Hi all
I was a competitive figure skater for many years, and it was commonplace to come armed with our favorite music to practice to, and then put on our program music when we were practicing our programs for competition. In between, I'd put on a selection of music that drove my workout. I guess I'm dyed in the wool about working out to music, and incorporated it into my swimming when I saw this was possible.
7386I have a Finis SwiMP3 player. I actually had the first one they came out with when I swam 6-7 years ago and had to quit because of my cold induced asthma forcing me out of the pool. I returned to the water, but my old school gadget couldn't hold a charge. Finis is a wonderful company and they exchanged mine for less than half of what the new ones cost and I got the top of the line model and it's way smaller and less cumbersome than the first generation (like anything else electronic). You actually clip the 'speakers' onto your goggles and position them right in front of your ears and listen through your bones. They used to position on your cheeks but that changed.
ANYHOW - I am wondering if anyone else likes to swim with music. I heard the iPod shuffle comes in a waterproof model too (not sure what headphones you'd use) and I'd love to share playlists. I was primarily doing the *** stroke before and found that a classical piece - Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major (op. 2 no. 9) was a perfect rhythm for that stoke...but now I have pulled a muscle and can't do the *** stroke at all - I'm doing freestyle, freestyle and more freestyle, so I'm going for some rock and roll.
Some of my favorite tunes to swim with:
Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks - this churning, driving music is perfect for mid-workout. Keeps me going..."...when the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay..."
Rolling Stones Start Me Up or B-52s Roam - great to warm up to - both get me going every time!
Journey - Feeling That Way/Anytime (I spliced them together as they should be) - nice rhythm for mid-workout. Good to order that before or after When the Levee Breaks
Other tunes on my playlist range from some Coldplay to some Pink Floyd - with a few stops to Reba McIntire and Clint Black (yes really). You will not find any hip hop or rap - I'm an old fart and can't stand that stuff. :blush:
I think I'm going to create an order of tunes so I get my warm up music when I want it. Kind of like choreography (back to my skating days)..
So I"m just wondering who else likes to indulge in music when swimming? I'd love to share playlists...
Wasn't that what Brian Goodell was listening to during his mile back in the day (late 70's)?
Yes - here is a quote from him about the significance of the song at the '76 games:
"One day I was driving to swim practice when I heard Radar Love come on the radio. It has a driving beat that I couldn’t get out of my mind. That song played over and over in my head all workout long and I had a great training session. I immediately related that song to the long 1500M race and imagined myself passing the other swimmers one-by-one (“… last car to pass, here I go!”). I knew that my strength was to negative split my races so the theme of passing cars matched perfectly with that strategy. During the 1500M final in Montreal I heard the driving beat of Radar Love in the back of my mind as I started to catch up to Bobby Hackett and Stephen Holland over the last 400 meters, just as I had so many times during grueling workouts that year in Mission Viejo. Using music is one of the techniques I used to put myself mentally into the Olympic finals during practice and Radar Love was the main song I used to help me break through pain and fatigue barriers to practice swimming at the very highest level, and I was recreating that same environment to be in my comfort zone to perform at my best at the Olympics."
Wasn't that what Brian Goodell was listening to during his mile back in the day (late 70's)?
Yes - here is a quote from him about the significance of the song at the '76 games:
"One day I was driving to swim practice when I heard Radar Love come on the radio. It has a driving beat that I couldn’t get out of my mind. That song played over and over in my head all workout long and I had a great training session. I immediately related that song to the long 1500M race and imagined myself passing the other swimmers one-by-one (“… last car to pass, here I go!”). I knew that my strength was to negative split my races so the theme of passing cars matched perfectly with that strategy. During the 1500M final in Montreal I heard the driving beat of Radar Love in the back of my mind as I started to catch up to Bobby Hackett and Stephen Holland over the last 400 meters, just as I had so many times during grueling workouts that year in Mission Viejo. Using music is one of the techniques I used to put myself mentally into the Olympic finals during practice and Radar Love was the main song I used to help me break through pain and fatigue barriers to practice swimming at the very highest level, and I was recreating that same environment to be in my comfort zone to perform at my best at the Olympics."
