How many meters did you swim today?

000

Originally Posted by Intelligent Design

Click to expand...

I'd be interested to know if any of the swimmers posting here are using swimming aids.

For myself, I'm going to try to get it up to 2kms (no aids). If I can manage that 3 times a week I'll be happy.

what are swimming aids?

Originally Posted by oman

Click to expand...

what are swimming aids?

He may be thinking about a pull buoy or paddles. I use both a bit during drills.

But in keeping with the theme of the thread, 3.8k this morning. I do that about 3 days a week, and then mix in 2 days running and a day on the bike this time of year. In the spring, more biking and running, less swimming.

paddles are those things on your hands, right? i should get a pair. i assume they make things more difficult?

Originally Posted by chrisjustinparr

Click to expand...

You are a brave man. I used to do water polo. After a while, the morning swims tax your soul. Pretty violent too.

We only had morning practices for 3 weeks, but practice at 6 AM really sucks lol, it may be violent but it's the most fun I've ever had, worst injuries I received was a dislocated shoulder and several kicks to the groin and face.

Also for building up endurance for swimming, don't swim hard, just take easy strokes and make sure you stretch beforehand. It's also a good idea to alternate strokes, we often do medleys (IM's) which actually seem to make the laps go by faster since you're switching strokes and it gives a chance for other muscles to rest while you work others. And for swimming laps, wear jammers or a speedo because board shorts or anything else pretty much just weigh you down and sap your energy.

Only occasionally time myself, but got 20 meters down to 14 seconds last night once I was warmed up, which is a full second faster than usual.

Originally Posted by oman

Click to expand...

paddles are those things on your hands, right? i should get a pair. i assume they make things more difficult?

Actually easier. They're like flippers for your hands.

Originally Posted by CDFS

Click to expand...

In the style of the 'How many miles did you run today?' thread I present to you this new and exciting thread.


This morning I swam for the firts time in a long while. About 1200 meters (or 2/3th of a mile).

I think I need to get back to doing this. Normal cardio (running, biking, elliptical, etc) is killing my bum ankle (lingering injury from my soccer days - probably should get it looked at).

Haven't swam seriously in over a decade, but when I was competing in high school, I think I was averaging 4 or 5 miles a day on double day practices, and 3 1/2 on the single day practices (my high school team had morning practices on M, W and F). I did try and make the college team, but could see my chances of seriously competing as almost nil (our school's best swimmer did the exact same events I did and was my year), so I dropped out then.

Originally Posted by MagV

Click to expand...

Actually easier. They're like flippers for your hands.

yeah i mean i'm sure they make it easier to swim, but they probably make it harder resistance-wise, right? like, it prevents water from just slipping through your fingers?

Originally Posted by Manton

Click to expand...

2,500 every MWF. 10K is insane. Does Michael Phelps swim that much?

Pretty sure he does. Or maybe I'm thinking of 10K calories?

A 10x200 cycle would probably take Phelps 20 to 25 minutes, and I think he is in the pool for 3 to 4 hours a day. Throw in a few cycles for each event, throw in a couple of kicks, a 400 warm up and cool down and the distances go way up. But remember - Phelps is an efficient swimmer, and would be burning less calories per distance. So he would need to swim long distances to get a workout.

The amount of distance I was swimming in practice, even as a distance swimmer, was one of the reasons I broke down my first semester freshman year and quit competition for good. I think we were doing a couple of series of 10 x 200's (or 20 x 100s) in a 50 meter pool in the morning, and as an 6'1" 130~135 lb freshman, I just couldn't keep up. I got out of the pool, and various muscles were just randomly twitching and cramping.

Now, at nearly 200 pounds, I probably wouldn't mind breaking my body down and doing that again. But not for too long.

That being said, I think I read that Phelps is now focusing on sprints, so he might be jacking up the free weights and cutting back the distance.

Originally Posted by oman

Click to expand...

yeah i mean i'm sure they make it easier to swim, but they probably make it harder resistance-wise, right? like, it prevents water from just slipping through your fingers?

I've used these - It does feel a bit more like resistance training.

Yesterday: 500 warmup, 5x50 fast, 500 medium, 5x25 sprints. My second workout for a month. Water was nasty cold though - it was -15C outside.

well, it's swim season so that means we're starting to crank up the yardage again

400 free
10x50 free
200 stroke
300 IM
6x150 free
6x100 IM
6x100 free
200 free

it's only going up from here =/

I swam 5,000 this morning. Took me 20 minutes.

Sounds like you're ready for the Olympics.