Swimming for Exercise. Anyone?

[Ben]

I keep pulling a muscle in my calf so I think my running career is over. We have an olympic sized pool at my club so I am going to take advantage.

I'd like to know, what am I supposed to do? Swim lap after lap after lap until I tire and drown in the deep end? Or do I break up the routine somehow?

And, do I really need to wear skin tight speedo shorts? How about just regular workout shorts? I saw some Nike Dry-Fit running shorts with an interior lining. Quite swim trunk like without the tight fit.

Help me out...

[Uber$winG]

I mix up my swimming routine by alternating between breast stroke and freestyle, i.e., breast stroke one lap, and freestyle on the way back down the pool.

I don’t go in for the whole Speedo thing (I swim for golf not for the Olympic trials) I wear regular workout shorts - and I have found it has the added benefit of offering more drag so I have to work harder doing laps.

Laps can be boring and there is no remedy for that – but swimming is truly the best exercise for the human body.

Stretch well before your sets and always wear goggles.

[senorchipotle]

the best remedy for stretching muscles is a thrice weekly yoga routine. which is inarguably the best exercise for a golfer, aside from hitting balls of course. it stretches the backs, arms, chest, and legs and builds muscle as well. check your club workout schedule, there's bound to be a few yoga classes offered. especially out in california.

[motteler621]

I regularly go to a nice health club, None of the swimmers that swim laps wear speedos,lol. Just wear swim trunks man. Find a regimen that you can do, look online for lap routines

[Yukari]

I was in a swim team and water polo team in high school and continued to swim competitively in college and beyond (called Masters). And yes, I still wear speedo when I swim. I can't swim with regular swim suit as it has too much drag.

I swim laps by varying intensity:
500 meters warms up (free style)
10 x 100 meters (or yds depending on the poor) freestyle at 1:40 interval.
10 x 200 IM (50 butterfly, 50 back, 50 breast stroke, and 50 freestyle) at 2:10 interval.
10 x 50 meters at 45 sec intervals
500 meters warm down.

I do this 4 days a week (some days, I would vary the sets like doing 10 x 100 back stroke instead of 10 x 100 free, etc.--you get the picture)

I also run 2 days a week (6 miles each day at anywhere between 7 min/mile to 7:45 min/mile pace depending on how I feel that day) and take Sundays off.

I don't stretch much at all, I use the 500 meter warm up and the first mile of my run as part of my stretching routine. Stretching is over rated. There was a study published within last month that showed there is no significant benefit to stretching.

Swimming is good, but if you want weight loss or weight control, you have to do weight bearing exercises. You'll have a hard time losing weight by swimming, unless you swim at a fast pace.

[Ben]

Thanks everyone. Today was the first go, and holy cow, that was a LOT tougher than I thought it would be! I did some reading and as Yukari stated, i found that light paced laps can be considered warm-up or "stretching laps". That being said, I still stretched before I got in the water. I also read that a beginner should try 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest. Which to me meant one way down, rest, one way back, rest. Yeah, it was tough, but that's what I'm looking for. Right now I can't even imagine a 500m warm-up all that work and then another 500m warm-down like you Yukari! But, I'd imagine with some time I'll get there. How long does that whole routine take you anyway?

I'm not really doing this for weight loss. I'm already at the correct weight, I just want to "redirect" the weight, if you know what I mean. Still a little bit of a spare tire.

So I ended up developing a little routine, and like UberSwing suggested, I found myself alternating between 200m's of freestyle and 200m's of breast stroke. And lasted about 30 minutes. Its been an hour since and I still feel pretty pooped! But, it was really fun!

chipotle, I am hit and miss with yoga. I do enjoy it very much and classes are offered at my club, but a lot of the time I'm either working or in a tournament when the good instructors are holding their class.

[JasonP]

Might be worth seeing if you can get just a few lessons from a swim coach. Might really open up some variety for you in your routine.