Hey, I am looking for a little "aquatic-guidance".
I last swam a masters program at 19. I am turning 24 this summer, and today was the first time I had jumped back into the pool since 19. Needless to say, I lasted about 500m of kick and then hit the shower.
My technique is a little off, but for the most part still holds well. I am obviously very out of shape, and will be needing to hit the pool a lot over the next few months; ready and willing though!
For a Breaster/Free guy, what sort of sets, drills, work-outs might you suggest? Especially geared towards the long hiatus!
J.
... what sort of sets, drills, work-outs might you suggest? Especially geared towards the long hiatus!
Having come back from a 33 year long hiatus, and now finishing my fourth year in the water ... What worked for me, instead of specific sets, was having a series of mini-goals I could work towards, each of which took a few weeks or months to accomplish. The mini-goals were fun, kept me moving forwards, and kept me in the water.
For the first bit, when I was really out of shape, my goal was to be able to swim a 1650 without stopping, nevermind the time. That turned out to be a pretty good choice, because I developed some level of conditioning. That took about 10 weeks. I didn't use a clock at all.
About that time my wife spied an article about Senior Olympics in the local paper, shoved it at me, and said, "You should be doing this, old man!" So my next goal was to enter a little local Senior Olympics meet. I decided I didn't want to swim all freestyle, so I started swimming backstroke as well, and had to teach myself the new-fangled turn all you young whippersnappers use these days.
After that ... state senior olympics, first USMS meet, first 200 IM, first 400 IM, first 1650, first USMS short course nationals, first long course nationals, first 200 fly in competition, first senior games nationals, and just this spring, first 500 done all fly. There were a bunch of others.
The point is, pick a fairly near-term athletic goal you'd like to accomplish, and the workouts will write themselves. Nothing outrageous! Make the goals fun, have fun doing it, and stay in the water!
... what sort of sets, drills, work-outs might you suggest? Especially geared towards the long hiatus!
Having come back from a 33 year long hiatus, and now finishing my fourth year in the water ... What worked for me, instead of specific sets, was having a series of mini-goals I could work towards, each of which took a few weeks or months to accomplish. The mini-goals were fun, kept me moving forwards, and kept me in the water.
For the first bit, when I was really out of shape, my goal was to be able to swim a 1650 without stopping, nevermind the time. That turned out to be a pretty good choice, because I developed some level of conditioning. That took about 10 weeks. I didn't use a clock at all.
About that time my wife spied an article about Senior Olympics in the local paper, shoved it at me, and said, "You should be doing this, old man!" So my next goal was to enter a little local Senior Olympics meet. I decided I didn't want to swim all freestyle, so I started swimming backstroke as well, and had to teach myself the new-fangled turn all you young whippersnappers use these days.
After that ... state senior olympics, first USMS meet, first 200 IM, first 400 IM, first 1650, first USMS short course nationals, first long course nationals, first 200 fly in competition, first senior games nationals, and just this spring, first 500 done all fly. There were a bunch of others.
The point is, pick a fairly near-term athletic goal you'd like to accomplish, and the workouts will write themselves. Nothing outrageous! Make the goals fun, have fun doing it, and stay in the water!
