I currently swim 6 sessions per week (Mon Tue Thu Fri morning, Tue evening, Sat afternoon, with 2 rest days (Wednesday and Sunday). Recently I have added weight training into my routine, and I would like to do it for 4 weeks. I have currently put them on evenings Monday, Wednesday and Sunday last week (45 minutes each season), but after my weight training, I feel my muscle stiffness and tightness (especially my pecs) sustained overnight, sometimes affecting my swim training as well.
Am I putting my weight training to inappropriate times, or should I sacrifice some of the swim sessions for that? (I am using a progressive overload schedule for my swim training, gradually increasing my training mileage, but that does not include any weight training which I never had before)
If you have not weight trained before, you're going to be sore no matter what.
However, depending on how old you are and the level of exercise volume you're used to, you might be overdoing it. That's a pretty big workload.
I might suggest more reps in the wts. for now. Most lifters I know go for the heaviest lifts and short reps.
Yes , if you have not done so before you will be sore starting out.
I currently swim 6 sessions per week (Mon Tue Thu Fri morning, Tue evening, Sat afternoon, with 2 rest days (Wednesday and Sunday). Recently I have added weight training into my routine, and I would like to do it for 4 weeks. I have currently put them on evenings Monday, Wednesday and Sunday last week (45 minutes each season), but after my weight training, I feel my muscle stiffness and tightness (especially my pecs) sustained overnight, sometimes affecting my swim training as well.
Am I putting my weight training to inappropriate times, or should I sacrifice some of the swim sessions for that? (I am using a progressive overload schedule for my swim training, gradually increasing my training mileage, but that does not include any weight training which I never had before)
Every swimmer should be in the weight room. The primary goal for swimmers with weight training is injury prevention. You are not going for building bulk. Range of motion, and focusing on the synergists. Look at it this way.. you are already getting a workout on the muscles you use in swimming.. by swimming.. so you want to balance out things..
Also weight training should be done after swimming. Think of it like running on the treadmill as a warmup before you hit the gym..
Keep in mind that training and nutrition go together.. so make sure you are fueling for both the workouts and the recovery.
I've never weight trained before. Will it actually help my swimming if it is affecting my normal swimming routine like I'm describing above? And I'm swimming 7 - 11 km each week by the end of last year, and 12 - 15 km each week now.
Well, it depends what you're doing for weight training. Being stronger is usually a good thing in general. But you really have to give it a few weeks to acclimate your body before you declare that it's "affecting your normal swimming routine."
Another thing to consider is moving your weights earlier in the day/evening. That gives our body time to recover as you move throughout the rest of your day, and may help reduce the stiffness the next day. Working out right before you drop into bed may not be allowing our muscles time to clear out any acid build up.
My college coach always preached: "What you do in the weight room should compliment what you do in the pool." Like above posters have said, adding weights can help you a lot, but it can make your practices rough coming off a lift.
Personally, I now lift two times a week. One day legs, another day arms. I try to go Tuesday/Thursday, and I pair my water workouts with those lifts: Tuesday I come off leg/lower body weights and do a lot of power work w/resistance. The yardage is light but intensity is high. Then on Thursdays, coming off an arm/upper body lift, I do a recovery day because upper body lifts just drain me. Sometimes it isn't perfect (see my blog and how I did an upper body lift and then a quality set on Saturday), but I always have at least one day in between lifts.
You will definitely want to start small, in weight and reps, and get a feel for what certain lifts do for you in the water.
If you have not weight trained before, you're going to be sore no matter what.
However, depending on how old you are and the level of exercise volume you're used to, you might be overdoing it. That's a pretty big workload.
I've never weight trained before. Will it actually help my swimming if it is affecting my normal swimming routine like I'm describing above? And I'm swimming 7 - 11 km each week by the end of last year, and 12 - 15 km each week now.
If you have not weight trained before, you're going to be sore no matter what.
However, depending on how old you are and the level of exercise volume you're used to, you might be overdoing it. That's a pretty big workload.
What is the sign of overdoing? I did 2 swimming sessions yesterday (1/29), morning on my own, and evening coached session - however the coach gave us extra high intensity program which I didn't expect - 4 x 50 m with 5" rest between @ race speed, 3 sets (and 1 more set before ending the session which made us all mad).
Afterwards I got extremely bad sleep - multiple interruptions and nightmares even I was extremely tired, and I was feeling my lats today's morning. Was I doing too much?
Here was the workout I did in the last few days:
1/26: low intensity swim session on my own in the morning, 1.5 km race in the afternoon
1/27: 1.5 hours gym session, no swimming
1/28: coached session in the morning (all technique work), 45 minutes gym session evening
1/29: swim session on my own in the morning (medium intensity), coached session in the evening (the coach made us mad doing extremely hard work!)
1/30: no swimming, but planning to put 45 minutes gym session today's evening.
Given my above symptom, should I ditch my planned gym session today? Is it appropriate to put gym sessions on the "rest day" inside the swimming routine?
Lifting weights will make you swim slower in practice. However when you taper and stop lifting weights you should swim faster than ever. When you start lifting you will be a lot more sore but it will decrease as you adapt to the program. Eating a lot of protein will help reduce soreness.
Since you'd be new to it, I'd probably start out with just 2 weight training sessions a week for 2-3 weeks. Then if you feel ok, add in 1 more, then maybe another after that.
I have absolutely no idea how I did it, but several years ago I was swimming (with a team) 4-6 practices a week, lifting (solo) 3-4 times a week, and running 3+ times a week (total about 30 miles). I was constantly tired, but was swimming at decent speeds (for me), and was in fantastic shape. I sometimes did doubles of swimming, and occasionally of running (I did 2 miles before weights). Of course I was constantly tired and much more prone to injury and illness, which both hit me. Multiple people suggested I cut something, but it took some time for me to figure that out for myself. I tracked much of this in my USMS blog; feel free to take a look and see how crazy it all was (yes, it was crazy, and I'll be the first to admit that now).
Right now I usually manage 2 gym sessions a week and 4-5 pool sessions a week. I'll also walk the dogs and do some hiking, but nothing too intense.
