Swimming laps

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cleveland

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Apr 25, 2005
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So i've started swimming.........just after some advice from anyone that is a regular lap swimmer. I am swimming as i have a bad back and have been told it is the best thing for me in way of excerise as its low impact.

Anyway i just started with a nice 30 minute workout and i didn't really want to over do it. Started off with 10 minutes of kicking while holding onto the side. Then swam 7 laps backstroke then did some more kicking.

I really enjoyed it and feel good but i have noticed i do have a bit of a stiff shouldar and next on the right side. I will be aiming to do this atleast twice a week and if i'm enjoying it will work up from there

any advice, thoughts?
 
I started swimming just over a month ago (was a dreadful swimmer). Anyway I started off swimming 100 meters and go up 50 meters each time i swim. I'm up to 700 meters (swim 3 times a week). It is incredible how easy it is doing it this way. Not only that but it is the exercise best I've done in terms of the good feeling it provides.
I recommend trying this approach as it's worked well for me.
 
Used to do 1km free and then 10 laps of alternating butterfly and breaststroke. Got bored of it so cut ten laps (250m) from the free and just pushed harder while doing it.

Just like running you get very little out of it if you just trundle along. Have to push yourself hard. There's people there that are just ticking the arms over and getting very little out of it. Can be a very boring exercise regime so I usually only stick with this for a month or two each winter. The excessive chlorine is hard on the skin too.

Much prefer swimming in summer where it's more natural and not just following a black line. Love to go to the river and swim out and then do butterfly against the current for as long as I can last.
 

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You can't do much wrong, just swim as you are comfortable.
 
nicky said:
I started swimming just over a month ago (was a dreadful swimmer). Anyway I started off swimming 100 meters and go up 50 meters each time i swim. I'm up to 700 meters (swim 3 times a week). It is incredible how easy it is doing it this way. Not only that but it is the exercise best I've done in terms of the good feeling it provides.
I recommend trying this approach as it's worked well for me.
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If you are just starting out this is a great technique to slowly build your fitness and provide a bit of a challenge. If you want to get quicker (not just fitter) you need someone with plenty of experience to look at your technique. That said as an adult it takes a long time to change this
 
I did lap swimming for a couple of years there and it did help my back for sure.

On one occasion I really did hurt my shoulder/neck. I'm no expert or coach, but I did read heaps on the net and applied the following and I didn't get the injury again:

1. When swimming freestyle, don't let your right arm go further left than 12 o'clock when it's hitting the water, don't let you left arm go further right than 12 o'clock. Rotating your torso through the strokes also helps avoid this shoulder impingement.

2. Breathe on either side alternatley. This can feel really awkward at first, but if you really pay attention to doing it for a couple of sessions (even count 1,2,3,4,breathe,1,2,3,4,breathe or 1,2,breathe,1,2,breathe) it will become natural, and you'll ensure you are not over-working one side of the body.


Also don't go nutz with the arm action - bear in mind you will swim a stronger, faster lap by trying to do it in as FEW strokes as possible.
 
What I used to do after awhile is apart from a few laps of warm up and warm down is just swim 1km freestyle and try to steadily peel my best time back, provides a bit of a interest/challenge and gives you gauge of how your fitness is improving, in and out of the pool in about half an hour. More beneficial and a better usage of time rather than just plodding out more laps over say 45 minutes.
 
Kram81 said:
What I used to do after awhile is apart from a few laps of warm up and warm down is just swim 1km freestyle and try to steadily peel my best time back, provides a bit of a interest/challenge and gives you gauge of how your fitness is improving, in and out of the pool in about half an hour. More beneficial and a better usage of time rather than just plodding out more laps over say 45 minutes.
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This is exactly what i'm doing now. I'm down to about 40 minutes.
 
I've been swimming for fitness almost 10 years now. I have on/off back problems and swimming is great for it.

One thing I will say: get out of the pool and try an ocean swim. I occasionally do one of the shorter ones (~1km) and it's lots of fun and will test you more than laps will.
 
kickazz said:
Also don't go nutz with the arm action - bear in mind you will swim a stronger, faster lap by trying to do it in as FEW strokes as possible.
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You notice that with really good swimmers, they look like they are only in about 2nd gear but they are actually moving along quite quickly.
 
It's what happens under the water that counts..
 
nicky said:
I did 1km in 28 minutes today - which is a personal best by over 10 mins :)
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Well done nicky.

I love swimming - have been doing it 3-4 times a week for the past 5 years or so.

I'm an outdoor pool swimmer and swim at 6am. I find that jumping in a pool at that time in the middle of winter puts you in a great frame of mind for the rest of the day.

In fact, I reckon I get grumpy if I don;t swim.
 

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Daytripper said:
Well done nicky.

I love swimming - have been doing it 3-4 times a week for the past 5 years or so.

I'm an outdoor pool swimmer and swim at 6am. I find that jumping in a pool at that time in the middle of winter puts you in a great frame of mind for the rest of the day.

In fact, I reckon I get grumpy if I don;t swim.
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Cheers thanks. I'm fairly proud of myself because up until a few months ago i struggled to swim 20 metres. I had lessons in school and private lessons as a kid but i didn't ever learn properly.

I agree with you about grumpiness, I feel the same way.
 
Hoped there might be a thread like this.

Does anyone have any tips for remembering how many laps you've swum? I just brought swimming into my exersize regime, once or twice a week depending on weather. I try to do 2km but really struggle to count the laps after about half way (i run out of fingers and toes ;))
 
THRILLHO said:
Used to do 1km free and then 10 laps of alternating butterfly and breaststroke. Got bored of it so cut ten laps (250m) from the free and just pushed harder while doing it.

Just like running you get very little out of it if you just trundle along. Have to push yourself hard. There's people there that are just ticking the arms over and getting very little out of it. Can be a very boring exercise regime so I usually only stick with this for a month or two each winter. The excessive chlorine is hard on the skin too.

Much prefer swimming in summer where it's more natural and not just following a black line. Love to go to the river and swim out and then do butterfly against the current for as long as I can last.
Click to expand...

Going to have to take this on board. I started swimming just under 2 weeks ago and have been 3 or 4 times so far and i can swim (badly) for an hour non-stop. But it's like you pointed out, i just plod along without overly exerting myself. And my technique is scheisse too. Head is always above water doing breaststroke and my arms stay under water for backstroke haha, it feels like it works the arms more. :p
 
Demons2012 said:
Hoped there might be a thread like this.

Does anyone have any tips for remembering how many laps you've swum? I just brought swimming into my exersize regime, once or twice a week depending on weather. I try to do 2km but really struggle to count the laps after about half way (i run out of fingers and toes ;))
Click to expand...

Break it down into smaller portions i.e. 500m (20x25 or 10x50) then start again.
 
Ed_Gein said:
Going to have to take this on board. I started swimming just under 2 weeks ago and have been 3 or 4 times so far and i can swim (badly) for an hour non-stop. But it's like you pointed out, i just plod along without overly exerting myself. And my technique is scheisse too. Head is always above water doing breaststroke and my arms stay under water for backstroke haha, it feels like it works the arms more. :p
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If your technique isn't great I'd suggest you focus on getting it down pat before worrying about going fast. I've swum all my life but never competitively so I have a decent technique already.

While you're starting you should learn to breathe on both sides. I can only breathe on my left and can't be arsed trying to learn to breathe on my right. Would be handy sometimes.

Can't recommend butterfly highly enough. If you get good enough to be able to put consecutive strokes together it will shred your shoulders in no time.
 
Kram81 said:
It's frustrating living out where there's no indoor pool for winter, I'm terribly unfit and running doesn't agree with my body at all..
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Most outdoor pool's are heated to 26 degrees during winter.
 
Over here there are many places which have indoor pools just because it does tend to get a tad cold in the winter ;). I used to swim from age 5 to 15 regularly in a club, and I had some good times :).I was never the proficient swimmer as my siblings were but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
 
THRILLHO said:
If your technique isn't great I'd suggest you focus on getting it down pat before worrying about going fast. I've swum all my life but never competitively so I have a decent technique already.

While you're starting you should learn to breathe on both sides. I can only breathe on my left and can't be arsed trying to learn to breathe on my right. Would be handy sometimes.

Can't recommend butterfly highly enough. If you get good enough to be able to put consecutive strokes together it will shred your shoulders in no time.
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YEah the butterfly would be ace for the abs too i'd imagine. Definitely keen on that, but it seems like the hardest to master and the least swam type of stroke.
 
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