I just started back swimming after 15 years of abusing my body and have began to feel at home again in the water and want to keep it that way, i also just joined the masters for the free monthly magazine. I have 2 kids and work so time is pretty slim but I have managed to find about 3 days a week where I can get 45 minutes in at the Y. After 3 months though I am starting to want to spice up my workout a little and am open to suggestions. The following is not a brag session and hope it is not taken that way, I just know that you can't give good advice to someone that you don't know any background or goals for, everything is short course yards.
Swam all the way through senior year in HS and was always in USS from 10 yr old to the end. came from a program that believed more lengths = better swimmers so we did a lot of boring sets and not a lot of specific training so I don't have much background in ascending descending, mixing and matching sets (think 8-500s on the 6 min, I avg'd 5:12 my senior year on this set). I was a distance freestyler because that is where my coach needed the most help and honestly fast twitch muscle fibers are not something i have in excess. But I do have a good backstroke and OK fly, breast stroke hurts my knee (fractured right inner chondile in 9th grade) so I either kick light or fly kick it. I was a workout fiend and loved to try to break the pain barrier whenever I could. Hit a plateau though around sophomore year, went 4:52 in practice but only went 4:45 at state meet, senior year got down to 4:44. 100 free time was just under 50 sec and was a 1:45 in the 200. Our typical in season day consisted of 3k in the am and 8-10k at night.
Fast forward to today. I hit the pool about 3 times a week and might try to start making it 4. I have 45 minute windows only right now so workouts need to be able to fall in that window, I can get 2500 in that time depending on sets. I "think" I would break 6min in a race setting 500 right now but would rather be training more for back/IM/200 free and just for overall getting in good shape and have the swimmer build again.
Couple sets I have done lately besides 500 swim/kick/pull followed by some misc stuff for another 500-1k yards
Stroke
500 warmup with/without kick pull
6-50s fly/bk/br 5 sec rest
3-100s IM 10 sec rest
2-150s Fly/fr/bk/fr/br/fr 10 sec rest
3-100s IM 10 sec rest
6-50s fly,bk,br repeat 5 sec rest
200 easy
600 warmup
6x100s bilat breathe hard 10 sec rest
6x50s Kick 3 pull 3 10 sec rest
6x25s sprint 5 sec rest
200 cooldown
Wow I showered and everything after my morning workout and still no reply. Guess I will just continue on my own as the nearest masters workout seems to be a 30 plus minute drive at $4 per gallon. So far that $32 has not paid off, hopefully the magazine shows up.
70 views and not even a hello, weird for a forum.
hey trax,
Did you ask a question?
People tend to reply to threads when someone asks a question
Consider beginning a blog:
http://www.usms.org/forums/blog.php
Consider participating on other threads.
There's many nice swimmers here.
Welcome to the USMS forum.
Ande
Originally Posted by 2trax4me
Maybe like ande suggested, there wasn't a specific request for feedback?
Well, now that the hazing period is over...Welcome to masters swimming. And yes, get used to the fact that as an adult swimmer (and parent), you might be putting in less yardage in a week than you did by comparison with one or two days of your youth.
A couple of things I might add when one has limited pool time...quality is important and so is technique. The body reshaping may not come about from 3 days at the pool...and may require some gym work. But it sounds like you've got some good motivation to make improvements and enter some meets.
People on this forum are out swimming more than they are typing, so sometimes replies are slow
I have almost the same weekly training regimen as you... 3 times a week, 2000m-2500m in 45 minutes at the Y on my lunch hour... but I'm a sprinter. I' have no idea if 45 minutes is enough to gain any kind of 500 endurance because I no longer train for quantity and I focus on sprint free/fly. One thing I noticed about your sample sets though...
All your sets are rest based rather than interval based. I've always believed in interval training. Set the interval so that your rest is the correct length. Setting rest after each swim doesn't enforce any kind of quality to the swim. Instead of "100s with 10 seconds rest"... do them on 1:30 and hold 1:20 on each (1:30 is an example... adjust that time for your individual pace). It will keep your swim to swim more consistent and maybe help you to push it a little more if you tend to slow with each one. With rest based training, it is hard to keep track of effort unless you swim on round numbered times automatically, and it doesn't reward you with a few extra seconds if you're pushing harder than normal speed-wise. Also don't forget to work on turns every so often. Its something that I think many masters swimmers ignore, and you stand to gain 19 times whatever time you can cut off your current turn for a scy 500
You may surprise yourself though what you can do when writing your own workouts especially if you feel like you were trained improperly in the past. Don't be afraid to exceed your comfort level in practice, and enter some meets to make use of that membership. You don't need to go 4:43 to make your masters meet worthwhile
Hey there, 'trax! The previous posts were excellent and I concur. I would like to add one thing, though: If you are interested in getting your stroke critiqued, have somebody take some video and post it on YouTube. Post the link on the forums and you will get some great, worthwhile feedback. Also, make sure to check out Ande's threads; the links are in his post above.
Although you will find a few bad apples here () like in any discussion forums, most of the "Forumites" are a great, very positive and inspiring bunch! I met several of them at SCY Nationals last year and at Mesa, this year, and they were very positive, helpful, and encouraging.
Good luck with your swimming!
Cheers!
http://ElaineiaKsTravels.wordpress.com
~ Believing in your dreams can be far more rewarding than living by your limitations ~Karla Peterson
Sorry was looking for workout advice and since this was posted in the workout section thought that was the proper spot and obvious. After reading before I posted I realized that i needed to tag my USMS membership to my forum account and that opened the coaches section. Where I found Scott's Workouts and found those to be very helpful and what I was looking for.
Active on a forum is typically easy for me and I realize that others are busy with RL and not always on but I just saw a counter ticking up and not a single post. Figured I did something wrong so Ied it. I am off to do one of Scott's workouts now, hope you all have a good swim as well.
You definitely need to blog on the blogging site. Once you get established you will get comments about your workouts, or your life if you care to talk about that. Many bloggers establish a great following and get some good conversations going. If you are too busy to blog it's okay. I've only been blogging once a week or so cause I'm just crazy busy right now but I plan to get back in the habit as soon as things level out. Your blog will only show on USMS Forum blog site unless you choose to network it. Either way you will be able to take it to the audience you desire on the blog site.
Have fun!!
HTFU!
Have you thought of joining a masters team? The coach will make the workout for what you need or the lane that you are in.
He has considered it but, I'm in the same boat - distance & limited time messes up option. So, I work out on my own, mostly - and I think it can work. My daughter swims USS age group and I assistant coach her team. I also get in and swim with the top level swimmers - when I can. I have her coach critique my strokes, especially when I think I might want to change something.
I don't know what your age group is, but I would be 50-54 (I'm not 50-54, just 'cause I've not joined Masters...therefore I'm not classified!) I am registered USS swim and do compete with my daughter's team - when the hosting team sets upper age = open.
I get up early and hit the pool, I usually put in 3500 yards and try to make it 6 days/week. I'm still moderately yardage driven & maybe even be a product of one of the same programs as you (if you did high school in Toledo)...I graduated from St. Fracis de Sales & coach Dennis "Butch" Graves.
Still being that my psyche is yardage driven, if your goal is to feel better and have the swimmer's bod - then do what's fun and doesn't hurt!
Without more days/more yards - I'm not sure that there is such a thing as training for the back/IM/200 free...depending on what your goal is as far as performance level in those events. Just my opinion, but yards per week is still an important factor.
I swim for exercise and an annual yardage goal, but not so much for training. I just had to remind myself of this after my last meet - I was all scheming about new fast sets to improve my race. I do want to see some improvement in my times, when I do race, but my goal is exercise.
So, my thinking is mix your sets up. Have fun. Take care of your shoulders and watch your hand entry on free, back, butterfly. Rotator cuffs don't like over reaching on entry (I've been working on that for ever!) Put in your yards, keep track of your goals....and oh yeah - have fun!
Cheers!
PT
Great idea, but don't be too surprised if you gravitate back toward distance free at some point! When I got back into masters I had no desire to swim distance anymore, but eventually I realized that's where my talent lies. The beauty of masters, though, is you can do what you want.
Welcome to the madhouse!!!
"Your body will go places your mind never thought it would go, as long as you are mentally tough enough to push it, drag it or carry it there." Tracy A. Burkholder
"If it is to be......it is up to me!" Author unknown.... got it off the wall at Westminster School in Atlanta.
Breaststroke - For the swimmer who finds the other strokes too easy!!!!!!
Good to be back, and swimmers are nuts for sure
That would be really hard to do with the limited workout time that I have.
Thanks for the input. I was a swimmer at Milan, MI and well aware of the St Francis teams. Hard to not notice the Harms Brothers even when you are from a different state. I have upped my workouts to 3k 3-4 times a week and that is probably the best I am going to be able to find time for (still have to get some golf in). I now see why the 30-40 age group is a little less participated in, its when most are busiest with kids (I am 34).He has considered it but, I'm in the same boat - distance & limited time messes up option. So, I work out on my own, mostly - and I think it can work. My daughter swims USS age group and I assistant coach her team. I also get in and swim with the top level swimmers - when I can. I have her coach critique my strokes, especially when I think I might want to change something.
I don't know what your age group is, but I would be 50-54 (I'm not 50-54, just 'cause I've not joined Masters...therefore I'm not classified!
I get up early and hit the pool, I usually put in 3500 yards and try to make it 6 days/week. I'm still moderately yardage driven & maybe even be a product of one of the same programs as you (if you did high school in Toledo)...I graduated from St. Fracis de Sales & coach Dennis "Butch" Graves.
Still being that my psyche is yardage driven, if your goal is to feel better and have the swimmer's bod - then do what's fun and doesn't hurt!
Without more days/more yards - I'm not sure that there is such a thing as training for the back/IM/200 free...depending on what your goal is as far as performance level in those events. Just my opinion, but yards per week is still an important factor.
I swim for exercise and an annual yardage goal, but not so much for training. I just had to remind myself of this after my last meet - I was all scheming about new fast sets to improve my race. I do want to see some improvement in my times, when I do race, but my goal is exercise.
So, my thinking is mix your sets up. Have fun. Take care of your shoulders and watch your hand entry on free, back, butterfly. Rotator cuffs don't like over reaching on entry (I've been working on that for ever!) Put in your yards, keep track of your goals....and oh yeah - have fun!
Cheers!
PT
working up to getting one started. If for nothing else for me to look back on.
I am going to go to workout tonight at the Y during lap swim and it coincides with when they have the masters workout.
Last edited by 2trax4me; May 10th, 2011 at 03:28 PM.
A college teammate of mine was from Milan: Mike Mancik. He's my age, so 6-7 years older than you.
He was one of my idols when I was in Middle School. He also was on the school 4x100 record we took down my senior year
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