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)
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.
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.
