I am working on a masters swimming story for Men's Health, and my editor wants a basic introductory workout that guys who basically know how to swim but aren't swimmers to give the sport a try on their own.
Since there is such a huge variance in skill levels, etc., I didn't want to give times for sets, etc. but maybe come up with some basic rest intervals.
Anyhow, I am desperate for ideas here. If you have coached neophyte masters, or have been a neophyte master yourself and can recall an early practice that inspired you, please let me know as soon as possible what this is.
I was thinking of the following basic approach:
warm up
possible drill set
main set (probably 50s with 10-15 seconds rest)
kick set
cool down
The whole thing designed to last maybe a half hour or so. The idea is to let these guys try it on their own, in a way that they might actually like, then urge them to look into finding a team.
Thanks for your help!
Before I swam with a masters team, I tended to do ladder sets quite a bit (all different combinations), and just some very very long swims...sometimes just 2000+ yards straight. It was quite a chore sometimes to just get out and swim, by myself, when it is cold and dark outside.
I'd like to see a push towards finding a team or someone to workout with somewhere. For some reason, just the words, "Masters swimming," conveys some sort of eliteness that simply doesn't exist. Even now when I tell people, they say something like, "You must be really fast," when I'm certainly not. When I finally did go to a masters workout, I was surprised how inclusive it was, and that I wasn't the slowest person there.
Before I swam with a masters team, I tended to do ladder sets quite a bit (all different combinations), and just some very very long swims...sometimes just 2000+ yards straight. It was quite a chore sometimes to just get out and swim, by myself, when it is cold and dark outside.
I'd like to see a push towards finding a team or someone to workout with somewhere. For some reason, just the words, "Masters swimming," conveys some sort of eliteness that simply doesn't exist. Even now when I tell people, they say something like, "You must be really fast," when I'm certainly not. When I finally did go to a masters workout, I was surprised how inclusive it was, and that I wasn't the slowest person there.
