Swimming provides an excellent cardiovascular workout. In addition, it works the entire body, toning your arms, legs and core. Keep in mind that swimming is not an impact-bearing activity. Because you are buoyant in the water, you must cross-train with a workout that maintains your skeletal structure through activities such as walking, running or strength training. When adding a swim workout to your regimen, there are some basics to understand.
Equipment
A swim workout requires only basic equipment, though you can add more as you advance. A swim cap, goggles, sunscreen for outdoor swimming, kickboard and workout suit are critical. The swim cap keeps your hair out of your face; goggles help you see where you are in relation to the sides of the lane and other swimmers; sunscreen protects your skin from sun damage; a kickboard helps you with kicking laps and a workout suit doesn't interfere with your stroke. While recreational suits are fine for water play, a swim workout needs a suit designed for lap swimming -- it won't fall of your shoulders during a lap or slide over your hips when you push off the wall. Advanced tools include pull paddles -- a metronome-like device to pace your stroke -- and specialized fins.
Starting Out
Correct form is critical to a good swim workout. If you're just getting back in the water or just starting out, invest in some lessons to ensure your swim workout doesn't cause injury to your shoulders, back or hips. In addition, warm up before you start your main swim set. Start out with easy laps of freestyle and then laps of kicking, using your overall fitness to determine the number of laps. Do at least four easy freestyle laps, checking your equipment to be sure your cap doesn't slip or goggles leak, and get used to being in the water, controlling your breathing and coordinating your arms and legs. Then kick for at least another four laps to get your heart rate up and loosen up your hips and torso.
Main Set
The main set is the core of your workout. It's typically divided into sets of laps, measured in distance. An example is 4 by 100 freestyle, which means four sets of 100 yards or meters of freestyle. Recreational pools are 25 yards or meters, so you're swimming four laps, four times. Often the main set specifies speed, such as 4 by 100 freestyle easy to hard. This set means swim your four laps slowly at first, making each set faster, so that the final four laps are your fastest. The main set typically continues with other sets, such as 8 by 50 breast to back. This set means swim eight sets of 50 yards, or eight sets of two laps, the first lap swimming breaststroke and the return lap swimming back stroke.
Drills
Drills refine portions of your stroke. They require the use of a kickboard, pull buoy or counting skills. A simple drill is a free kick drill, where you grab a kickboard and kick for the designated set or laps. A pull drill removes your legs from the swim, allowing you to focus on your body rotation and arm placement. You use a pull buoy to support your legs, and your arms propel you down the lane. A counting drill typically focuses on body motion in the water, such as 1-2-3 glide, a breaststroke drill where you kick and glide for three counts before kicking again. With drills, you breathe freely, unless the drill designates your breathing, such as every three, five or seven arm strokes, which makes a pull drill more aerobically challenging.
Member Comments