I swim 7 days/week 2-3 hours a day. I have heard of adding lifting to my routine to improve my strength, but on days that I lift(possibly 3x a week) do I also swim on those days?
And if I do not add lifting into my workout routine and just continue with swimming 7/wk, do I take a day off? I heard Michael Phelps never took a day off since he was 11 years old and look where he is now... best swimmer in the world.
Parents
Former Member
What works for one person doesn't always work for another. Blindly training like phelps, for most people, would be a good way to create an injury of some kind. A good coach will create a training regimen for an individual to target a given goal. This is what a good coach is for. If you don't have one, you should get one. If you do, then this is a perfect question for your good coach. They should be able to undoubtedly answer right away why they have you doing exactly what you're doing, and they should be able to quantify it to your current goals. If they can't do this, then it's arguable whether they fit into the "good" category of coaches.
Just so i don't answer a question with a question though... Really a rest day or two per week isn't going to hurt most swimmers. Keep the lifting to a "complimentary" program rather than a "supplementary" program 3 maybe 4 days a week. Work abs/core alot. Swimming in practice should remain your main focus as far as training goes.
What works for one person doesn't always work for another. Blindly training like phelps, for most people, would be a good way to create an injury of some kind. A good coach will create a training regimen for an individual to target a given goal. This is what a good coach is for. If you don't have one, you should get one. If you do, then this is a perfect question for your good coach. They should be able to undoubtedly answer right away why they have you doing exactly what you're doing, and they should be able to quantify it to your current goals. If they can't do this, then it's arguable whether they fit into the "good" category of coaches.
Just so i don't answer a question with a question though... Really a rest day or two per week isn't going to hurt most swimmers. Keep the lifting to a "complimentary" program rather than a "supplementary" program 3 maybe 4 days a week. Work abs/core alot. Swimming in practice should remain your main focus as far as training goes.
