Swimming provides cardiovascular exercise and can be an addition to high-impact workouts such as running. Build your endurance gradually to avoid getting winded when you first start a swimming fitness routine. Wear a swim cap to keep your hair from getting in your eyes, and select a comfortable pair of swim goggles to protect your eyes from chlorine or stinging salt water.
Intervals
Swimming laps provides steady exercise, but interval training keeps your body guessing and your metabolism churning. In interval training, you combine both fast, short sets with longer, slower ones, and throw in some kicking and upper-body work, too. Look for an analog or digital pace clock on the wall at your local pool and start your swimming sets when the "seconds" hands are on 12 o'clock. On a digital clock, start at zero seconds, which is starting "on the top." Swimmers call starting at the 30-second mark starting "at the bottom."
Warm-Ups
One often-neglected but very important part of any workout is the warm-up. Start a swimming session with some slow-to-moderate laps to get your muscles loosened and your heart and lungs working. Start out with 6 X 100 m laps. Swim the first lap at an easy pace. Note the time at the beginning and at the end of the lap. Swim the next lap five seconds faster. Repeat for the third lap, then hold that time for the last three laps.
Aerobic Set
Work on improving your cardiovascular fitness with an aerobic swimming set. The aerobic work makes up the main section of your workout and totals 1,600 m. Perform a "ladder" by swimming 100 m, 200 m, 300 m, 400 m and back down again swimming 300 m, 200 m and finishing with 100 m. Rest for 15 seconds between the distances if you feel out of breath. Swim the distances on a comfortable 100 m "interval" or base time that you calculate on the pace clock. To calculate your pace time, swim a 100 m distance, starting "on the top" of the pace clock. When you finish your 100 m swim, note the time on the clock. The time it takes you to complete the 100 m at a moderate pace is your base time.
Strength
Build strength and speed in the water by adding sprint work your routine. After your ladder set, do one minute of vertical kicking. Vertical kicking means you float with your hands and elbows above the water, and you keep yourself afloat by performing a flutter or scissors kick. Follow the vertical kick set with 4 X 100 freestyle sprint laps. Swim fast and then rest for one minute between each sprint. Finish your workout with 200 m slow, cooldown freestyle. Intensify your upper-body workout by using hand paddles when you swim. Larger paddles increase water resistance more than small ones, so start out with the small paddles to avoid injuring your shoulder.
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