This is awful. I really want to be able to swim freestyle - I can do the *** stroke no problem. I'm taking a workshop and my instructor tells me "your freestyle stroke is very strong" but I'm so WEAK! I'm swimming in a 25 yard pool and I can't make it much more than halfway across the $#$@! pool without having to break into the *** stroke, and I feel like I am just dying.
I'm not in HORRIBLE shape, but not great shape (the current shape is round but my lifestyle changes will eliminate that in time)...I do martial arts, circuit training, can walk 2 miles without a problem.
What can I do to work up to freestyle without killing myself? I don't want to shorten my swims by trying to do freestyle and then dying and having to settle for less time in the water/moving around/burning it off.
Help!
When I was learning to swim, I had a breakthrough day when I realized I was swimming too hard, holding my breath too long and with all my muscles tensed up. I was also not doing a full exhale so I wasn't getting enough air while breathing. I went from barely surviving 25 yards to easily swimming a mile over the course of that one swim session. Perhaps you will have a similar breakthrough.
From your responses about the pull-buoy and fins, it does sound like you are using a lot of leg energy to swim with sub-optimal body position (sinking legs).
Fins are great fun and can be useful. You shouldn't be dependent upon them, but otherwise they have a legitimate place in swim workouts.
When I was learning to swim, I had a breakthrough day when I realized I was swimming too hard, holding my breath too long and with all my muscles tensed up. I was also not doing a full exhale so I wasn't getting enough air while breathing. I went from barely surviving 25 yards to easily swimming a mile over the course of that one swim session. Perhaps you will have a similar breakthrough.
From your responses about the pull-buoy and fins, it does sound like you are using a lot of leg energy to swim with sub-optimal body position (sinking legs).
Fins are great fun and can be useful. You shouldn't be dependent upon them, but otherwise they have a legitimate place in swim workouts.
