I will be swimming five days a week. I want to use the other two days for complementary non-swimming workouts. I am looking for suggestions. Being that I am out of shape the first thing that comes to mind is weight training. I could see some yoga in there as well.
Or...should I only use one day for a non-swimming workout and rest for one day?
Common ones suggested for swimming are: running, biking, rowing, kayaking. These are all pretty similar activities in that they involve endurance in a particular repetitive movement.
I don't agree that these are strictly endurance (aerobic) activities. Have you not seen the legs on pro cyclists? I think they are plenty strong. Of course, cycling, though repetitive like swimming, has a much wider variety of resistance due to hills and the ability to change gears. Doing hill sprints builds plenty of strength and lactate tolerance.
While I think weight-lifting (which is certainly a competitive sport, of course) is great for upper-body power in swimming, I am much less certain of the value of squats, lunges, deadlifts (etc) for improving kicking ability. Starts and turns, yes; kicking, no.
Because of back injuries there have been long stretches of time where I have been unable to do any of those exercises, and there was no effect at all on my kicking ability. And -- to use your own example -- adding them did not suddenly make my kick times drop.
Common ones suggested for swimming are: running, biking, rowing, kayaking. These are all pretty similar activities in that they involve endurance in a particular repetitive movement.
I don't agree that these are strictly endurance (aerobic) activities. Have you not seen the legs on pro cyclists? I think they are plenty strong. Of course, cycling, though repetitive like swimming, has a much wider variety of resistance due to hills and the ability to change gears. Doing hill sprints builds plenty of strength and lactate tolerance.
While I think weight-lifting (which is certainly a competitive sport, of course) is great for upper-body power in swimming, I am much less certain of the value of squats, lunges, deadlifts (etc) for improving kicking ability. Starts and turns, yes; kicking, no.
Because of back injuries there have been long stretches of time where I have been unable to do any of those exercises, and there was no effect at all on my kicking ability. And -- to use your own example -- adding them did not suddenly make my kick times drop.
