I ask this because I did a 500 and then 5x50s warm up for a meet this past weekend. When I swam the 500, I was cruising but was literally dead after about 6 laps. I go much faster in practice sets when we do distance and it was frustrating to say the least.
I recall that I did a 1,500 warmup in my youth and had a good meet. I also know that in workout I am usually at my strongest after we do about 1,500-2,000.
So, I am tired of being a workout warrior. Does 1,500 of warm up sound crazy?
Thanks,
Rob
I warm up with about 800-1000,but it depends on how I feel.If I feel ready after 800 I'll stop,if not I keep going.IF you don't do much sprinting in your warm up it is hard to warm up too much(but it is easy to sprint too much in your warm up.)
This is our meet warmup I do with the USS team.
500 warm up
5x100 @1:20
4x75 @1:15 kick/drill/swim one of each stroke
6x50's 3 free build and decend on 50, 3 stroke build decend on 55
4x25's sprint first 12 1/2 @ 30 seconds
2x25 sprints off block
100 easy
When we start our taper this warm up is always used every practice thru out taper as our warmup to get our body used to it.
Also-dont forget to warmup before your event, and also cool down after race.
1,500 doesn't sound like too much at all. I do about what Jim Clemmons does, maybe up to 500 yards with some build work immediately before going to the blocks. And I'm sprinter. As a middle distance guy, you could certainly increase the yardage and only improve your race speed as a result.
Rob,
Warm-Up as you know is individual. For me, I use the same warm-up every day in practice as it grounds me and allows me to see if I'm really sore/tired, tight, etc. Then I make adjustments as I proceed into the beginning of the workout. It involves drills, kicking, swimming and 4x 12 1/2's. The total is 1100 yards. I use this same warm-up in meets. If I feel that my muscles are a little tired and/or need more warm-up I swim accordingly. The warm-up ends about 30-45 minutes before the meet begins. Then I do between 200 and 400 warm-up for each event again depending how my body responds. You may need to experiment but eventually you'll come up with something that works for you. I wish you the very best.
One last thing. You mentioned that after 6 laps you were dead. Did you have a "Specific" Plan for the 500 or were you just swimming it? I ask that because if you look at your splits for the 500 perhaps you took it out to quick. I don't know, but I would be interested in your overall spits which gives the big picture.
The Best
Regina
I don't warm up at meets, but if you want to do that much, go for it.
Just as I suspected. Let me grab a cup of coffee and await the hecklers and critics. :anim_coffee:
I suspect that I will need to do a combination of 1000 swim and then some sprints to get me tired and in race mode. It will be a work in progress but I am looking forward to seeing what works best for me.
Rob
"and then some sprints to get me tired"
I wouldn't do that. Save it for the racing. It's far better spent there.
I usually cannot tolerate the warmup lanes very long. There seems to be one person in each warmup lane that has never swam before and maybe a pair of socialites to really screw up the flow. 500yds is probably my max, and I am happy if I can get in a good 200.
To account for this, I do very short warmups at very slow speed at the beginning of a sprint practice. Just enough to get loosened up, and much shorter than anything I did as a kid. Then I move right into some sprint work to simulate a meet like environment.
I like about 1000 for a meet, at least 600. In practice I'll do 3 x 200 free and stretch between them. For the first 200 my lats and delts feel dead / leaden. After the stretches and repeats I feel good. For a meet, after loosening up with the 200's I'll do 4 to 8 descending 50's. Those are both for 500 pacing and also to try to remember how to sprint. Then a little bit of the other strokes and some easy swimming.
