I guess I'll make this sort of an introduction thread as well. I'll make that part quick so we can move on to business.
I started swimming a year ago. By "swimming" I mean training for competitive swimming. I had already known how to swim all the strokes. I was a freshman going into sophomore year in high school at the time. What you need to know is that I taught myself all the turns, racing techniques, and starts by watching YouTube videos (NOT expert village) and practice. To prepare for my swim team in the winter, I swam 500s and 1000s to build up my endurance. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and I had know idea what stroke I would be good at.
When time came, I found myself in the distance world, swimming 500 freestyle races. I swam 6:40ish 500s. For a noob swimmer, I've found that isn't half bad, and I got like 3rd or 2nd place in my races. Bu the other 3 events I had to do I usually sucked at. My coach put me on breaststroke races, and I didn't know how to sprint. (as in, I didn't figure out until half way through the season that you need to hold your breath in sprints) So aside from the 500, I did crappy. I think the only reason I didn't fail as much at the 500 was that I had spent all summer and fall swimming 500s and 1000s in preparation.
In the spring I didn't have time to do anything, since I was too caught up in school work. But as soon as summer came again, I hit the pool just like the previous summer. This time, with a better idea of the swimming world. As soon as I started training, I found I could swim a 29 second 50 back stroke. Now, to some of you people here that are very advanced, you probably think that sucks, but I think it's good considering I've never had any formal back stroke training. So, I've decided to build off of that. That, and 500 free style. I'm going to make those my main events, and go from there.
So my main question is, what sort of workouts should I be doing to improve at this point? I've been able to hold a 37 second 50 back stroke for 10 intervals so far on the minute. But my 100s are really suffering. I'm swimming 1:20 intervals on the 100 only 5 times in a row before I have to stop. My main problem with back stroke is also the start. My dolphin kick is weak, and I could stand to improve it. Finally, my 500 is still where it was before. I'm trying to push it down sub 6:30 before the season. I'm not really sure where to start with the 500. There's nothing particularly wrong with it. I just need to increase my endurance I guess.
As I was saying, based on this whole.....essay (lol) that I've written, what sort of advice do you any of you have to give? I'm doing whatever I can at this point to improve. I don't know what it is, but I've fallen in love with swimming and just want to keep getting better. Keep in mind, I'm still a beginner, and still have a lot to learn. I really appreciate any help I get from you veteran swimmers. Thanks a thousand. :angel:
Former Member
How many times a week do you train?
How far do you go per practice?
What paces can you hold?
I forgot to answer this.
I train 5 times a week as of now. Saturday is weight room day. And sunday is my day off.
For backstroke, I'll swim about 3000-4000 per practice. For the 500, it's more like 5000-6000.
As for what paces I can hold, I believe I've already covered it.
I read that Steve West is training about three days per week, one hour per practice, and he qualified for Olympic Trials in the 200 *** at age 39!
I'm not saying this is all the training anyone needs, but it does prove that it's not all about pure time in the pool or yardage!
To be fair, Steve West built a huge aerobic base very early on at Golden West before switching to Irvine Nova under Salo, where he swam onto the National team under less yardage but a far more intense race-oriented training program.
It's believed by most coaches that the aerobic base is key, and once it's built, the gains it produces can be sustained on far less yardage. There are lots of examples of this in Masters.
Purple, the energy systems needed to swim fast at the 100 back and the 500 free couldn't be more diametrically opposed. If you're going 29 in the 50 back, and 6:40 in the 500, it sounds like you may be more naturally-oriented towards sprint/middle distance. What do you go in the 200 free?
Ok guys it's been awhile. I've been busy training :) As said before, I got a guy that coaches up at Harvard to help coach my technique. I meet 2-3 times a week, and basically work on technique for all 4 strokes. It's usually only about 1000-2000 in total, but it's been very helpful.
So far, I've learned much more to benefit my freestyle then my back stroke. My back stroke had a few problems, which I'm trying to fix. Unfortunately, I find it difficult to swim intense sets with the changes I've made to my back stroke. As for freestyle, he really worked on refining my glide, and it's really helped! Now, I've found I can swim 15+ 50s on the minute at 36s or less, something I wasn't able to do before. At the moment, I'm trying to pull of 5 100s on 2 minutes intervals at 1:12 or less for each. But I'm currently averaging mostly 1:14s or 1:15s. Because of all this improvement, I tested myself and found that I'm now swimming a 6:26 500. I'm glad to see that I'm improving. :)
As for back stroke, it's been rough. I'm not improving much because I'm still trying to master some of the changes my instructor brought to my attention. I'm not really sure how to explain the problems, but has to do with my pull. Until I master this to the point I don't have to think, it's hard for me to apply many of the exercises the nice people here told me to do.
Finally, I'm decreasing the amount I do per workout. As many of you said, a lot of it was unnecessary. A 3000-4000 intense workout that pushes my barriers has helped a whole hell of a lot more than a 5000-6000 workout that just has me too fatigued by the end (not tired or out of breath) that I'm having difficulty reaching the intervals I want to make for my sets.
In short, I'm improving, especially on the 500 freestyle. Thanks for all the help so far. :D
Ok another update. I've been doing a lot of 10 x 50s on the minute, and 5 x 100s on 2 minutes in order to improve my 500 freestyle. Today, my 10 x 50 set went like this:
1. 32s
2. 33s
3. 34s
4. 33s
5. 34s
6. 33s
7. 33s
8. 34s
9. 35s
10. 32s (I go all out on the last of my sets)
So as you can see, I've been improving. My 5 X 100s set went like this:
1. 1:12
2. 1:13
3. 1:15
4. 1:13
5. 1:11 (I go as fast as I can on the last of my sets)
My goal is to bring these down to 1:12s or below. Once I do that, I plan to start 200 sets. I've also been swimming some untimed 250s and 500s at around 6:30 500 pace, or 39s splits on the 50s. Unfortunately, it's hard to time long distance sets myself because the clock at my pool that's used for timing only operates by seconds. I might try and get a friend to help me time some of my sets, or I'll try and find a water proof timer.
As for backstroke, my SDK is finally where I want it to be, and I would consider my start to be very solid. I've been doing 10 X 50s on 1:10 for back stroke. My set today went like this:
1. 33s
2. 35s
3. 36s
4. 36s
5. 38s
6. 37s
7. 39s
8. 37s
9. 35s
10. 32s (I go as fast as I can on the last of my sets)
I also did some 8 X 75s on 1:40. But the timing got so messed up that I can't remember the times I got for this set.
So in total, I've been swimming about 3000-3500 each day I train.
I've been training my backstroke a little bit like I'm training for long distance. Anyone have any ideas for sets that are more appropriate for someone looking to do 50 and 100 backstroke races? Thanks.
Ok another update. I've been doing a lot of 10 x 50s on the minute, and 5 x 100s on 2 minutes in order to improve my 500 freestyle. Today, my 10 x 50 set went like this:
1. 32s
2. 33s
3. 34s
4. 33s
5. 34s
6. 33s
7. 33s
8. 34s
9. 35s
10. 32s (I go all out on the last of my sets)
So as you can see, I've been improving. My 5 X 100s set went like this:
1. 1:12
2. 1:13
3. 1:15
4. 1:13
5. 1:11 (I go as fast as I can on the last of my sets)
My goal is to bring these down to 1:12s or below. Once I do that, I plan to start 200 sets. I've also been swimming some untimed 250s and 500s at around 6:30 500 pace, or 39s splits on the 50s. Unfortunately, it's hard to time long distance sets myself because the clock at my pool that's used for timing only operates by seconds. I might try and get a friend to help me time some of my sets, or I'll try and find a water proof timer.
These are good sets, but I think you should try to drop your interval down slowly over time, while trying to maintain the same swim speed for each 50/100 like you have above.
Rather than the 1:00 for the 50s, try the :55 and then :50 interval, but maintain the 33s. It may take time, but you'll get there.
Do the same for the set of 100s, drop the interval, but still shoot for the 1:12s.
You will find your distance endurance will begin improving a lot over time. Don't expect huge success right away. Take it easy on your step-downs, as this will be tough on your body. Ideally it would be good to have approximately :10 of rest or so between 100s. When you race your 500, you don't get that recovery time after each 100.
Again long time no see eh? :) I've been training. But not in the sense some of you probably expected to hear.
Since my last post, I took a trip to the physical therapist to check on my shoulder I injured about a year ago, which prevented me from doing the Fly. However, he said I could start swimming the Fly again, and that my shoulder was fully healed. So I decided to do some IM training. This was back in late August/early September. Unfortunately, I can't quite remember everything I did, or the times I did them at, but here's an example of the kinds of sets I was doing:
SCY
5 X 100
1. 75 fr, 25 bu
2. 75 fr, 25 br
3. 75 ba, 25 bu
4. 75 ba, 25 br
5. 50 fr, 50 ba
3 X 300
-First 100 IM order
-Second 100 Fr
-Third 100 IM order
This training only lasted 2 weeks or so. I then began my Cross Country training for my high school team. I've been doing 7-10 miles a day in XC (cross country) for the past month or so. Now I know this isn't the same as swimming, but it has helped a lot with my aerobic fitness.
Yesterday, while at my job (lifeguard), I had a free hour and a half to do whatever. I was a bit hot, so I decided to do some swimming in the pool. I was wearing my jammers and everything. I did my regular 10 X 50s Backstroke sets to see where I was. Surprisingly enough, I found it easy to maintain 34s and 35s on this set, something where I had struggled to maintain 39s in the past.
In about a month from now, I will be back in the pool training regularly for swim season, which starts for me after Thanks Giving. So far, XC seems to be doing wonders for my fitness ability, which has helped a lot in the pool for some reason. Maybe I should start doing Triathlons. ;)
In any case, thanks for all the set ideas, guys. They've really helped my backstroke. I don't know if I'm going to focus as much on my 500 anymore. It's starting to look like a lost cause. Based on what I've written in the past, and the present, anymore set suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The Cross Country season is finally over for me! I haven't been in the pool since last time I posted, due to the intense commitment I've had to make to running, but I'm back in business starting tomorrow! I can't wait to see how my times have improved (hopefully) given my huge increase in cardiovascular fitness. My swim season starts on November 28th. I can't train everyday, but I plan to train 4-6 times a week up until the start of the season. I'll post my splits tomorrow.
As someone looking to improve her sprint backstroke times this season, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. Good luck this season, and keep us posted!
