advanced beginner" or "emerging intermediate" swimmer. As a reference point, I'm thinking about how we group swimmers in our tri club swim clinics (30-35 swimmers). We divide swimmers into 3 groups. Lanes 1&2=beginners, Lanes 3&4 = intermediate, Lanes 5&6 = advanced. Inside each group the weaker swimmers are in the lower numbered lanes and move up as they progress.

The reason for this background is that I see similarities among swimmers in each lane. So if you are a lane two swimmer, you'd typically be swimming with your head mostly in a decent position, have a decent arm stroke(high elbows on return, fingers enter water first on the reach, leg kicks are ok but not strong, etc.) and your breathing is mostly rhythmic. What is also noticeable is that you are not yet fast and your ability to swim any distance is rudimentary at best. This is normal, because in learning to swim its ALL ABOUT FORM. If you continue to try to crank out distance when your form degrades, you are reinforcing bad habits and therefore doing yourself a disservice.

So my gut feeling is that your coach's observation is right. Regarding my bolded comments, I believe #1 and #2 might both be in play and are related. To test this, try swimming with a pull buoy held between your legs, so that you don't have to expend any energy to remain afloat. That way, the only effort needed is to move yourself forward with your arm strokes. Can you swim several lengths breathing easily while using a pull buoy? Are your breaths coming easily? Could you breath every 5 or 7 strokes while swimming with a pull buoy? If so, then it may be a case of not getting enough air either from your breathing cadence or from working too hard.

Regarding #3, I found this frustrating, since I thought I had reasonable capacity, but swimming takes quite a bit of volume in order to make noticeable improvements. I found that swimming twice/week allows me to maintain conditioning, but a third swim is needed in order for me to improve endurance.

Pool swim today. 600 yd misc warmups, then 10 x100 on 10 sec recovery. 200 cooldown w/pull
buoy. 1800 total.

MikePfirrman wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

Pool swim today. 600 yd misc warmups, then 10 x100 on 10 sec recovery. 200 cooldown w/pull
buoy. 1800 total.

Ha, I had a very similar workout today. 10 X 100m on the rower w/ one minute rest (just much longer recovery!). It was my Indoor Rowing club's CTC (cross team challenge). Only in name -- yours was much harder!

Kind of a fun one -- not too taxing or brutal. Just more of a measure of strength. I started too slow (1:40 on first one) -- rest were from 1:35 down to 1:33 pace. Finished at 1:35.2 avg (slightly over 400 Watt Avg). Fast for a novice -- slow for my club. Most of the men in my club are around lower to mid 1:20 Avg and we have at least two women under 1:30 average (one is the strongest indoor rowing 40 to 50 year old female in the US). [b]I don't feel bad at all losing to some of the women in my club. They are ridiculously strong.[/b] Might do this one again for fun.

Did a 1K warmup on the rower and 20 minutes after on the LateralX as a Cooldown.

Sounds like a lot of fun. And you have the same "problem" that I face - We're hanging around with the wrong crowd.

My most frequent training partners are two women in their forties. One was a D1 swimmer in college and the other one has qualified again this year for the USA Triathlon Nationals in the 40-44 age group. These women can really move and their gas tanks are never empty. I think they only hang with me for comic relief. The good news is that we make a formidable triathlon relay team as long as I don't screw up the bike leg, lol.

dralicephd wrote: »

I did another 50 min., 3 mile elliptical session. Apparently I'm a little tired today: for the same pace as Wednesday, my heart rate was higher. Bodies are weird.

Anyway, today is my strength training day, but I limited my routine to upper body stuff. I figured that since the effort of 3 miles was a little harder today, it would probably be prudent to not overtax my quads (and re-injure myself).

It could be the weather. (I did a pretty crappy workout today so I'm not even going to post it here.) However, my back is feeling much better so I'll have something substantial to post tomorrow.

Djproulx wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

.....I don't know whether 1) I'm not getting enough air on the inhales, 2) trying to go too fast (trust me, I'm slow in reality), or what. The last instructor I had (which was when my basic breathing mechanics were adequate enough that this problem showed up), seemed to think it was just aerobic capacity/conditioning. 3) I know conditioning is sport-specific, but my aerobic capacity in other contexts isn't terrible, and this problem doesn't seem to improve with practice. 🤷‍♀️

@Ann, I'm no swim expert, but I've had some coaching and spend time with some good swimmers. With that disclaimer, a few thoughts that may or may not be helpful:

In most freestyle swimming (not 25 meter sprints) the following concept applies "Slow is smooth and smooth is efficient." And efficient becomes fast with volume and intensity.

Your post leads me to believe that your mechanics are generally good enough so that you might be categorized as an "advanced beginner" or "emerging intermediate" swimmer. As a reference point, I'm thinking about how we group swimmers in our tri club swim clinics (30-35 swimmers). We divide swimmers into 3 groups. Lanes 1&2=beginners, Lanes 3&4 = intermediate, Lanes 5&6 = advanced. Inside each group the weaker swimmers are in the lower numbered lanes and move up as they progress.

The reason for this background is that I see similarities among swimmers in each lane. So if you are a lane two swimmer, you'd typically be swimming with your head mostly in a decent position, have a decent arm stroke(high elbows on return, fingers enter water first on the reach, leg kicks are ok but not strong, etc.) and your breathing is mostly rhythmic. What is also noticeable is that you are not yet fast and your ability to swim any distance is rudimentary at best. This is normal, because in learning to swim its ALL ABOUT FORM. If you continue to try to crank out distance when your form degrades, you are reinforcing bad habits and therefore doing yourself a disservice.

So my gut feeling is that your coach's observation is right. Regarding my bolded comments, I believe #1 and #2 might both be in play and are related. To test this, try swimming with a pull buoy held between your legs, so that you don't have to expend any energy to remain afloat. That way, the only effort needed is to move yourself forward with your arm strokes. Can you swim several lengths breathing easily while using a pull buoy? Are your breaths coming easily? Could you breath every 5 or 7 strokes while swimming with a pull buoy? If so, then it may be a case of not getting enough air either from your breathing cadence or from working too hard.

Regarding #3, I found this frustrating, since I thought I had reasonable capacity, but swimming takes quite a bit of volume in order to make noticeable improvements. I found that swimming twice/week allows me to maintain conditioning, but a third swim is needed in order for me to improve endurance.

@Djproulx, thank you for this: I appreciate the tips, and it's reassuring that my swimming may not be permanently broken in some way! 😆 I'm not sure when I'll get back to the Y pool, but when I do I'll check to see if they have pull buoys. My Y has a tri team, so I wouldn't be surprised if they do. (I'd take one of their swim classes, but they tend to be overbooked with the tri folks!)