Wow....just wow!
I badly sprained my ankle this past weekend and as a result missed my middle of the week (Wed) workout. I typically swim 3x's/week (Sun/Wed/Fri) and shoot for 1 mile continuous swim alternating laps primarily between *** and free.
Anyway, as a result of my bum ankle I decided to see how many laps of freestyle I could do today with a pull buoy.....I have a lap counter so can easily click to record each 50 yards (down and back lap). I was easily able to tick off lap after lap and before I knew it I had recorded 30 laps (1500 yards) in about 30 mins.
I'm 53 years old and in decent shape but never a competitive swimmer. I started pool workouts back in December for cardio vice jogging and as of now can only do about 250 yards of free before getting winded and having to switch to free.
My comment/question is this....I was shocked to swim 30 laps of freestyle today with the pull buoy and not being winded (if anything, I was a bit fatigued in the shoulders...although I should note that I had a heavy upper body weight lifting workout yesterday). My shock/revelation is that up to this point my max continuous freestyle distance has been around 250 yards and given today's pull buoy (continuous freestyle) swim it REALLY REALLY shed a light on just how much of an impact that the use of legs has on (my) wind/endurance. Up to this point, I don't feel I over exert use of my legs.....
I'd love to get to the point of being able to swim freestyle lap after lap (using my legs) and feel like I did today as I seemed to breath so easily (every stroke to my right side).
Any thoughts/suggestions?:banana:
You might be a leg dragger without that pull-buoy (like I am). Meaning your legs sink and cause resistance when you swim normally (without the pull-buoy.) Proper body position with a good kick might not leave you as tired. Of course I'm guessing on this since I have not seen you swim.
I agree with this and think this is the most likely reason as opposed to overworking the legs. Was your swimming pace faster than normal, too? If so it indicates your body position needs work and your kick is not effective. Body position is absolutely the number one thing novice swimmers need to work on.
You might be a leg dragger without that pull-buoy (like I am). Meaning your legs sink and cause resistance when you swim normally (without the pull-buoy.) Proper body position with a good kick might not leave you as tired. Of course I'm guessing on this since I have not seen you swim.
I agree with this and think this is the most likely reason as opposed to overworking the legs. Was your swimming pace faster than normal, too? If so it indicates your body position needs work and your kick is not effective. Body position is absolutely the number one thing novice swimmers need to work on.
