Swimming to stay in shape for diving-- best types of strokes?

[hellhole]

well.. apart from swimming.. running in the water is good too... aqua running

Aqua Running, running in water

 

[vincent54]

freestyle will be the strongest stroke. Breaststroke is hard on knees. End workouts with hypoxics. Swimming will bore you to death after a while, stay focused. The bad thing about swimming in pools are the floating things you encounter. Some look like jellyfish, but I know they aren't. have fun

 

[Quero]

I try to swim every day I'm not diving. I'm guessing I swim for about a mile. I use a mask and snorkel since that's the nearest to breathing through a regulator, and I do breast strokes since the leg motion is nearest to my typical finning style while on scuba. I also use my arms since I want decent upper body strength for carrying gear and tanks. I do find it pretty boring, but it's hot here and it's a lot more pleasant than running in this climate.

 

[blue steal]

I swim 3-4 times a week in a 50 meter pool.
I like to swim by time, gave up counting laps long ago as I never could remember what lap I was on. It is good to get a routine, warm up maybe 10 minutes, then drills 20-40 minutes, then a cool down 10 minutes. I do about 15 minutes using short fins. This builds up your leg muscles and may prevent cramps out in the ocean. Also part of my drill is an underwater swim, one breath, for as far as you can.
However you do it, have fun with it, mix up the strokes, use a kickboard and leg buoy.

 

[Gilchristz]

I have been swimming for several years competitively and for triathalons . Im no longer competing in swimming but i still swim 3-5 times a week depending on my schedule. I never learned to count laps over 20 its just to much to think about. I prefer to mix up the distances and do several short distances like 50,100, and maybe 200s fast to work on my anaerobic fitness than ill do the same but kicking an than go back to 100, 200, or 500 a little bit slower than before to work on aerobic and repeat with kick. I think by doing several repetitive short distances with a goal time is the key for at least me to stay focused and not fall in to the lap after lap boardem. Mixing up strokes also helps but breast stroke kick hurts my knees after about 400 yards of it.

 

[covediver]

The Summer 2012 issue of DAN's Alert Diver presents a swim training sample workout as part of the Swim Training for Scuba Divers by Gary Hall. After reading the article, I decided to try the sample workout. I am an avid swimmer, swimming with fins and freestyle (the crawl) aon average twice a week; sometimes on my own and usually with my Master's swim club. The workout I adopted for myself consists of the following (distances are in meters or yards depending on which way they have the lanes going at the local pool where I swim):

200 easy warm up swim
50 x 8 swim with 15 seconds rest between each
Kick against the wall for 45 seconds with 15 seconds rest for five cycles
100 easy swim
25 x 8 underwater (I do mine on the minute which means I am on the surface at the end for twice as long as the swim takes)
50 x 4 kick with fins fast (my interval is 1:15)
50 x 4 freestyle with fins fast (my interval is 10 minute)
200 easy warm down swim

This is a 1500 yard/meter swim just under a mile. It took me about 45 minutes.

i swim freestyle, it is the stroke that all other strokes wish they could be!

 

[sealionesse]

Thanks! You know, I have that issue of Alert Diver too (guess I need to read it). I tend to breathe though my nose when swimming (I don't bother to lift my mouth out of the water). Even underwater I twist around, breath out though my nose, and then go to the surface belly up so only my nose is out of the water to breathe in before twist back and dive down. I've done that for years--years before I was even a diver. So that's something I need to work on.

I did have some fun putting my boots and fins on in the pool the other day. I felt like a rocket! I can really move fast when I am not encumbered by dive gear. I swam 25 meters in a matter of a few seconds. I think I am the only adult woman in the swimming pool who "plays" though. Seems like everyone just swims laps and sunbathes. The kids think I am one of them, lol. Even the lifeguards seem to get a kick out it (of course I also enforce pool rules and my "mom voice" is louder and is a lot more authoritative than the teen-aged lifeguard's. I used to be a lifeguard in my teen years and I wasn't really authoritative then too. I think being a mom changed that, lol).

Blue Steel, yeah, that's me too. The pool I use only has 25 meter lap lanes and I always loose count. The best I can do is time 2-4 laps and do math later to calculate how far I probably swam in 40 or 60 minutes.

Thanks again for all the info.

 

[Kevrumbo]

500 yds/450m easy warm-up Free-style (under 14 minutes --GUE Swimming Requirement)


50 yd resting Breast Stroke
200 yds Scissors side kick (alternate sides every 50 yd);
50 yd resting Breast Stroke
200 yds kickboard work Flutter & Frog (alternate every 50 yd);
50 yd resting Breast Stroke
200 yd kickboard work Dolphin & Frog (alternate every 50 yd);
50 yd resting Breast Stroke
200 yds kickboard work Backstroke Flutter & Frog -Supine (alt 50 yd);
50 yd resting Breast Stroke
200 yd Free-Style Sprint
50 yd resting Breast Stroke
100 yd Free-Style Sprint;
50 yd resting Breast Stroke
50 yd Free-Style Sprint;
50 yd resting Breast Stroke
50 yd Free-Syle Sprint;
50 yd cool-down Breast Stroke


Warm down stretches legs, back, shoulders & arms;
50 yd underwater swim (notify Lifeguard);
Tread Water & "Dead-man Float" back stretches.


Resting or Fun Days:
Run a mile;
Either 1500 yds easy free-style
or 200 yd medley (Butterfly, Back, Breast & Free-Style).


Circuit train in weightroom twice a week for endurance (no more doing five days a week power pyramid sets/max lift sets for me --I'm getting too old for that!)


My emphasis is endurance on the variety of kick styles (Frog, Flutter, Dolphin, & Scissors and surface flutter kick on back) that I would use during a recreational or technical dive. . .

 

[covediver]

In the off season when I was research diving, I would swim laps at a 25-m outdoor pool in Santa Barbara with my mask fin and snorkel. My brother related to me that a woman he knows saw him in the weight room and said "there is some guy snorkeling in the pool, back and forth, he must be nuts." My brother replied "he is, it runs in our family" and then explained that i did it to keep my kick and conditioning.

By the way, if you like to play like I do, try a monofin. They are loads of fun and make you feel like a dolphin. the kids love them. I taught monofin swimming for a while, it is a blast and a great workout. I take mine over to the university pool during lap swim and really have fun.

 

[hellhole]

Before..when I was waiting to do mybacl surgery. I was swimming everyday.
About 40lap..maybe in 40mins..during lunch hour. .
Now that I am recovring from the surgery. .. cant wait to get back.

Imo.. u want to get fit in swimming... ubhave to work your heart. But dun go overboard. But many a people do not know how to swim properly esp freestyle.

I would then sugggest the kick board.. do kicks up and down the lanes... do all the kicks... even the butterfly kicks.

For swimming it somethings can be boring as hell..... so if possible swim in a club or something. . May also help u with your stroke.

I am certainly sure that if u can swim quite well... even if u are caught in a swell ing open sea.. u will be more in control