Getting the motivation to swim daily...

Thank you! That was a very kind post. : ) I need to lose 50 pounds by winter so I can fit into the XXL ski race suits. I'm not going to fit into the XL one I have now (that was when I weighed 220). My ultimate goal is to get down to 220-230, but be physically fit. I don't care much about weight, I guess, as I care about being fit and having a sculpted body. That's my ultimate goal. I guess you're right, to see any progress, I need to get in the pool. You're lucky your pool is empty - mine is always full. You usually have to circle swim in the lap lanes. They're currently building another pool at the local YMCA. Best, Chris

Addendum to my previous post. The title of this thread says "Getting the motivation to swim daily... ". That can only come from within. If you don't want it, you won't do it (or you'll resent whatever it is that prods you in spite of your inner ambivalence.) For me now, skipping swimming (6 days per week) is as unacceptable as skipping brushing my teeth. It takes some extreme circumstances for it to happen, and most times I am forced to skip a day, I make it up on Sunday which would have otherwise been my day of rest. Also, you added the question about gettting hurt in swimming. It's true that it's far more difficult to get injured from swimming -- especially at the beginners levels. The water will not tear ligaments or break bones like many other forms of exercise can do. But overworking to extreme exhaustion can lead to a stressed immune system, and susceptibility to who-knows-what sicknesses. Depending on your current health of your internal organs, you may over-stress your kidneys or liver, or your heart and lungs. From personal experience I know I have overdone it when I cannot recover physically after a workout. I'll have a low-grade headach all day, and often my digestive system craps out and I get the runs later in the day. So listen to your body. As a swimmer progresses from beginners levels, pulling longer and harder in workouts begins to reveal flaws in one's stroke or technique. If you are a beginner, this is a ways down the road. Some common problems are soreness in the shoulder, neck and/or back. At higher and higher levels of intensity, swimmers with flawed strokes can face rotator cuff surgery, among other things. For now, I would venture to guess that this will not be an immediate concern for you. Just concentrate on working up the discipline for getting in there each day.

Originally posted by Bohemian You're lucky your pool is empty ... Actually, it's often pretty full. Two people per lane, one on each side of the line. What I was saying is that for me, nobody else matters. (Unless they swim into me or into my space!) Just block them out and focus on your own zone, your own workout. Is the guy (or gal) in the next lane swimming twice as fast as I am? Good for them! I don't change my workout to keep up. Block them out. Do your own thing. That's all.

As for the workouts, I'd suggest checking out Mo's area and then looking at her glossary thread. She explains things pretty well. If you're just starting to swim, maybe start with some drills? After all, poor technique will slow you down and make it harder to work up in the end. I'll leave it up to the others to suggest stuff to do, because I don't have many ideas, lol. Oh, and keep in mind that if you're regularly swimming and weight training the scale may not be your best friend. Muscle weighs more than fat, and if you're building muscle in activities and eating healthy, you will lose weight....but it may not seem to be fast. That's not to say you should be gaining weight while doing this...that would be bad. However, to get a true measure of the progress you're making you should look at how much weight you're losing as well as the way you're looking. As your muscles develop you'll start to notice changes in the way your body looks. These changes also may affect how much weight you actually need to lose to be able to fit into that ski suit. Oh, yeah, I should say that I didn't mean in my earlier post that you should never swim six days a week. It's just something that, like the others said, you have to work up to. It's kind of like driving a car in the winter. You don't take a car that's been out in the cold/snow for a while and force it to go from 0-60 as fast as it can. You let it warm up for a while and then gradually increase the speed.

I checked out the workouts. You're right, they are advanced. I think a good starting point is 500 yards. 1000 yards seemed to be my failing point, so half of that should be okay. Am I making sense or just rambling? Best, Chris

Sure. 750 might also be something you want to explore, as it is between 500 and 1000, and if 500 is too easy it might be just the point to start at. As for the workouts, I know that they are advanced in total yardage. What I was trying to suggest was that you take pieces of the workouts and do them rather than the whole thing. For example, let's look at one of Mo's workouts for this week. (If you're wondering, this is the workout I'm doing today. I've been on vacation for a week and a half so I needed something a bit easier for myself.) Warm-up 1 x 200 swim, easy Stretch 1 x 100 swim (300) Drills 9 x 100 #1,2,3: 50 Catchup drill / 50 free swim, max DPS #4,5,6: Freestyle kick, boards OK, descend 1->3 #7,8,9: 25 Rhythm drill / 75 free swim, build • RI=:10 6 x 50 • Freestyle swim: #1,2: 25 FAST / 25 easy #3,4: 25 easy / 25 FAST #5,6: All easy • RI=:10 (1200/1500) Main 14 x 100 • Freestyle swim: #1: 25 build / 75 easy #2: 50 build / 50 easy #3: 75 build / 25 easy #4: All easy #5-12: All FAST swim; Go for your best average over the 8 #13,14: All easy swim, drag your fingertips on the 1st 25 of each • All 100’s on cruise + :30 or RI=:40-:50 • Extra 1:00 rest after #4 (1400/2900) Warm-down 1 x 100 All easy swim or drill (100/3000) So as you can see, this workout is 3,000yds, which right now would probably kill you. Or cause you to be sore for a loooooong time. However, it's broken down into a warmup, drills, main, and warm-down. For one of your starting workouts maybe you could do the warmup and half of the drills (the 6x50 part). You can also modify the the workout by making the 6x50 4x50 or something. Change it around to suit your needs, is what I'm saying.

All right. Let me review this and think. Best, Chris

I haven't read through all these posts but I'll tell you what I think is helpful ... working out with friends and making it part of your routine. I adore the people I swim with, they are awesome. I look forward to seeing them. Also, swimming is my routine. I come home from work change and head to the pool. I go Monday through Thursday and it has become my routine, it's just what I do. As for the weights. I think you should lift after you swim. There is no way I could swim after lifting. My arms and legs would drag. As for safety. Yes, swimming is one of the safest sports. You don't frequently hear about torn acls, sprained ankles, nasty broken bones, etc. Swimmers do tend to get over use injuries though. Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Heh, funny you mention ACL tears...I just had ACL reconstruction surgery in April. I think I am going to go real basic for the first few weeks: Warm Up: 50 yards freestyle 50 % speed 100 yards breaststroke 70 % speed Routine: 3x 50 yards freestyle 100 % speed 150 yards breastroke 100 % speed Warm down: 50 yards breasktroke 50 % speed Does this make sense? Best, Chris

Sure. Perhaps in your main set you might want to think of doing some technique drills, rather than just straight swimming. I like them because they break up the workouts, but it's up to you. There are explanation of drills here: forums.usms.org/showthread.php