I recently read an article on the importance of warming up. I have started beginning my workout by doing a 5 minute swim at an easy pace (usually about 16 or 18 laps), then a brief rest, then a 300 moderate tempo warmup. I then follow this with 4x50 on the kickboard. That means I am doing about half a mile of warmups. I then get into my workout, which is usually intervals of 100s, 50s, and 25s, swum mostly at anywhere from 80 to 100% of maximum effort.
My question...on the day of the race, there is usually one hour before the meet starts. How much swimming should I be doing? Should I do my full warm-up, so all the kinks and lactic acid are worked out of my muscles? And what about between races...Let's say I have a 50 freestyle and then a 50 *** a half hour later. What should I be doing in between?
I warmup with about 1000 about 2 hours before my first swim.I warmup until I don't feel stiff,swim one 25 at race pace,then cool down until I don't feel stiff.About 30 min before my event I start moving around,getting loose and warming up on the pool deck.I want to be well warmed up before I swim,but I also want to be dry(standing wet on the blocks seems to not be part of warming up to me.YMMV)Back when men wore the fullbody techsuits, getting one on was practically enough warm up.After the race I do a 300 cooldown. Unless you sprint too much it is pretty hard to warmup too much.I am sure more people have swum slow from not enough warmup than for too much.
I warmup with about 1000 about 2 hours before my first swim.I warmup until I don't feel stiff,swim one 25 at race pace,then cool down until I don't feel stiff.About 30 min before my event I start moving around,getting loose and warming up on the pool deck.I want to be well warmed up before I swim,but I also want to be dry(standing wet on the blocks seems to not be part of warming up to me.YMMV)Back when men wore the fullbody techsuits, getting one on was practically enough warm up.After the race I do a 300 cooldown. Unless you sprint too much it is pretty hard to warmup too much.I am sure more people have swum slow from not enough warmup than for too much.
