Hi, I have a friend who swims four mornings a week for 45 minutes. She is interested in joining a Masters team but wants to "get in shape first." I tried to explain that is what the practices are for, but she still would like to swim more on her own first, and I promised to give her some workout and stroke drill ideas. She is a lifelong athlete, now in her late 40s. She swims freestyle and, to a lesser extent, backstroke. She doesn't count her laps, but thinks she swims about 40 to 50 in a session.
I looked in the workouts forum for ideas, but they all (even the "basic' workouts) seemed pretty complicated and advanced for someone who has not been on a team before.
Would someone please give me feedback on this sample workout for a novice (see below)? I'm trying to introduce rest intervals, use of the pace clock, some basics of body position (head looking down and pressing your "buoy"), and working in a little more backstroke. Also the idea of varying your speed. Once she has a sense of how long a 25 and 50 take, she could begin some interval training.
In addition to feedback on the practice below, other ideas for sets and workouts would be most welcome...thanks!
Warmup
300 swim, breathing every 3 strokes and concentrating on exhaling gently through her nose. (She said that breathing is a challenge, and my guess is that she may be holding her breath.)
Pre-set
8 x 50 with fins, :15 rest interval (RI). Odds freestyle and evens backstroke. Because fins are fun.
Six-kick switch drill on the way up, concentrating on body position (I would give her more details on how to do this.)
Backstroke kick in streamline position on the way back
I'd suggest that she note her times in order to add on some interval training in a future workout
Main set
Repeat 4 times (odds are freestyle and evens are backstroke):
25 build, :10 RI
50 fast, :10 RI
25 easy, :10 RI
Cool-down
Between 100 and 200 nice and easy. Focus on relaxed breathing/exhale and body position.
I think it seems pretty good for a basic introduction to swimming workouts, but pretty darn short. Seems like the main set should be longer than the pre-set. Make it 8x through and she'll be getting in roughly a mile. I don't think many organized masters groups are going to do any workouts shorter than that.
Thanks...she's only swimming 40 to 60 laps right now, so I purposely kept the first practice short. She wants to slowly increase her yardage and the amount of time she is swimming. I do agree that the main set should be longer than the pre-sets, so yes, I could add a few more repeats (-:
As someone who just started swimming with a Master's group recently, and who is close to your friend's age, I can relate. At times, the coach for the day will hold up a dry erase board with five different sets with about four elements within each set, and although I nod my head and say, OK, I inwardly say, "You've got to be kidding." I think experienced swimmers have a sense of the logic and typical groupings, which makes it easier to remember everything.
Like her, I only have two strokes in my repertoire, so be sure she knows it's fine to substitute. And in the groups I've been with, especially in the slower lanes where I hang out, people are fine with it if you have to abandon the workout set and do your own thing, either because you can't keep it straight or don't have the conditioning to do it. But I have always been careful if I have to abandon the "script" not to do anything to get in the way of of those who are still following it.
I think the fins are a good idea, and you might also try to figure out which Masters group she'd swim with and see if the local coach can send you a couple of sample workouts she can do on her own.
Bottom line, I've worked out with three different groups due to travel, and all three have been very encouraging and helpful as I've tried to figure it out!
One more thought: You said she's not counting laps now. You might give her some tips on keeping track of lap counts, such as using the alphabet: apple, lap one; banana lap two, etc.
Pools that we use for lap swimming and comptetion are generally either 25 yards, 25 meters or 50 meters long. The vast majority are 25s. Where I am, I'm used to meters being the standard, but it seems from the forums here that in much of the US yards are more common. Either way, they're 25s. So we talk about the distances we've swum in terms of the actual distance: if you swim to the end, that's a 25. To the end and back, that's a 50. To the end and back twice over, that's 100. Etc.
Unless you're in a pool that's as long as the ones you see them use in the Olympics, which are 50 meter pools. In that case, down to the end once is a 50, to the end and back is a 100, etc.
The reason for talking in terms of actual distance rather than number of laps is that it sort of cuts out the need to know details about each other's pools in order to know that we're talking about the same amount of swimming.
I currently swim w/ a masters' group but I've on and off done workouts on my own. One nice resource is this one: http://www.swimplan.com/
You can enter info on speed, type of pool (i.e. SCY, LCM, etc.), strokes, equipment, length of time, etc. Then the site generates a workout. When I've used this tool, I've either done the workout as written or adapted as needed, although b/c it's already geared toward the information supplied, I never needed to adapt all that much, if at all.
But for your friend, I also like the idea of having the coach of whatever masters' team she's considering provide some sample workouts so she'll know what to expect.
I agree that going shorter to start with is better. Different coaches (both swimming and running) have said that if you're totally wiped out the first time you do a workout, you're less likely to keep at it. People need to experience a bit of success as well as challenge; otherwise, confidence suffers and a person is more prone to injury. So better to err on the conservative side to start off.
There will be time for her to step up her yards and such. But if she struggles too much too soon, there may be less time.
As a slow (but increasingly experienced) ;) swimmer, I know what it's like to be a newbie. Wishing your friend the best!
Thanks for the link, FMIF. I registered and when my shoulder heals I'm going to use the site to get back into the pool and improve my fitness/swimming.
