Posts
3305
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Kansas City, MO
US
Edited Date/Time
5/11/2012 9:56am
I've never swam laps in my life until last August.
I'm pretty regular now 2 to 3 days a week. I normally do 30 25yrd laps - 8, then rest, 4 then rest, then sprints of 2 laps at a time until I hit 30.
I even bought a speedo. Not old school bikini style, but more running shorts style. Makes my penis look like a fishing grub worm....feels awkward.
Something I noticed at the pool. A high percentage of the regulars who can swim non-stop, lap after lap, flip turns and all, looking at them you would never think they are in shape. All look 30 lbs overweight and just...I don't know....goes to show how much technique is involved in swimming as much as raw stamina and strength.
I'm pretty regular now 2 to 3 days a week. I normally do 30 25yrd laps - 8, then rest, 4 then rest, then sprints of 2 laps at a time until I hit 30.
I even bought a speedo. Not old school bikini style, but more running shorts style. Makes my penis look like a fishing grub worm....feels awkward.
Something I noticed at the pool. A high percentage of the regulars who can swim non-stop, lap after lap, flip turns and all, looking at them you would never think they are in shape. All look 30 lbs overweight and just...I don't know....goes to show how much technique is involved in swimming as much as raw stamina and strength.
I saw a guy talking about swimming once and he said it doesn't burn fat as quickly as a lot of other excercises. This is mainly due to limited oxygen supply limiting the amount of energy you can exert for a given period of time.
Another thing I have seen is swimmers tend to carry body fat close to the surface. They tend to be softer looking than say a runner with equivalent body fat. I heard this is partly due to the bodies reaction to be cold. Fat is pushed to the surface to create an insulating layer (what I remember from a story about a woman swimming the English Channel).
Anyway, to your point, if the things I mention are true (which I don't know they are for sure) then you can't judge a swimmers condition by his appearance.
Although in college we had some hefty swimmers who could still absolutely kick ass (we won championship that year - got the ring to prove it
The majority of people who swim for recreation, are WORLDS apart from the people who swim to be competitive doing it.
Two totally different ball games.
Like comparing a marathon runner, and a guy on his daily jog to the house of his girlfriend.
That said - i was a diver in college... but I've been swimming more and more lately (about 3-4 times a week) in order to get my swimming up to par for a triathalon. I probably total about 4-600 yards in a lunch period at the pool (with plenty of breaks). I haven't swam laps in quite a while, so I'm working up to a point when I can hopefully do about 1000yards non-stop.
Some kids are the ones that piss me off. My son's on a swim team. That little shrimp can swim a state level pace for the 100 and 200 free, and he swam 1.6 miles in one hour.
The Shop
The amount of fat a person has allowing them to float, vs. how much fat a fit person has... I doubt is hardly enough to make a noticeable difference in the persons ability to continue to do laps.
I've seen plenty of lean (and plenty of absolutely ripped) guys do 10,000 yards in a day, and come back to do it again.
You might want to change up your workout once in a while. I dont swim real long either. Usually 1300 yds for maintenance and I'll double that if Ive got a race coming up. One of my favorite workouts is a ladder. I'll swim a 50, then a 100, then a 250, then a 500 and then I go back down, a 250, 100 and 50. Then for fun I swim one length under water (25yds) and just crawl back and get out of the pool.
One day every week or two I'll just do a shit load of 50s. Not for speed because speeds not important to me but instead for tecnique. Technique is much MUCH easier to concentrate on and to pull off when you keep it short. When you go long you get tired and when you get tired you techique goes to shit.
Flip turns are cool looking but not necessary. when your working on your technique try to only think about one thing at a time. For instance do a few lenghs only concentrateing on your head. Is it buried and am I rolling up enough. Then maybe a few lenghs concentrating on how your hands enter the water. Open turns will allow you to get an extra breath and to get a good push off (something you might mess up with a flip turn) an you can then better concentrate on your form. If however you want to practice flip turns then do that but Id only do that once a week for a shor time then get back to your regular workout.
As for the speedo.. good move it makes a ton of difference. Dont worry about what you look like. You'll find after awhile the only ones wearing the baggy ass shit are new guys. Save the baggys for the beach.
I really didn't/don't think the amount of fat a person has would make THAT much difference...
I know plenty of fat people who can't swim for shit!
I swam 200yds in 3:32 last night. We have a corporate challenge race coming up the end of June and I want to whoop up on all the 40 - 44 yr olds. I need to shave some more time off that and feel I can with more pool time.
My total workout is 750 yards, but plan to increase that to 1000.
In the grand scheme of doing laps - I simply don't see it having THAT much effect on the total outcome of things. 900lb people don't swim.
I've seen fatasses who can't swim a lick and sink faster than the American dollar.
I've seen absolutely ripped guys who can put in 10,000 yards a day repeatedly without worrying about it.
So I would venture to say technique plays more part in it than fat ever would.
I am not a small person by any means, but I do have some extra body fat. I thought I was a competent swimmer until I started doing laps and working on technique. I found out that my technique is horrible and I don't float that well.
I swim two days a week right now for a few hours just working on correct technique. As with weight lifting I suppose, correct technique will help you much more than speed or amount.
I also never hold my breath.
One thing for sure - adding swimming to my regular workout routine (weights, jumprope, bike ride) has been the best addition ever. Soon as I think I have it mastered, I realize I'm nowhere close. That keeps me pushing and trying harder.
Last comment, those tits I see in the sig above WILL keep that girl afloat. Period. No argument against that.
Now lets all talk about how great swimming is and try to help one another be better swimmers. I train weekly at 4 sports, weights, running, biking and swimming. And when all is said and done I have to say that while I pretty much suck at it, that swimming is my favorite. I do like biking too, especially MTB, but swimming is bitchen on so many fronts. Its warm and it feels good. It supports you and is super low impact. You dont notice that your sweating, and the best part is that theres some really hot chicks that swim (at least where I swim) and their almost nekkid. And where I swim it only cost a buck.
Ok so what googles are you guys wearing? I find that my face prefers TYR Racetechs. There relatively inexpensive and for the past few years theyve worked well for me. Ive tried the swedish goggles and hated them. Ive tried those full face dealies and thought they offered too much drag. Ive found a pair of speedo goggles, dont know the model but they worked for awhile too. Now however I cant find any that seal worth a shit. Maybe Im just so freaking old and I now have more wrinkles thana Sharpei pup and cant get a decent seal. I hate trying to do a long set like say 500 and have to stop every 100 or so to empty out one of the eye pieces. So what have you found that works?
the only way I float is wearing my wetsuit
if I dive in the nikes pull back, the speedo ones don't, but those are uncomfortable and leak a little.
swimming with no goggles! what?! How can you see the sexy girls underwater?
Another thing that is hot is when the cuties are doing flip turns. I dont need to tell you swimmers what Im talking about.
100y - 1:02low
200m - 2:16
500y - 6:22
1650- 22:00ish
all in the pool
2.4 miles of an Ironman - 1:02:00 (only did one....swim was documented long so I'm estimating!)
Oh, and I didn't take the sport up until I was 24 years old. So you age groupers/collegiate swimmers don't be laughting at me!!
MR
Pit Row
All in the pool
100 1:50, but most days 2:00
200 never looked
250 about 5 ish but most days about 5:10
500 10:05, but most days 10:25
1000 21 ish
I mile (1760yd) 36:56
2000 45:24
and usually once a year I'll do a 1.2 mi swim, 2112 yds (half Iron distance) 49:08
Im slooooow but I git er' done. Oh and I didnt take up the sport until I was 53
those are good times dr
those are good times dr
I use a pair of Speedo (forget what model) but I always put 'em on super tight.
In college I remember the swimmers always having red marks where their goggles had been all practice, so I run mine pretty tight too (definitely no leaks!)
I don't have any times because I don't bother to take them. I'm still getting back into the swing of things and trying to get to a point where I can do 6-800 moderately well.
1. Because I want to do a Tri (coming up in July)
2. I need to so I can renew my lifeguard certification which I need to renew my diving coach certification.
Still trying to figure out the breathing thing. I like a 50y pool as compared to a 25 y. I will say that.
I am really nervous about the open water swim though - but a place around here is holding a seminar on that, which I may attend. I'm trying to convince the wifey to do it with me as well.
Open Water Swimming. Now I too have a tough time with this. Perhaps for a different reason. Many swimmers get pretty spoiled swimming in the pool all clear and pretty with lane lines on the bottom and a row of floats at an arms reach away. And they dont practice "sighting" while in the pool and when they get in open water they dont have that skill. Others get creeped out because they dont know if its 10' deep or 100' deep (not that it really means anything) and in the Ocean swims many get freaked out about what "lies below" LOL like sharks and shit. For me my problem is sighting. Not that I dont know how to do it but that I have to do it more often than most. What you do is your in the water at the start and maybe you have to swim to a bouy thats off in the distance. Those bouys can be hard to spot once the race starts and especially if its choppy. So what you do is you find something on the shoreline directly behind the bouy. A tall building, a tree, something that you can spot with just the quickest of glances. Then you need to practice sighting in the pool. Every few strokes lift you head just high enough to clear your goggles above the water but looking straight ahead. Practice doing this without stopping your arm stroke. You can also lift high enough to get a breath at the same time. Many people can just sight every 10 - 20 strokes or so (guessing here) but me I have to sight every couple of strokes which is a major pain in the ass. The reason I have to sight so much is that fused ankle Im always complaining about. SInce my one foot is stuck its normal walking position I cant point that foot and so it sorta acts like a rudder on the one side and I tend to swim in large circles. If I never sighted Im sure Id end up right where I started. So by looking up more often my line is somewhat straighter.
The 50M pools are nice but there are not many around me. I only get to swim in one one time per year.
You can tell the wife (if its a concern) that in the open water swims there will be lifeguards either on surfboards or kayaks etc. that will be around the group swimming and following it. If you get tired, a leg cramp, scared etc you can wave them over to you and you can hang on to the surfboard, kayak as long as you need to, you just cant use it for forward motion. Once rested you just go off on your way, unless of course you need to be rescued. The same goes for the tris that have pool swims. You can hang on the wall, you can hang on a lane line but you cant legally use the wall or lane line to pull yourself forward. (not that this will be a concern of yours, its still fun to watch those at the back of the pack try to get away with it)
For that open water practice in the pool, something I use to try was just lifting my head to look straight ahead and not to the side every few strokes for a few lenghs just to get the feel of it. And a few times Id try swimming with my eyes closed (love that feeling) and would only open them every few strokes to sight. The problem with this was I kept either hitting the lane lines with my right hand or worse Id kick it with my right foot which always feels really good ....not.
I think the part I'm most nervous about with the open water is the chop.
I (like wpcjs) grew up around a lake, and have swam around all over it, in the middle of it, on the shores of it, wherever. Done the same with monstrous lakes in Canada.
Pools are SO smooth and fast compared to open water, the combination of people all around me kicking/swimming (it's a beach start, not treading water start), and whatever chop their might be (hopefully not mini-waves) has got me a bit intimated more than anything.
Maybe intimidated isn't the right word. I'm excited, and will do it regardless of whatever hurdles lie before me, but the chop makes me nervous that i'll have to heavily modify my stroke so I can get into a good rhythm of breathing, essentially wearing me out a lot more.
PR's for me
100 1:10
half IM 38 min
IM 1:30
For me the hardest part is running into and out of the surf and trying to turn around the bouys (cause changing direction is tuff and because everyone converges there. If someone pushes or kicks you just punch em' back.
One race I was in some dude got his arm caught in my wetsuit zipper strap that is velcroed on the back of the wet suit. Im not sure what pissed me off more. The fact it stopped my forward momentum or the fact he copped a feel.
Post a reply to: Any regular swimmers out there?