Swim Training Programme - get yourself back into shape

[portinfer]

Hi Lucia - I agree that pools can be cold - I have no idea what most are at but the local one had me shivering within 30 mins (well we started off with statics - I went along with some freediving fellas to improve my spearfishing).

Guess I should have done a few lengths first....

Ed

 

[oferdegi]

...15 minute gentle warm-up swim with monofin...

...400m swim using freestyle/front crawl...

...200m swim looking in front of you, using front crawl, holding your head out of the water (like for rescuing)...

Nice program, Sara! And a useful thread, too. :thankyou

I've just started a pool program of my own a couple of weeks ago, trying to build up some strength and stamina for my first monofin, ordered from Waterways and due in a couple of weeks. Naturally, I put in lots of dolphin kicks, which I do in 4 variations: front, back & both sides. The sides, especially, are supposed to be valuable - training good balance & positioning in the water. I was told by a russian monofin trainer to do the sides with maximum undulations: torso wiggling, knees bending and all, to get as much flexibility as possible - feels like a really good workout. I also do underwater laps, and sometimes play around with dolphin kicks + breaststroke arms once in a few cycles.

Now, I have some questions for you esteemable pundits out there:

1.What is the benifit of the "head looking forward" crawl training?

2.Should I use a snorkel for the monofin part, or work the breathing into the rythm somehow? I don't have a good snorkel now, but besides the necessity, maybe there's some value in this.

3.Do you use fins for freestyle? What kind? my freestyle really sucks with no fins, but I'm bothered by this dependency, so i bought some really cheap fins, and I gradually chop little bits off them as my legwork gets better.

Thanks for any suggestions
Ofer

 

[fcallagy]

Hi oferdegi,
The only benefit I think and someone else may tell you more is it helps working the shoulders. Its usually used as a rescue swim by lifegaurds so they can always see the person in distress,if they had heads down they might get there faster but the person may have submerged by then. I find it beneficial so i usually include a couple of lenghts. As mentioned earlier i take of the goggles doing it but thats up to you. I dont use any fins or monofin so cant help you there but have a cheap one on order so will be interested to see other peoples training with them.
Regards Feargus.

 

[oferdegi]

Thanks, Feargus!
Another question that came up in training in the last few days: I'm sort of half-cold throughout the session (the pool must be saving on heating this winter) - has anybody tried swim training with a suit, or is it just a nuisance? If you have, what kind would be recommended? I have no experience whatsoever with suits, but I'm getting to the age I may actually deserve some luxury (I've also managed to locate some potential buddies in my area, so I may be heading out for open sea training pretty soon! and it is winter).

Ofer

 

[island_sands]

you ordered Waterways? ok i am jealous

- the head forward crawl training.. do it and see (your back becomes really strong).

- the monofin training, if i am lazy i use a snorkel... this piece of advice would be best given by one of our experts. at the moment i am using goggles and lifting my head out the water to breathe every four kick movements or so. i would also like advice on this!

- for freestyle i use my legs, i really need to improve my kick.. i am so used to swimming with fins on that my legs don't know how to kick properly anymore. try swimming with longfins.. really works your calf muscles, (IMHO).

second week of training now... getting there!

Keep at it!

Nice program, Sara! And a useful thread, too. :thankyou

I've just started a pool program of my own a couple of weeks ago, trying to build up some strength and stamina for my first monofin, ordered from Waterways and due in a couple of weeks. Naturally, I put in lots of dolphin kicks, which I do in 4 variations: front, back & both sides. The sides, especially, are supposed to be valuable - training good balance & positioning in the water. I was told by a russian monofin trainer to do the sides with maximum undulations: torso wiggling, knees bending and all, to get as much flexibility as possible - feels like a really good workout. I also do underwater laps, and sometimes play around with dolphin kicks + breaststroke arms once in a few cycles.

Now, I have some questions for you esteemable pundits out there:

1.What is the benifit of the "head looking forward" crawl training?

2.Should I use a snorkel for the monofin part, or work the breathing into the rythm somehow? I don't have a good snorkel now, but besides the necessity, maybe there's some value in this.

3.Do you use fins for freestyle? What kind? my freestyle really sucks with no fins, but I'm bothered by this dependency, so i bought some really cheap fins, and I gradually chop little bits off them as my legwork gets better.

Thanks for any suggestions
Ofer

 

[oferdegi]

you ordered Waterways? ok i am jealous

- the head forward crawl training.. do it and see (your back becomes really strong).

- the monofin training, if i am lazy i use a snorkel... this piece of advice would be best given by one of our experts. at the moment i am using goggles and lifting my head out the water to breathe every four kick movements or so. i would also like advice on this!

- for freestyle i use my legs, i really need to improve my kick.. i am so used to swimming with fins on that my legs don't know how to kick properly anymore. try swimming with longfins.. really works your calf muscles, (IMHO).

second week of training now... getting there!

Keep at it!

Hi Sara!
...you're jealous, and I'm plain impatient

I'll definitely try the head forward crawl thing (overcoming the inhibition of how stupid :duh i'll look doing it!)

As far as legwork is concerned, I'm bothered by my dependency on fins - you never know when you'll have to do without them. I think fins provide this kind of short-cut, by compensating for ankle inflexibility (and the longer they are, the better they compensate, and the greater the dependency they create). For the heavier work, I use my Plana Avanti HP - not really a longfin (which I'd love to try!) but large enough to give the legs some resistance to work against. At the same time, in order to break my dependency on fins, I practice with small fins and do lots of ankle stretching, to increase flexibility and range of motion - those have all to do with efficient legwork, both in freestyle and in dolphin kick.

I had a great training session yesterday (and I'm going again today, yippee!!) - good deal of work on the side position dolphin kick. I'm beginning to understand how valuable it really is - extending the movement range beyond what you normally do underwater, it really builds strength & flexiblity. I felt my thigh muscles afterwards - for the first time in ages!

Thanks for great tips*, this thread is just so right!

*I think I'll get me a slate, to keep my pool-count in order!

 

[island_sands]

Hi Sara!
...you're jealous, and I'm plain impatient

I'll definitely try the head forward crawl thing (overcoming the inhibition of how stupid :duh i'll look doing it!)


*I think I'll get me a slate, to keep my pool-count in order!

i have my answer worked out for that one..

Nosey-parker: You should swim with your head in the water when you do front crawl
Know-it-all (me): Not when you are rescuing someone

 

[oferdegi]

i have my answer worked out for that one..

Nosey-parker: You should swim with your head in the water when you do front crawl
Know-it-all (me): Not when you are rescuing someone

I'll keep that one for a time of need (It'll come soon, I've just about finished my days of grace as the-new-guy-you-don't-talk-to at the pool - people are already getting friendly/nosey...)

Actually, I think it's quite good practice for me to get over such inhibitions... screw them, I'll try the head-up-crawl thing, and lots of other weird stuff as well!

 

[naiad]

Hi Lucia - I agree that pools can be cold - I have no idea what most are at but the local one had me shivering within 30 mins (well we started off with statics - I went along with some freediving fellas to improve my spearfishing).

Guess I should have done a few lengths first....

Ed

I always use a 5mm open cell suit for statics in the pool. Even then I sometimes get cold. I haven't got a proper suit for dynamics, but I will get one sometime. Training without a suit is impossible. I haven't used a suit for normal swimming, because of the buoyancy, and the fact that I might look like a clown.

Lucia

 

[land shark]

See sara! I told you that kick board would mess you up

Work on your balance and drive your arm forward harder a good two beat kick will get your freestyle back in order.

jim

 

[matrixed82]

I tried doing kicks (flutter) without the kickboard for the first time and really liked it. It gets really gets the heart pumping!

When doing this are you suppose to always keep your head out of water?
What I've been doing is keeping it in the water and then raise it to breath. After 50m like this I was real exhausted and almost swallowed a mouth full of water.:duh

 

[land shark]

work on driving your arms in not kicking harder
jim

 

[laminar]

Great thread!

I resurected my body from the doldrums of fall busy-ness and took it to the pool for some redemption. No buddy, so I don't do any breath holding underwater.

I like to structure my pool workouts based on intensity and not worry about numbers too much. I don't keep track of distances or laps. I think that it's too easy to get into a routine that leads your fitness level to stagnate. Setting a program is useful, for sure, and allows you to measure progress, if you find it difficult to measure intensity.

Here's what I do to get back into shape so that I can begin to train for freediving:
10-15 minute swim freestyle and drills (drills from Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion program which really make freestyle effortless. Usually I'll do 50m of a certain drill, then swim to see how it improves my stroke, then revert to the drill, then back to freestyle again. If I'm tired or not getting it to work, I'll stop and rest for 30 secs and try again. I really look for the feeling of moving well through the water without effort, so I focus a lot on body balance, body rolling, and good arm positioning. I find these drills vastly improve no-fins technique and body awareness while diving.

rest 2 min or so

Then I do kick sets on my side, breathing 2-3 times per 25m length, usually 4-6 lengths until my legs are tired. Then rest.

rest

then follow up with more freestyle to feel the benefit of the side kicking on my stroke mechanics and body position.

rest longer and then start the anaerobic fun stuff. I usually pick from a number of exercises that I find enjoyable and challenging:
-butterfly 25m, no breathing: I find I can fine tune my body undulation and arm strokes much better if I don't raise my head to breathe at all. I do these on a short interval for CO2 tolerance.
-butterfly 50m on one breath at 25m turn: much longer intervals (brutal-I'll stop when my muslces start to really fail to avoid injury)
-freestyle sprints with short intervals
-max effort sprints with longer intervals
-pyramid/hill training with "swim fins" (kills my calves!)
-hard kicking sets on side, breathing 4-6 times per length

After that I'll do medium pace swimming with fins, on my side with monofin, backstroke and do breast stroke/butterfly drills to cool down.

I plan to keep this up until late January, and then I'll up the intensity with an FRC program. I do this 3-4 times a week.

Normally, doing this kind of workout, I find my diving suffers, especially FRC, but I need to regain a certain level of overall well-being and fitness before I embark on the more demanding and anaerobic/diving-specific program for summer fun.

My fitness goals for the coming year are to improve FRC diving and general well-being. I'd enjoy training FRC and in apnea all the time, but without a cooperative buddy or more frequent access to the ocean, that's pretty well impossible to do safely for my needs.

Good luck to everyone else on your pool fun!

 

[land shark]

(drills from Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion program which really make freestyle effortless.

Amen

 

[island_sands]

Great thread!


Then I do kick sets on my side, breathing 2-3 times per 25m length, usually 4-6 lengths until my legs are tired. Then rest.

hey laminar i was also doing those but wearing the monofin... swimming on my side holding one arm out front and kicking... that's a great programme you are doing. i might print it and use it in between so we don't get bored of the same one!

Have a great Xmas... and thanks for your great input. Looks like we'll have to have a male cozzie thread by next year

 

[island_sands]

See sara! I told you that kick board would mess you up

Work on your balance and drive your arm forward harder a good two beat kick will get your freestyle back in order.

jim

actually i have done a few lengths pushing a noodle! quite good as there's a lot of water resistance and i really had to kick hard to get anywhere

 

[Groupermadness]

Hi Sara and oferdegi.
as has been said in the thread, the reason for holding head above water is to see better when on rescue, its used in swim training because to hold your head up you need to arch the back slightly and this puts resistance on the streamline effect and when you stroke you automaticaly lift the body slightly which improves all aspects of muscle build , stamina and strength. Thus if you swim lengths like an idiot for a few days and then streamline head down crawl you will get the desired result of a faster stronger stroke(if your kick is in order that is ) monofin Kicks?? no idea.

Peter.

 

[oferdegi]

... Thus if you swim lengths like an idiot for a few days and then streamline head down crawl you will get the desired result of a faster stronger stroke(if your kick is in order that is )...

I tried it yesterday for a few laps and noticed how surprisingly difficult (and valuable) it was. I saw that it made me work much harder with my legs. Your explanation helps me understand why. I'll definitely add it to my regime. Quite fun, too!

Thanks!

 

[naiad]

Today I did 2km!

Mostly breaststroke with a few lengths front crawl. It took a bit over an hour, my best so far. I had to slow down sometimes because of traffic jams.

I don't know how I'll feel tomorrow...

Lucia

 

[island_sands]

Today I did 2km!

Mostly breaststroke with a few lengths front crawl. It took a bit over an hour, my best so far. I had to slow down sometimes because of traffic jams.

I don't know how I'll feel tomorrow...

Lucia

hooray Lucia!!!! fantastic!
i haven't swam for four days as life/christmas/issues are getting in the way.. but tomorrow... Friday :friday