Lap Swimming?

[WVDiver]

Lap swimming is good exercise and you get out of it what you put into it, as coach_izzy has alluded to. When I swim I usually swim a mile, three or five times a week. Start slow and build up to a distance you think is good for you. When you reach that goal then you can start timing yourself and try to better your time each session. This will give you great cardiovascular exercise, make you stronger and really increase your stamina.

Enjoy

PS - Nice pup.

 

[lowwall]

Nice picture. Do you really have people circle swimming clockwise? I've never seen it, but I've only done lap swimming in the U.S. and Europe. Maybe things change when you cross the equator

Kickboards... That reminds me, get a pair of cheap full foot flippers (you don't want your good fins and booties to suffer through regular exposure to chlorinated water). You might as well take the pool time to practice something directly transferable to diving.

I was so inspired by this thread, i went to my building's pool yesterday and played with the frog kick and helo turns.

Alex

 

[cyklon_300]

Do you really have people circle swimming clockwise?

yeah, I've never seen it either...why different directions for different speeds, doesn't make any sense to me...DSFDF...

I recommend Zoomer swim fins...they have a very short blade which reduces the mechanical advantage and gives you a better workout. People that try to kickboard with just their feet are usually really slow...the fins will let you keep your pace up with other swimmers if you're circling.

 

[whatdecostop?]

Yep, I can confirm we swim clockwise down here !!!
We swim in different speed lanes @ different directions to offset the troughs and peaks.....not !!!! Hey, haven't you heard the water goes down the toilet in the opposite direction down here LOL !!!!!

 

[stiebs]

Here in Aus every pool I swim in is in a clockwise direction - slow, medium and fast lanes alike.
I do a bit of swim training for underwater hockey, and I can certainly notice the difference in my fitness and stamina when I am training compared to when I'm being slack (like now!)
Warmup is generally with swim goggles and no fins, but the majority of the swim session is with dive mask, snorkel and closed-heel fins (Technisub Alas - the Jetfins of the underwater hockey world. Pity they don't make them anymore)

But you most definately need to swim to a program that pushes you. Here is one of the cardio sessions that I have used in the past. If you struggle, just keep pushing as hard as you can, and just try to improve each time.

Warm up:
300m mixed stroke, no fins
500m freestyle, fins

Set One:
10 x 100m on 90secs, alternate bouncing and freestyle

Set Two:
6 x 150m on 2mins 30secs:
50m bouncing, 50m free, 50m kick

Set Three:
20 x 25m with 20 secs rest in between:
4 x 12.5m hard, 12.5m easy
4 x hard
4 x 12.5m easy, 12.5m hard
4 x easy
4 x breath hold

Cool Down:
200m freestyle

That's a total session of just under 4km, which should take between an hour and an hour and a half at full fitness.
Bouncing means 3 kicks on the surface, 3 underwater
100m on 90secs means if it takes you 60 secs to swim 100m, you get a 30 sec rest. If it takes you 85secs, you only get a 5 sec rest.

 

[chip104]

Nice picture. Do you really have people circle swimming clockwise? I've never seen it, but I've only done lap swimming in the U.S. and Europe. Maybe things change when you cross the equator

yeah, I've never seen it either...why different directions for different speeds, doesn't make any sense to me...DSFDF...

Usually to keep the water flow sane and less choatic, the pools with a lot of lanes (6-8+) I've been to will have the middle lanes going as unidirectional as possible. Less chance of getting a mouth full of water when you turn your head to the side. Here's another pic:

But I'm from Canada and I've noticed that the other SBer's are from Australia and South Africa, so maybe it's a commonwealth thing... (what does DSFDF stand for?)


froop, you should start a thread titled: "ask me about underwater hockey..." . You don't play underwater rugby as well do you?

 

[lowwall]

DSDF - [the] catch phrase, "diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks," popularized by rock band Sly & The Family Stone with their 1968 hit "Everyday People."

Interesting pattern. Seems like a solution searching for a problem though. I swam competitively for years and don't remember any difficulties with waves from the neighboring lanes. Wouldn't the person going the opposite direction in your own lane have a greater effect?

I played water polo, including for the now defunct UC Riverside Highlanders, but I've never seen underwater rugby and never even heard of underwater hockey.

Alex

 

[stiebs]

froop, you should start a thread titled: "ask me about underwater hockey..." . You don't play underwater rugby as well do you?

Now that just sounds like setting myself up for a lot of question-answering. But if someone else started a thread "Tell me about underwater hockey" I might pipe in..

And no, I don't play underwater rugby. Certainly heard of it, but I don't know of anyone that plays it locally.

 

[sunnyboy]

I have used swimming to lose weight three times in my life (including the current one)!

Most important: exercise alone may make you fitter, and will almost always be beneficial, but unless you modify your diet as well, you will most likely NOT lose weight by exercise alone. In fact, changing fat to muscle can add weight, as muscle is denser (heavier) than the equivelent amount of fat.

That said, swimming is an excellent way to lose weight - especially if you are more that just a few pounds overweight. Another poster said "the buoyancy of water negates the effect of gravity" (or words to that effect). This is correct, but NOT a negative when you need to lose weight. The hardest thing for beginning weight loss is avoiding injury, and so many other exercises can injure "large" people. Knees and running are the worst for "those losing weight" (though ankles get a beating too).

In the pool, you are pretty much weightless. The only resistance to motion is the water, which is considerable. BUT - you control how fast you move, so you can start easy and work up to more difficult.

I will assume for the moment you CAN swim but aren't "great". In the beginning, start with 1-2 lengths. If you can't make 1 length, then go as far as you can, standing up if you need a rest. Make goals and work towards them. For example, make it a first goal to do a full length without stopping. Once you achieve that, make it 2 lengths with just a quick turnaround. Eventually, try for sets of 4 lengths. Eventually, you want to work towards a goal of 1km (40 lengths in a 25m pool). This is pretty much a great "training / conditioning / weight loss" goal.

In order to lose substantial weight, you need to swim a lot. When I am going for big losses, I need to swim 1km (40 lengths in a 25m pool) two-three times a week. Any less and I just maintain whatever weight I'm at.

Four lengths is still a good set. Try to vary the stroke and power, "resting" on the first 2 lengths, then increasing effort on #3 and really going "all out" on length 4. You'd be surprised at how much this can speed you up.

Also - get a waterproof watch with a timer, and time some portion of your workout. I always time my "non-stop" set (whether 12 lengths or 40). Keep a record of this as it can help monitor your progress. Your goal is to stay the same or get better with time.

More in another post...

Cheers,

-Richard

 

[sunnyboy]

As I said in my previous post, you need to swim 2-3 times a week to really lose weight.

I also said I used this method together with changed diet to lose weight 3 times in the past.

In 1990, I was 250lbs, 5'7". WAAY too fat. I started swimming according to what I've posted. At first, it was all I could do to swim 1 length. Then 2, then 4. However, within a month I was able to do 16 without stopping. At that point, going 3 times a week, I was losing weight rather nicely.

Eventually, I was swimming 1 mile per session, 3 times a week. Final weight by that point was 185lbs. At that point I felt good enough to begin other fitness stuff - weight training, land cardio, etc.

Left the downtown, did other stuff, no pool handy. By 1998 I was 225lbs, still 5'7" (why does only the weight change? Why can't we just get taller?).

Started swimming again at the college where I was teaching. This time I was able to start with 16 lengths, VERY slow. Kept at it, and was back to 1km (again, 3 times a week) within 1 month. This time, after 3 months my weight was down to 190.

I also tried the conditioning swim classes. Awesome workout, but VERY intense. Swim 2 lengths, out of the pool, 10 pushups, 10 situps, 10 backward-arm-thingys (I really don't know the name of them), then back in the pool for 2 more lenghts. DO this for 30 minutes. YOW!

Left the college, went sedentary again. Back to 220lbs by 1994. So, back to the pool. THis time the weight isn't coming off as fast as I'm only going once a week. Doing 24 lengths, but followed by something called "deep water workout". Weight currently holding at 212, but very slowly going down.

More on the deep water workout in next post...

Cheers,

-R