Hi,
My ultimate goal is to be able to swim 3000 meter freestyle without stopping (doing flip turns). And be able to swim butterfly for a not just one lenght.
I do not have date in mind, I just wanna be able to do it sometime in the future.
I swim regulary 2-3 times a week, but not for a long time. Swimming was always a favorite for me, so I taught myself from books, articles, youtube, etc. I am a 'technical guy', when it comes to swimming. I know all the aspects of it or almost. I had a coach for a short period of time and also I was swimming with a team a for a little while.
The problem is with my endurance. My cardivascular system (lungs, heart) is weak...my legs too...
I swim 1 hour a day now and around 2000-2300 meter, doing breaststroke, backstroke, double handed backstroke ( to relax). I use fins for kicking and also using them for back, free, and a little butterfly (dolphin without the hands). So as you can see, I try to mix it. The problem is that I need to stop after 1 or 2 lap..
My question is this: which is the best approach so I can swim without stopping at the wall almost every time?
1. Should I start swimming longer time?
2. keep the 1 hour, but try to gradually increase the laps by forcing myself to go on and not to stop? Also try to do more and more freestyle and leave breaststroke?
3. If I wannna swim freestyle should I just do that and only that? 1 lap at the time, then rest and again until I can do more and more.
4. Join an adult swim training? ( there is one at the pool I go to).
Thank you for you answers.:agree:
Join adult swim training.You almost certainly have some issues with yiur stroke that are keeping you from relaxing.If you have a relaxed, efficient stroke you should be able to do more than a couple of lengths without stopping unless you have some severe debility.Can you walk more than 400M without getting short of breath.If so it is almost certainly a technique/relaxation problem.
If you can swim 2-2.3k a day, you are close. I bet it is a problem with your breathing. Make sure you breathe OUT when your head is below the water. Then when you turn your head to breathe, it takes less time as you only have to inhale :-) another common error is turning the head too much.
The other trick to a long straight swim is to start slowly. With some technical fixes you could likely be there in a week...
I have similar issues. Sometimes, I have to force myself (obviously, you have to listen to your body and not over do it on this!). There are a few other things I've done to improve my endurance and increase my distance-without-stopping.
1. swim SLOWER. you'll have to slow yourself down a little bit. focus on long, easy, gliding strokes. slow down until you feel like you're more relaxed and not gasping for air in the water. get a good breathing rhythm going. find what works for you - breathing every 3rd stroke, every 4th stroke, or every stroke. whatever works for you that keeps you going.
2. are you doing flip turns? I had to stop doing them for a while in order to keep going. I did that until I could do a 400 with open turns, then started doing flips again and did 200s with flip turns until I worked up to 500s with flips. you could try playing around with different ways of doing this.. only doing flips at one end, only doing them the first or second half of your swim, etc.
3. increase your distance slowly. this is kind of obvious and self explanatory.
4. warm up. might sound weird, but it's important. and the older we get, the longer it takes us to get warmed up. your long swim should not be the first (or second or third) thing that you do. I've tried moving mine to earlier in my workout, and it doesn't work. I'm working my way up to a mile (1500m) so I can swim a relay triathlon next fall. right now, I'm up to 600m. generally my workout is a 2x100 swim, 200 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick, and then a fast 8x50 alternating free, ***, and fly. then, I do my long swim. if you do your long swim after some sprints, then you'll feel like you're doing a cool down. but your heart rate will be up and your muscles will be nice and warmed up, so you should be able to keep going longer.
As far as your stroke goes... have you learned to do a catch up drill? thumb drag drill? these drills might help you with lengthening your stroke and getting a good feel for gliding through the water. thumb drag will help you get those elbows up and have a better catch. Anyway... hopefully this helped a little. :)
Hi,
The problem is with my endurance. My cardivascular system (lungs, heart) is weak...my legs too...
I swim 1 hour a day now and around 2000-2300 meter, doing breaststroke, backstroke, double handed backstroke ( to relax).
I'll bet a dollar that you kick too much and that you aren't breathing often enough.
Swim a set with pull bouy and band holding your ankles together and breathe every two armstrokes and see if you can go further than 2 laps without stopping.
@Kevin in MD: dunno about the kicking (I have a weak kick and I'll try to swim with a 2 beat kick after having stronger kick). But I think you are right on with the lack of breathing. I always have to force myself to breath on every 3-4 or even5 strokes. It feels good not to breath, but as I read the CO2 will build up:
Start breathing every 2 strokes and you'll be golden.
Former Member
Thank you for the advices.
As I said I am thinking about joining the swim team. Until that happens I will take all of your advices.
Breathing IS a problem for me. That's for sure. I know I have to inhale as soon as I merge my head back in the water after inhaling, but even if I'm fully aware of it I find myself holding my breath for a while. Oddly - or not so much maybe - but when I don't concentrate on breathing or/and other aspects of freestyle so much I can swim a length with ease and without gasping for air. In these cases I don't even need to breath for the whole 33 or maybe once. I wish I coud do that all the time...it does not happen often.
I took your advice mlabresh and swam slower (I've read it somewhere and tried it before myself). I have to continue to do that as it did help me.
I swim front-quadrant "by nature". I like the idea of long, relaxed strokes as opposed to "fast splashing". I had practiced catch-up drills, fingertip drag before and I will keep on doing them.
@Kevin in MD: dunno about the kicking (I have a weak kick and I'll try to swim with a 2 beat kick after having stronger kick). But I think you are right on with the lack of breathing. I always have to force myself to breath on every 3-4 or even5 strokes. It feels good not to breath, but as I read the CO2 will build up:
"2) When you are holding your breath you can feel that you need to breathe. The sensation you are feeling is not the lack of oxygen, it's the build up of CO2. By holding your breath you are keeping the CO2 in your blood stream and lungs - this makes you feel desperate for air."- Swim Smooth
So yes, I should exhale completely under water. Which I don't do...
I used to swim with pull buoy all the time, because it is so much easier than without it. But I also read it somewhere that while it is easier to swim with it, it will not solve the problem, which is in my case the weak legs. It further weakens my leg by not eliminating it. I tend to agree with this idea.
From my experience I can tell you that I can swim more without using my legs. Which means what exactly? Weak legs? Bad balance? Both? Would be good to know.
Former Member
Start breathing every 2 strokes and you'll be golden.
Wow!
This seems to work. You hit the nail right on the head Kevin. :applaud:
Now I'm not saying that all of a sudden I became one of those guys who can do countless laps without stopping, but boy does it feel better now. Your words were ringing in my head when I first tried it yesterday. I was smiling on the inside. It worked!
Thanks a lot!
Now I have to work on gradually increasing the length. I use more and more times the fins, so my legs (calves, quadriceps, hamstring) can keep up.
Exciting times
:banana:
