After reading some of the other postings I see I am out of my league here. I have never been a competitive swimmer, though swimming has been a lifetime pleasure. I am a runner. Not elite, but I enjoy 10ks and half marathons. I started lap swimming again 2 weeks ago for cross training purposes. It feels great. I know that in running, a rule of thumb is to not increase your distance by more than 10% per week. Is there something like that in swimming? I swam 1,000 yards (meters?) today in 35 minutes - a piker to all of you, I know - but if I am swimming 2x per week, does anyone have any general tips for me as I build up to an hour of swimming each time and to build my speed up some? Laura
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Former Member
One time that I think the 10% rule can be more conservative than it needs to be - I'm going through it right now.
After doing a tri last August, I have really dropped off on my workouts - swimming or running - up until a couple of weeks ago. I went from being able to swim 2000 yards followed by a 4 mile run to barely being able to complete 500 yards. (It's a whole lot easier to get out of shape than it is to get into shape!:( ) Anyway, I have been able to increase pretty quickly - I think because I'm not to far removed from the tri. Today, I did 1000 yards followed by 2.5 miles. That's a couple of weeks.
But, I wanted to do more on the run. But my body was talking to me so I backed off the plan. That is the bottom line. Listen to your body!!!
But when I first started down the path from blobby couch potato to being a guy with good cardio conditioning I followed the 10% rule.
But always listen to your body. The goal is to help it - not hurt it.
One time that I think the 10% rule can be more conservative than it needs to be - I'm going through it right now.
After doing a tri last August, I have really dropped off on my workouts - swimming or running - up until a couple of weeks ago. I went from being able to swim 2000 yards followed by a 4 mile run to barely being able to complete 500 yards. (It's a whole lot easier to get out of shape than it is to get into shape!:( ) Anyway, I have been able to increase pretty quickly - I think because I'm not to far removed from the tri. Today, I did 1000 yards followed by 2.5 miles. That's a couple of weeks.
But, I wanted to do more on the run. But my body was talking to me so I backed off the plan. That is the bottom line. Listen to your body!!!
But when I first started down the path from blobby couch potato to being a guy with good cardio conditioning I followed the 10% rule.
But always listen to your body. The goal is to help it - not hurt it.
