Hard swimming without warming up?

I have a Tri relay coming up that I do every year and I typically warm up maybe 600-1000 yds and then it is usually at least 30-45 minutes of standing around before the wave goes off. My question is, does a warm up last 30-45 minutes even though the pulse is at rest? I've heard of coaches who have asked their swimmers to go hard without warm up. Of course in a pool I don't have time to warm up and then sit for 30 minutes, so is going hard without a warmup of any kind a training technique with benefit, or should it be avoided due to injury or potential heart attack?
Parents
  • 45+ years of swimming and you've always swum bad if you're out of the water over 30 minutes and then raced? That would be shocking to me. I would say a main warm-up easily lasts 60 minutes, but I suggest doing the higher side of that 600-1,000. Maybe that window decreases as you get older? I've swum in meets where you had no choice but to sit on the bench and wait between events for hours. Never seemed to faze me. Even when I have the option of getting in, I don't like to be in the water within 20 minutes of my event. Between 20-45 minutes is ideal for me. If it's immediately following my main warm-up, then sometimes I'll stretch it out to 60-90 minutes. This is something that could be highly individualized. Good luck rtodd! I don't like to be in the water shortly before racing either.I find it hard to be warm and wet at the same time,but I try to make sure my heart rate is up and my muscles warmed up if I can.I find that the shorter the distance the more important it is to be really warmed up.Since rtodd is doing a Tri relay I'd say ,if it was me, I'd make the first 1000 of it my warm up,but then I'm not a distance swimmer.
Reply
  • 45+ years of swimming and you've always swum bad if you're out of the water over 30 minutes and then raced? That would be shocking to me. I would say a main warm-up easily lasts 60 minutes, but I suggest doing the higher side of that 600-1,000. Maybe that window decreases as you get older? I've swum in meets where you had no choice but to sit on the bench and wait between events for hours. Never seemed to faze me. Even when I have the option of getting in, I don't like to be in the water within 20 minutes of my event. Between 20-45 minutes is ideal for me. If it's immediately following my main warm-up, then sometimes I'll stretch it out to 60-90 minutes. This is something that could be highly individualized. Good luck rtodd! I don't like to be in the water shortly before racing either.I find it hard to be warm and wet at the same time,but I try to make sure my heart rate is up and my muscles warmed up if I can.I find that the shorter the distance the more important it is to be really warmed up.Since rtodd is doing a Tri relay I'd say ,if it was me, I'd make the first 1000 of it my warm up,but then I'm not a distance swimmer.
Children
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