There was some confusion over the previous poll "What is your favorite stroke?", as the word "favorite" can be interpreted many different ways. For example, someone may think it's his/her favorite because it's most graceful and likes to watch this stroke the most, but he/she may not necessarily swim this stroke.
So this is the new poll.
Please only select the stroke you PERSONALLY train and spend most time swimming (and thinking about).
Originally posted by 330man
Anyhow, if one person chooses to swim a 3000 yard workout and call 1200 of it warmup and another person swims the same distance but calls 500 of it a warmup, what is the difference between the two workouts? Most likely nothing aside from the identification of the yardage.
That's probably a good point. I'm considering anything previous to the main set to be warmup. This might not always be the case, but I suspect it is for the most part in masters swimming where we're typically in the pool for much less time than younger swimmers.
Originally posted by swiminton
I would imagine people like him trains 6 hours a day. If he was doing this type of long warmup and long distance sets, his yardage would be close to 20 thousand.
In various interviews with Olympic swimmers, the average is around 10 thousand a day. Their schedules often include: a double session (morning and late afternoons) 6 days a week with 3 days of weight and cardio and 1 recovery day.
Suddenly I feel very old...
I don't believe 100 yards is adequate for a warmup unless the intensity of your workout is pretty low. By warmup most of us mean some combination of swimming, pulling, kicking and drilling, and perhaps one or more "pre sets" before the main set. As for competition, I suppose a sprinter could swim a fast 50 with little or no warmup (because, as we all know, when the going gets tough, the sprinters get out), but it's unlikely he or she would post a personal best under those conditions. Having said that, my fastest 50 free was on a relay without a warmup and with a bit of a cold.
There are legitimate reasons why an adequate warmup is necessary. We are dealing with biological systems, and most physiological processes cannot respond instantaneously. For example, blood flow to skeletal muscles must increase significantly above baseline in order to achieve maximum performance. This does require some finite amount of time. It's not just a function of muscle memory. It's easy to test--swim a timed 200 after a minimal warmup, then try again (on a different day) after a more substantial warmup.
When first starting swimming (decades ago) I always did breaststroke, and it's still the most enjoyable stroke to do. But long ago I realized that I became a much better swimmer all around when I worked to improve my crawl stroke. So now I do about 4 or 5 lengths of crawl for every 1 length of breaststroke. ; Crawl gives me a feeling of accomplishment, and more of a 'rush' when complete. Breaststroke is now more of a cool-down, relaxation type of activity.
