I noticed that when I time myself at a work-out going at a sprint pace I improve my time by a little bit after every such try done back to back with good rest in between, so I was wondering(since I never competed yet) if you try to warm up with a couple of sample race-pace swims right before the competition(i.e. a few minutes before it) so that then you know what time you want to beat and how much faster you want to go.Or would that be a bad idea since obviously you can excess with too much of race-pace swims and be a little tired for a competition swim?
My guess is that would help for 50 and 100 but not more than that?How do you do it?
P.S. I am still braving up for my first meet, so sorry if some of the questions are stupid or too obvious ...
You have asked the most individual question in swimming,namely whats the best warm-up. The best warm-up is what works for you.That said,it is bad to have lactic acid in your muscles before a race so you need to finish any sprinting at least 30 min. before your race. I have been told to not sprint more than 25 M in warm up to avoid depleting muscle glycogen. I am not sure about that as my second event of the day is often better than my first. Try different warm-ups at different meets and talk to competitors about what they do. Mostly just go to a meet and have fun!
You have asked the most individual question in swimming,namely whats the best warm-up. The best warm-up is what works for you.That said,it is bad to have lactic acid in your muscles before a race so you need to finish any sprinting at least 30 min. before your race. I have been told to not sprint more than 25 M in warm up to avoid depleting muscle glycogen. I am not sure about that as my second event of the day is often better than my first. Try different warm-ups at different meets and talk to competitors about what they do. Mostly just go to a meet and have fun!
