In "Swimming Anatomy", Ian McLeod notes that drills, kicks, and pulls should generally be done after full-stroke work, for the same reason that isolation work should be done after muscle-group work in the gym -- if you tire a small group of muscles, they will limit your performance when you try to work the larger group, so you won't get the complete workout on the group that you otherwise would have.
Since I'm returning to swimming without a coach, I wondered what other general principles people follow in their workouts.
It will help me as I try to structure my own workouts going forward.
Thanks.
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Former Member
My workouts are patterned a lot like Lump's: warmup, build up set, main set, then could be drills/kick/pull/breath control, then warm down.
I always do the same basic warm up. That helps me gauge straight off how I am feeling. Also, it is so familiar that it is a confidence-booster. Even if I get in the water feeling blah, by the time I finish my warmup I always feel ready for the rest of the workout--because it's a habit. Sometimes I add a couple extra hundreds to the warmup if I'm feeling rusty.
Although I do a little kicking at warmup, I save all major kicking for the latter part of the workout. I didn't used to, and DANG I always had cramping then. Cramping issue is MUCH better now that I kick near the end.
My workouts are patterned a lot like Lump's: warmup, build up set, main set, then could be drills/kick/pull/breath control, then warm down.
I always do the same basic warm up. That helps me gauge straight off how I am feeling. Also, it is so familiar that it is a confidence-booster. Even if I get in the water feeling blah, by the time I finish my warmup I always feel ready for the rest of the workout--because it's a habit. Sometimes I add a couple extra hundreds to the warmup if I'm feeling rusty.
Although I do a little kicking at warmup, I save all major kicking for the latter part of the workout. I didn't used to, and DANG I always had cramping then. Cramping issue is MUCH better now that I kick near the end.
