Crossfit, Paleo, Yoga

If you want to improve your endurance for swimming, the best thing to do is swim sets that focus on your swimming endurance. The "High Volume Workouts" and "Stroke and IM Workouts" threads are full of good examples of these. Also, if you're already swimming two hours a day and still have endurance issues, you may wish to have someone critique your technique. I think any hardcore stretching would be more beneficial after your swimming session rather than before. Flexibility is nice to have, but if you want to be more streamlined, practice being streamlined! And forget the paleo diet - that's just ridiculous. Make healthy choices, get enough carbs and protein to fuel your workouts and your recovery, and you'll be fine.

I agree with sickfish for the most part. CrossFit can certainly make you stronger and fitter, but it's not going to help your swimming endurance, if that's what you're going for. Yoga certainly can't hurt although, again, it probably isn't going to directly affect your swimming endurance.

Yeah, be careful not to hurt yourself with the cross-fit... yoga is great, but pay attention to the sequencing of your exercises, start with a good long warm-up (maybe sun salutation series x 10). I'd also like to know what your two hours of swimming looks like... we all know folks who can spend two hours in the pool, but they aren't swimming vigorously the whole time. For endurance, definitely check out the interval workouts on the threads mentioned above. Focus on long sets w/ short rests.

What is your goal? If your goal is all around fitness,then Crossfit is fine.What are you doing in your 2 hours of swimming? 2 hours of swimming with some intensity would leave many of us thinking we had done plenty of exercise for the day.If you want to swim faster,then adding some weight lifting,focusing on technique,and doing some race pace work would be a more efficient use of your time. The paleo diet is fairly healthy,whether or not it's theoretic underpinings have any validity.;

I substituted CrossFit for swimming for a few months (going just few times a week but that was all I was swimming) and I noticed a significant drop in my endurance. I wouldn't do crossfit for the endurance. But it's a fun workout so long as you don't hurt yourself (which I also kept doing).

Yeah, be careful not to hurt yourself with the cross-fit... yoga is great, but pay attention to the sequencing of your exercises, start with a good long warm-up (maybe sun salutation series x 10). I'd also like to know what your two hours of swimming looks like... we all know folks who can spend two hours in the pool, but they aren't swimming vigorously the whole time. For endurance, definitely check out the interval workouts on the threads mentioned above. Focus on long sets w/ short rests. I can't give you an exact copy of the board we do, but it can get pretty intense, lots of sprints. It's a bit hard to describe. so crossfit won't help at all? I signed up today :( and I'm doing the paleo diet most likely. I'll still include pre and post swimming meals so the workouts don't effect me much. I'll probably be lenient on the post workout meals. Honestly I wish I could swim all day, because sinced it's summer I'm relatively free of obligations. But, sadly, I can't. i thought crossfit wold help quite a bit, doesn't having a lean body improve swimming performance? I also swim a wide variety of events, anywhere from 100s to miles. also why is the paleo diet ridiculous? And crossfit doesn't necessarily have to improve endurance, but any aspect of swimming. I was just wondering if there was some overlap. I've seen people on blogs swear it'll help. I'm probably going to do it either way, because as of now I feel like I'm not in very good shape.

I can't give you an exact copy of the board we do, but it can get pretty intense, lots of sprints. It's a bit hard to describe. so crossfit won't help at all? I signed up today :( and I'm doing the paleo diet most likely. I'll still include pre and post swimming meals so the workouts don't effect me much. I'll probably be lenient on the post workout meals. Honestly I wish I could swim all day, because sinced it's summer I'm relatively free of obligations. But, sadly, I can't. i thought crossfit wold help quite a bit, doesn't having a lean body improve swimming performance? I also swim a wide variety of events, anywhere from 100s to miles. also why is the paleo diet ridiculous? And crossfit doesn't necessarily have to improve endurance, but any aspect of swimming. I was just wondering if there was some overlap. I've seen people on blogs swear it'll help. I'm probably going to do it either way, because as of now I feel like I'm not in very good shape. I'm also wondering if there can be any negative side effects?

I'm probably going to do it either way, because as of now I feel like I'm not in very good shape.Good for you! I would expect opinions expressed on our swimming forum will be more pro swimming. Just as a similar post on Crossfit, Paleo or Yoga forums would be pro Crossfit, Paleo and Yoga. While I will personally stick with swimming as my main form of exercise and with my see food diet, I have friends who have are real advocates of Crossfit, Paleo and Yoga; and these programs work for them. I guess it gets back to Allen’s question “What is your goal?” and to that I’d add “What makes you happy and fulfilled?” Swim, do Crossfit and Yoga, eat Paleo; and if you find a balance with these and other demands in your life then go for it!

so crossfit won't help at all? I signed up today :( and I'm doing the paleo diet most likely. I'll still include pre and post swimming meals so the workouts don't effect me much. I'll probably be lenient on the post workout meals. Honestly I wish I could swim all day, because sinced it's summer I'm relatively free of obligations. But, sadly, I can't. i thought crossfit wold help quite a bit, doesn't having a lean body improve swimming performance? I also swim a wide variety of events, anywhere from 100s to miles. also why is the paleo diet ridiculous? It is not accurate to say that crossfit won't help at all. You are right on, lean muscle will help in just about anything. By all means do it. BUT: I did crossfit 7-8 years ago. It used to be more focused on body weight exercises vs. power lifts. I don't think it is a coincidence that when gyms started popping up the focus changed (I think they are franchises, can anyone confirm that?). When Crossfit started you didn't need a gym and you could find a WOD on the internet for free. I think Crossfit is benefiting tremendously from the great reputation that it (deservedly) earned in its' infancy. My advise to you or anyone: if there are lifts you don't want to do, don't do them. Do push-ups, pull-ups or whatever else instead. Finally on going Paleo: I wouldn't add a tremendous stress load to the body (Crossfit) and dramatically change diet at the same time. If you start up the Crossfit, fold in the diet changes slowly. I am no expert, just my thoughts....

Good for you! I would expect opinions expressed on our swimming forum will be more pro swimming. Just as a similar post on Crossfit, Paleo or Yoga forums would be pro Crossfit, Paleo and Yoga. While I will personally stick with swimming as my main form of exercise and with my see food diet, I have friends who have are real advocates of Crossfit, Paleo and Yoga; and these programs work for them. I guess it gets back to Allen’s question “What is your goal?” and to that I’d add “What makes you happy and fulfilled?” Swim, do Crossfit and Yoga, eat Paleo; and if you find a balance with these and other demands in your life then go for it! Wet hanks for the advice! Swimming will definately be my main form of exercise, I'll be doing it everyday for 2 hours. I'll do crossfit most likely a couple days a week, and Yoga on Fridays. My resting day. It is not accurate to say that crossfit won't help at all. You are right on, lean muscle will help in just about anything. By all means do it. BUT: I did crossfit 7-8 years ago. It used to be more focused on body weight exercises vs. power lifts. I don't think it is a coincidence that when gyms started popping up the focus changed (I think they are franchises, can anyone confirm that?). When Crossfit started you didn't need a gym and you could find a WOD on the internet for free. I think Crossfit is benefiting tremendously from the great reputation that it (deservedly) earned in its' infancy. My advise to you or anyone: if there are lifts you don't want to do, don't do them. Do push-ups, pull-ups or whatever else instead. Finally on going Paleo: I wouldn't add a tremendous stress load to the body (Crossfit) and dramatically change diet at the same time. If you start up the Crossfit, fold in the diet changes slowly. I am no expert, just my thoughts.... thanks for the advice! Alright, I'm mostly looking at some Paleo variants for Athletes. It's just difficult to look at any diet other than Paleo after reading the Paleo Solution. I'm still consuming large amounts of carbs, and I've discovered that with Paleo, I can still eat 'clean' carbs, because Paleo doesn't have to be a low carb diet.