I've just returned to swimming, and wondered what a "Typical" Masters Swimmer averages per week. How many swims each week, and how many yards/meters are covered in those swims?
My routine is just three mornings a week, between 3500 to 5000 meters, taking 60 to 80 minutes. I can't imagine swimming more with a family and job, but remember swimming so much more as a child.
Is this a common realization for those returning to swimming (with both a family and job)?
Parents
Former Member
I find that total yardage is only one measure of what kind of training I am doing. The interval between workouts seems to matter a lot to me. 48 hours is ok, more than 72 and I lose my stroke.
A while back I heard about some way to do minimal yardage and still swim fast, but as I recall it involved a fair amount of rest (like late taper workouts all the time) so the elapsed time for workouts was still pretty high, which is not much of a help to me.
I am extremely fortunate to have a pool across the street from my office, so I can sneak out and back fairly easily. Some days I do what I call an executive workout that maximizes yardage in a short time frame. An executive workout might be 20x100 on short rest, using the first few as warmup. That is enough to bridge the gap to a longer workout.
You have to do what you can to fit swimming in to the rest of your life, but I know that I am better off mentally if I maintain a certain level of training that has more to do with how I feel than how far I go.
I find that total yardage is only one measure of what kind of training I am doing. The interval between workouts seems to matter a lot to me. 48 hours is ok, more than 72 and I lose my stroke.
A while back I heard about some way to do minimal yardage and still swim fast, but as I recall it involved a fair amount of rest (like late taper workouts all the time) so the elapsed time for workouts was still pretty high, which is not much of a help to me.
I am extremely fortunate to have a pool across the street from my office, so I can sneak out and back fairly easily. Some days I do what I call an executive workout that maximizes yardage in a short time frame. An executive workout might be 20x100 on short rest, using the first few as warmup. That is enough to bridge the gap to a longer workout.
You have to do what you can to fit swimming in to the rest of your life, but I know that I am better off mentally if I maintain a certain level of training that has more to do with how I feel than how far I go.
