Just got back from the Greensboro meet and it brought back memories from previous Nationals. With so many swimmers attempting to warm-up in a fairly restricted area how do you do it? Are there any good dry land warm-up exercises that can simulate the pool action. I know this will be a problem at the nationals and am looking for some good advice.
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First of all, "way too much" implies that more than a certain amount is detrimental to performance. That will depend on effort level, of course. For example, my personal preference is -- once I feel warmed up and ready -- to stay in the water until the last moment possible. The reasons are mostly psychological: the water supports my weight, it is relaxing to float or swim easy while thinking about my race.
In terms of research, I don't have time to look at it now, but there is this:
acumen.lib.ua.edu/.../u0015_0000001_0000077.pdf
It is sprint-focused (and for college swimmers) so the effects for older folk and longer distances isn't considered.
My *personal* experience -- I'm not willing to generalize -- is that I need more warmup for longer pool events than sprints. If I haven't warmed up sufficiently for (say) a 200 then the "burn" comes earlier and hurts more than with a good warmup. 50s, on the other hand, don't hurt much either way. YMMV of course.
I like the idea of using stretch cords when pool space is limited. I once heard Rich Abrahams say that he likes vertical kicking when space is limited; this is an interesting idea for me because my legs sometimes need more "waking up" than the rest of me and if they start burning too early the results are rarely pretty.
That is an interesting study but I think it is a bit flawed. They only had 3 minutes between warmup and the time trial. The short warmup was 50y at 40% and then 50y at 90%. 3 minutes after a 90% swim I don't think is enough time to fully recover. That is probably why the short warmup was slower than the normal warmup and even slightly slower than no warmup at all. The study does still prove that a normal warmup is better than no warmup.
First of all, "way too much" implies that more than a certain amount is detrimental to performance. That will depend on effort level, of course. For example, my personal preference is -- once I feel warmed up and ready -- to stay in the water until the last moment possible. The reasons are mostly psychological: the water supports my weight, it is relaxing to float or swim easy while thinking about my race.
In terms of research, I don't have time to look at it now, but there is this:
acumen.lib.ua.edu/.../u0015_0000001_0000077.pdf
It is sprint-focused (and for college swimmers) so the effects for older folk and longer distances isn't considered.
My *personal* experience -- I'm not willing to generalize -- is that I need more warmup for longer pool events than sprints. If I haven't warmed up sufficiently for (say) a 200 then the "burn" comes earlier and hurts more than with a good warmup. 50s, on the other hand, don't hurt much either way. YMMV of course.
I like the idea of using stretch cords when pool space is limited. I once heard Rich Abrahams say that he likes vertical kicking when space is limited; this is an interesting idea for me because my legs sometimes need more "waking up" than the rest of me and if they start burning too early the results are rarely pretty.
That is an interesting study but I think it is a bit flawed. They only had 3 minutes between warmup and the time trial. The short warmup was 50y at 40% and then 50y at 90%. 3 minutes after a 90% swim I don't think is enough time to fully recover. That is probably why the short warmup was slower than the normal warmup and even slightly slower than no warmup at all. The study does still prove that a normal warmup is better than no warmup.
