I am a 58 year old male swimmer - generally swim 4 times a week - 1800-2200 meters per workout. I was considering going to zones - which is first week in April. I picked up the intensity of my workouts - lots more effort - about the same yardage - after about a month - i was exhausted - i think i ran my immune system down and got a very bad cold that basically sidelined me from doing anything for a few days. i find this very frustrating. I do not feel like i am asking too much of my body to work hard 3 to 4 times a week at these yardage levels which probably put me at the lower end of a competitive scale. Perhaps as we get older - we need to limit the "hard" workouts and give our bodies more time to recover? Thoughts? Just seems a little depressing that i cannot swim hard 4 times a week at 58.
Thank you for taking the time to offer these thought. When i discussed intensity - i would generally be swimming much faster - but utilizing an interval that would give me more rest - say if i normally did 100's on two minutes and perhaps averaged 1:40-1:45 - i would do them on maybe 2 and a half minutes - but get the times down in the 1:30 range - more race pace type of swims. that is how i have typically prepared for a big meet - and i would mix all this up during the week - 50's, 100's, 200's - generally with more rest between the swims - but the swims were faster. As i would get closer to zones - i would often start swimming events i was targeting with "broken swims" - taking a break at the 50 for a 100 - or taking a break at the 100 for a 200. The breaks/rest get longer as I approached zones. I usually had a distance day once a week thrown in to give my body a break from this - and i generally never swim on weekends - so i get some rest there as well.
Thank you for taking the time to offer these thought. When i discussed intensity - i would generally be swimming much faster - but utilizing an interval that would give me more rest - say if i normally did 100's on two minutes and perhaps averaged 1:40-1:45 - i would do them on maybe 2 and a half minutes - but get the times down in the 1:30 range - more race pace type of swims. that is how i have typically prepared for a big meet - and i would mix all this up during the week - 50's, 100's, 200's - generally with more rest between the swims - but the swims were faster. As i would get closer to zones - i would often start swimming events i was targeting with "broken swims" - taking a break at the 50 for a 100 - or taking a break at the 100 for a 200. The breaks/rest get longer as I approached zones. I usually had a distance day once a week thrown in to give my body a break from this - and i generally never swim on weekends - so i get some rest there as well.
