Can anyone tell me the rules for cross training--with swimming
I swim everyday between 2 to 3 ks for the americans thats around 50 laps I also weight train at the gym 3 times a week and do 3 or 4 aerobic high impact classes a week.If a swim meet is coming up should i cut back at the gym and how long before, as i dont want to be sluggish in the pool. But i also feel the weights and aerobic clases are helping with my fitness...trying hard to get faster.:D
Former Member
I am an amatuer, but here are my thoughts for what they are worth.
I say cut back to 75% of your normal weight in the weight room a week to ten days out. Do higher reps if you feel the need.
I think the Aerobics are great, but should be cut back about a week out as well. Don't do more than a warm up for the couple of days before the meet.
When I was swimming competively, we would taper and I would find myself bouncing off the walls just before the race. I was so anxious to get to the blocks I couldn't stand it. It really gave me a lot of drive - enough to push me to many personal bests and to a couple of unlikely wins!
I am a big believer in a well timed taper before your race. You may need to experiment before you find the right timing, though.
Kim,
This is completely dependent on your body size and shape. Are you a big muscular man, or a rail thin woman? If you have large muscles then you may want to rest them signigicantly before a big meet. You may only want to rest a little bit if you are 'small'
Most importantly (and this is universal) don't let your taper get you out of shape.
Also, it depends upon the stroke you swim. As a teenager fly did better with tapers than breaststroke. In fact, my best 100 yard breaststroke time I did without being fully tapered.
