Swim More!

I have been swimming lately at the swim club I belong to. I have been swimming with the Masters groups as well as swimming on my own a bit. It’s going OK.

A lot of people would like to swim but don’t know where to start. I did some market research within the regular KroBlog readers via a fairly extensive survey, and there were quite a few of you who selected “interested in swimming,” “would like to swim,” or “used to swim and really liked it” on the survey, so I thought would provide a down and dirty “How To” in regards to lap swimming in a pool.

What you’ll need: a swim suit. Not the trunks or a bikini, but a proper swim suit like a Speedo. You’ll also need some goggles. You’ll also need a kick-board, a float for between your legs, and paddles for “pulling.”

So here’s the workout with a more aggressive flavor and a more entry level flavor. These should take you between 40 and 60 minutes depending on your ability.

* 400 yards (16 laps) warm-up (free style)
* 200 yards (8 laps) kick with the kick board (IM, meaning, free style kick, dolphin kick, breast kick, free style kick)
* 400 yards pull with the paddles and the float/buoy.
* 5 X 100 yard free style with 10 – 15 seconds rest in between each 100. (You could do IM’s on the evens or odds if you like).
* 10 X 50 yard free style with 10 seconds rest in between each 50. (You can build/get faster with each 50 if you want to make it harder).
* 100 yard warm down – super slow.

Here’s a work out for a more entry level type of work out:
* 200 yards (8 laps) warm-up (free style)
* 100 yards (8 laps) kick with the kick board (IM, meaning, free style kick, dolphin kick, breast kick, free style kick)
* 200 yards pull with the paddles and the float/buoy.
* 5 X 100 yard free style with 10 – 15 seconds rest in between each 100. (You could do IM’s on the evens or odds if you like).
* 5 X 50 yard free style with 10 seconds rest in between each 50. (You can build/get faster with each 50 if you want to make it harder).
* 100 yard warm down – super slow.

Have fun! Swim more!