swimming for fitness

[HoppityFrogs]

I've started swimming to get fit, does anybody else swim for fit? Can we encourage each other?

No no, all they ask is that you can swim 50m.

Honest.

Everyone I swam with could swim more than this tho, and more than me..

I can swim 100m

Well... I could...

I just swam 500m non stop - flipped over on my back for 100m, but carried on with front crawl for another 100m

I smashed my personal best! That was conventional style too, not TI

The rest of the session I covered a good 800m in 100s and 50s

The 500m took under 15mins, which sets my mile pace target at 45...

I'm on it like a car bonnet now, serious training next week! 🏊

I take it you mean 50/100m without stopping, rather than that being the duration of the session? Only I can swim 100m non-stop, but so far can only repeat it about 5 times. Think the lesson would be over rather too quickly in my case!

Mumma please don't worry about how you look in the pool. Honestly. Nobody pays attention - they're all too focused on their own swimming (or not drowning in my case!) Also once you're in the water no one can see so you can feel at ease regardless.

I'm going to look at swimsmooth too. I've been in contact with theTI people but they're miles away from me.

And I'll find that Facebook group.

Thanks for the ideas for support and encouragement. I've been away for a few days and am actually quite looking forward to getting back in the pool.

YeAh shotgun a continuous distance of 50m/100m, that's exactly right

Okay need to keep adding distance then.

What you swim is fine!

Have you tried week 1 of zero to 1500m/mile?

4 x 100 (12 breaths between 100s)
4 x 50 (8 breaths between)
4 x 25 (4 breaths between)

The intervals are hard, but that's 700m in a session straight off

If you have time you can add a warm up and cool down

That sounds good actually thanks, Hissy. I've been doing a Zoggs beginners' programme which involves 2 x 150m of floats, but I get disheartened because my kick is so weedy and it takes flippin ages!

Propulsion from legs is a huge waste of energy for very little gain

Make sure the toes are bubbling at the surface (relax your neck totally and have face in water, turn to side to breathe as you need to) head should be held but the water. Not your neck muscles

That, in itself, will make kicking less taxing and more efficient.

Look up the Zero to 1 mile program, it's designed to take 6 weeks (or repetitions of weeks) to get you to 1500m

That said, it's a good idea to do back legs as it works the muscles and helps you get good straight back alignment.

Will do - thanks again. That all reminds me of the Alexander Technique; is TI related?

No, doubt it.

It's all about making your body as slippery as possible, making the drag as little as possible. Working with and using the water rather than fighting it.

If your back is straight the toes are closer to the surface (I have hypermobility) and you can engage core muscles and be more streamlined

So they tell me :)

Well after 3 weeks if toiling away on week 3 of zero to one mile I moved onto week 4 today. It was a daunting prospect so I took it v easy but did do it! It did take ages though. Probably about 55 mins. However today was first time I thought this mile is possible in the not too distant future. Looking forward to cracking that so can start working on increasing my pace

Those of you that have swim tag, what is your rest %?
(This is not a competition)
I feel like I never stop, but my rest % is still 8-9%.

Hi, can I join?

I learnt to swim properly at an adult improver class 4 years ago. I now swim 3 mornings a week before work. I usually swim between 1200m and 1500m. I'm not fast but I can swim that distance without stopping.

Bloody well done weegie

My courses and exploits have got in the way a bit of my mile, but the 500m swim on Friday shows me I'm ready to crack on and finish it.

Jemima welcome! Anyone who swims for exercise is welcome! And your distances are good! Wish I was up there too!

lljkk my rest % is always higher than that, but I've only being sets with breaks, I wouldn't necessarily take the percentage as too accurate tbh.

Love all the stats and percentages! Once I hit a mile I'm treating myself to a bit if technology and a new cossie

Welcome Jemima and very well done Weegie.

IIjkk my rest time on Swimtag is usually around 3%. Today it said 0% although I know I did catch my breath a few times. I had 5% one day last week when I'd stopped for a chat between length 8 and 9! I don't know how accurate it is but I do feel the rest time is a bit of a scolding …

Did a mile in just under 34 mins (33:59 to be precise) today so pleased to have at last shaved a minute off – not much but it feels quite satisfying.

No swimming for me today . Pulled my calf muscle on Saturday attempting day2 of c25k . In theory swimming should be okay, but I set off all ready today then realised the walk was too far to hobble from the car.
Should have gone bloody swimming on Saturday! Have a good week all, so much inspiration here to keep a landlubber motivated!

Get well soon, Shotgun.

Lidjik my rest percentage is often at 9-12% on the swimtag. You can set what counts as a 'rest' on the settings. Mine is set as 2 seconds so even if I stop for a quick breath then it counts a rest.

You can tweak the swimtag settings? Wow. Will look at that

I've not been to my swim tag pool in a couple of weeks. I needed to be in my "home" pool, quiet, usually hardly anyone there, no prickish line behaviour, if you don't count the two gabbing women doing their old skool breaststroke while chatting in full makeup..

I've come through a tough patch, needed to focus and it's really paid off

Just had another 1350m session, another 400m front crawl which was an improvement actually

My swimming has just gone up a gear. Finished on 9050 for the month, which is higher than I thought it would be. It's a 10k goal next month, for sure!

Swimtag was all over the place today! Said I did 51 lengths (instead of 50) and that I took 39 mins. I've tried to edit it but if I delete the final length it thinks I did it seems to shift all the others to the opposite stroke (so starting with backstroke and not the front crawl that I do for all odd lengths). So I've given up … (I also didn't know you could edit the rest time – thanks for the info Cotton)

Had a strange experience in the pool today. I set out trying to be quite fast (I was excited about 34 mins yesterday) and by about length 5 I was quite breathless and I had a moment of complete panic thinking I couldn't breathe and I couldn't do the remaining lengths! Was a bit scary and something I've not had before. Found the remainder of the swim pretty hard going.

Ouch Shotgun that sounds really painful!

Supposed to be swimming this morning, but my shoulder is really hurting. Can't decide whether to leave it for today or still go and see how it feels once I'm in the water.

It was probably trying to compete with the swimmer going slightly faster than me on Monday that did it

It's not too bad Jemima - it's mainly the inconvenience of hobbling everywhere that's a nuisance. And I've put on a kilo since Thursday so trying not to panic (couldn't bethe excess alcohol & Halloween chocs of course!) Take it easy with the shoulder won't you?