After doing a spinning (i.e. stationary bike) class yesterday I got to wondering if there would be a benefit to training for swimming in a similar manner. So, for those who aren't familiar with spinning classes, they involve cycling continuously for an hour or whatever, varying tempo and resistance, but always keeping the pedals moving, even in the rest segments. The instructor rides along with the class, facing them, and explains what to do. For example, "ok, now we'll do 30 seconds sprint, followed by 20 seconds rest, repeated five times." You get the idea.
Obviously most competitve swimmers don't do their workouts quite like this. Yes, we vary the intensity while swimming, but the true rest is done standing at the wall. The logistics to a continuous workout in swimming would be more difficult because everyone's heads would be underwater, but if the technical glitches could be worked out would it be better than the current method?
So do you think this would work in swimming? It seems to me it might be especially useful in masters swimming where many of us are under time constraints and need to get our workouts in quickly. Honestly, I don't know if it would be better, worse or the same as the current swimming training philosophy, but it seems like it's at least a good discussion topic :)
Lastly, yeah I know there's already a poll thread asking whether we swim continuously or do intervals: forums.usms.org/showthread.php,
but this is different. I'm proposing continuous swimming AND intervals.
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Former Member
It's an interesting way to train. When on my own ...I will often go more or less continuous. There's really no one to chat with ...so this helps.
A typical workout might be...
500 warm up of mixed strokes and a few laps of kicking...then right into 10 x 50 drill on :45.
I then go right into the main set (all backstroke) ...
(1) 200 fast on a 2:40 interval.
(2) 100's strong pace on a 1:20 interval
(4) easy paced 50's on :45
This set gets repeated five times for a total of 3000 yards. Total workout is 4,000 yds not including warm down.
It's a great way to keep things interesting...and to be able to switch gears during your swim. Basically it's similar to fartlek swimming. But the pace clock is the guide. You can build a solid aerobic base while using the 50's to keep the focus on good form.
It's an interesting way to train. When on my own ...I will often go more or less continuous. There's really no one to chat with ...so this helps.
A typical workout might be...
500 warm up of mixed strokes and a few laps of kicking...then right into 10 x 50 drill on :45.
I then go right into the main set (all backstroke) ...
(1) 200 fast on a 2:40 interval.
(2) 100's strong pace on a 1:20 interval
(4) easy paced 50's on :45
This set gets repeated five times for a total of 3000 yards. Total workout is 4,000 yds not including warm down.
It's a great way to keep things interesting...and to be able to switch gears during your swim. Basically it's similar to fartlek swimming. But the pace clock is the guide. You can build a solid aerobic base while using the 50's to keep the focus on good form.
