Breaking 1:00 in the 100 free SCY for the 1st time

I think the amount of warm-up can vary a lot from person to person. ... No doubt that's true I see some people using kickboards in a warm-up and that would be insanity for me to do. That's not warming up that is getting my legs sore. 'gotta agree with you there. That sounds like a good route to a slow time! I don't really understand the point of warm-ups in workouts either. I do the same 150 really easy every time and then go to a main set. I guess if it is to tack on yardage and add to your aerobic conditioning I can see that benefit. But if I am going to do a set of 10X200s, why would I need to swim a non-stop 800 first? For me the necessity of a long warmup depends to some degree on the pool temperature and, as you suggest, to some degree on what set I intend to do first. If I am going to sprint in a cold pool, it had better be at least 1k yds of warmup or I will regret it! If I am going to do 10x200 in a warm pool, no sense to spend a lot of time warming up. Of-course, I am not a very good swimmer so shouldn't be giving advice. Me either, but I like to think that people may find value in reading about our personal experiences. I will say just sign-up for a meet and just do it. I did it knowing I wasn't as prepared as I wanted, but there is no pressure in these things and then you get a base time to improve from... Yup.

I have several thoughts about your comments based on my pesonal experience. 1) I'm not sure if by "off the wall" you mean a dive start from the deck, (i.e. standing with your feet on the gutter) or a push start from in the water, but either way I'm a little surprised that if you can do :28 for a 50 your best 100 is 1:11. My best in-practice from-a-push 50 is only :30, but my best 100 is 1:03. Maybe you are more of a pure sprinter (I'm *very* far from a sprinter), or maybe you could benefit from work on speed endurance. 2) It's not surprising that your best swims in practice come after swimming 2-3k yds. By then you are well warmed up. IMO, lots of folks don't warm up enought at meets. They do like 100 ez and a few sprints and think they are warmed up. Your observation suggests to me that you will benefit from a substantial warmup. I'm not advocating 3k yds, but 1k is reasonable. One day a few summers ago I had a meet in the evening but wasn't focusing on it or anything, so I went ahead and did a hard 3500 yds in the morning - then surprised myself with a fast swim (for me) in the evening. Since then I have wondered if there was some residual warm-up effect. 3) You are right in your speculation that staying warmed up between the end of your warm-up swim and your race can be an issue. I'm a skinny guy and I get cold (and therefore stiff) easily. I dry off immediately after warm-up and the put on long pants and 2 or even 3 sweatshirts depending on the air temperature. Last summer at a late afternoon meet the air temperature was over 100 F. Lots of people were apparently uncomfortable, I swam 3 personal best times. Warm muscles are fast muscules I say, (but hydration is an issue in such hot temperatures). 4) If your 50 times are the same from a dive as from a push, it sounds like you can get a big time drop by improving your start, unless you are timing in some funny way when you swim from a push. I use the head going under water as the clock start when I time from a push. 5) I encourage you to do a meet. They are fun! Besides, what better way is there to find out what you need to work on most? Thanks for the response. My off the wall push is essentially me looking back at the digital clock behind me, I see it hit the minute mark, and immediately turn and push off the wall gently, coming up and stroking before the flags. The reason I'm not pushing hard is that I'm afraid it would make me faster than my dive time (yeah my dive is not good yet) and I want to get a real sense of my pure swimming speed. As for my 100, probably a combination of endurance and perhaps I'm expending more energy on a 50 than most good swimmers. The other issue is that I'm not the best breather.

I think the amount of warm-up can vary a lot from person to person. This is very true. I've seen some of the blogs, one in particular where someone does IM for meet warm-up. Since I don't really even do fly, just the thought of that makes my head spin. As for kicking...there are some swimmers with a really fast kick, and maybe they think that needs to be warmed-up on its own. As long as they're not interfering with the other swimmers, I don't have an issue. Depending on what I'm swimming for a workout, I usually do at least a 500 warm-up, usually closer to 1000. The warm-up doesn't have to be just aerobic swimming, it could include kicking, pulling, stroke, drills, etc. Since I swim in the morning most of the time, I try to get my heart rate a little higher, my body warm and ready to do the main set. Our coach had us do a 100 fast off the blocks right at the beginning once, then again later in the set...I was at least 3 seconds faster the 2nd time (he was trying to prove a point not to just stand on deck chatting but get in and do something). In an ideal world, I'd do about 1500 to 2000 warm-up at the beginning of a meet, then about 300 before + after each event. I try to time it that I get out of the warm-up pool just a few minutes before my heat, so I don't really have time to cool that much. As soon as I finish an event, I like to get right back in to warm-down.

If you can do 1:02 in practice, I expect that with rest and a little luck, you will positively destroy the 1:00 barrier in a meet. This brings up an interesting point. As I have not yet swam in a meet, I really don't know a reasonable expectation in a meet versus the middle of practice. For example, whenever I have timed myself in a 50 (best time off the wall 28) or a 100 (best time off the wall 1:11) it was in the middle of a practice, after I had swam at least a good 2000-3500 yards and with maybe a minute or two's rest. Granted, those yards may not have been particularly fast paced. I really don't know what it's like to just dive into the pool and swim after warming up and then resting 30-40 minutes, like you might do in a meet. I'm trying to psyche myself up to actually swim in a meet, but keep telling myself to get a little better first, lol. Those of you with experience, does it help or hurt to be waiting for a period of time then just dive into a race. Are you too cold, or does the rest help you a lot. How might my race times compare to what I'm doing now? Of note, I'm still working on my dives. I did a little experiment to compare my starts from a stand and gentle push versus diving, and it was about the same. Work in progress.

This brings up an interesting point. As I have not yet swam in a meet, I really don't know a reasonable expectation in a meet versus the middle of practice. For example, whenever I have timed myself in a 50 (best time off the wall 28) or a 100 (best time off the wall 1:11) it was in the middle of a practice, after I had swam at least a good 2000-3500 yards and with maybe a minute or two's rest. Granted, those yards may not have been particularly fast paced. I really don't know what it's like to just dive into the pool and swim after warming up and then resting 30-40 minutes, like you might do in a meet. I'm trying to psyche myself up to actually swim in a meet, but keep telling myself to get a little better first, lol. Those of you with experience, does it help or hurt to be waiting for a period of time then just dive into a race. Are you too cold, or does the rest help you a lot. How might my race times compare to what I'm doing now? Of note, I'm still working on my dives. I did a little experiment to compare my starts from a stand and gentle push versus diving, and it was about the same. Work in progress. I have several thoughts about your comments based on my pesonal experience. 1) I'm not sure if by "off the wall" you mean a dive start from the deck, (i.e. standing with your feet on the gutter) or a push start from in the water, but either way I'm a little surprised that if you can do :28 for a 50 your best 100 is 1:11. My best in-practice from-a-push 50 is only :30, but my best 100 is 1:03. Maybe you are more of a pure sprinter (I'm *very* far from a sprinter), or maybe you could benefit from work on speed endurance. 2) It's not surprising that your best swims in practice come after swimming 2-3k yds. By then you are well warmed up. IMO, lots of folks don't warm up enought at meets. They do like 100 ez and a few sprints and think they are warmed up. Your observation suggests to me that you will benefit from a substantial warmup. I'm not advocating 3k yds, but 1k is reasonable. One day a few summers ago I had a meet in the evening but wasn't focusing on it or anything, so I went ahead and did a hard 3500 yds in the morning - then surprised myself with a fast swim (for me) in the evening. Since then I have wondered if there was some residual warm-up effect. 3) You are right in your speculation that staying warmed up between the end of your warm-up swim and your race can be an issue. I'm a skinny guy and I get cold (and therefore stiff) easily. I dry off immediately after warm-up and the put on long pants and 2 or even 3 sweatshirts depending on the air temperature. Last summer at a late afternoon meet the air temperature was over 100 F. Lots of people were apparently uncomfortable, I swam 3 personal best times. Warm muscles are fast muscules I say, (but hydration is an issue in such hot temperatures). 4) If your 50 times are the same from a dive as from a push, it sounds like you can get a big time drop by improving your start, unless you are timing in some funny way when you swim from a push. I use the head going under water as the clock start when I time from a push. 5) I encourage you to do a meet. They are fun! Besides, what better way is there to find out what you need to work on most?

I do the same 150 really easy every time and then go to a main set. . While warm up time varies 150y is not even close to a good warm up. Sorry. I would argue that masters swimmers need longer warm ups and cool downs to begin with. You risk injury and quite honestly your body needs to "know" its time to work. That does not mean a straight 800 swim but 800 worth of quality drills, long strokes and mental preparations. After that maybe a transition set and then the main set. A transition set could be something like 6 50ies kick at a mid-level to fast pace. And yes this can all be accomplished in a 3000y workout. Maybe a more robust warm up might help with you getting under a minute? It might allow you to work harder in practice and at meets get you prepared to really race. Personally, I need to get my heart rate up before I sprint. Build sprints are part of my pre-race "event prior" warm up.

I would theorize that there is likely a correlation between those that need long warm-ups and their ability to achieve practice times closer to their race times. And further that these types are usually better a distance events.

I think the amount of warm-up can vary a lot from person to person. Maybe if you are in better shape and used to doing a lot of yards you need more. Me, I have a limited amount in the tank and don't want to waste much energy warming up. A couple of hundred yards really easy and a couple of 25 sprints is what I do. I almost think if I did zero warm-up my time would be just as good, but I at least just want to get my muscles eased into swimming a little so I won't pull something. I see some people using kickboards in a warm-up and that would be insanity for me to do. That's not warming up that is getting my legs sore. I don't really understand the point of warm-ups in workouts either. I do the same 150 really easy every time and then go to a main set. I guess if it is to tack on yardage and add to your aerobic conditioning I can see that benefit. But if I am going to do a set of 10X200s, why would I need to swim a non-stop 800 first? Of-course, I am not a very good swimmer so shouldn't be giving advice. I will say just sign-up for a meet and just do it. I did it knowing I wasn't as prepared as I wanted, but there is no pressure in these things and then you get a base time to improve from. My times also decrease a lot in races from meets. If I were to swim 2000+ my 100 time would prolly be about 1:13. If I did less than a 1000 I could go 1:07-1:10 and then in a meet I go 1:01-1:03.

I would theorize that there is likely a correlation between those that need long warm-ups and their ability to achieve practice times closer to their race times. And further that these types are usually better a distance events. Not for me. We usually do around 1200 for warm-up in practice. Yet I can't get close to my fastest times when we do an "all out" swim for time off the blocks. I'm one that does much better at a meet. So I warm up long but can't get my meet times in practice. Taruky, just got for it. Do a meet! I think you'll find that you really enjoy competing.

I would theorize that there is likely a correlation between those that need long warm-ups and their ability to achieve practice times closer to their race times. And further that these types are usually better a distance events. Um no... Take a look at the warmups of elite (swimming) sprinters and then make this statement. In order to compete at your peak you need to warmup sufficiently. This goes for any sport. Go ask an elite running sprinter to warmup for 2 minutes (time it takes to swim a 150) and then go run their best time... they will laugh at you. Sorry to be a troll, but your statements are a somewhat off. Im a sprinter... I need at least 1000 warmup and then a warmup with some high intensity right before the event. Im about to turn 43 and can do 23.0 (i want to be 22 this year) in the 50 and 48 in the 100 free in jammers... Not amazingly fast in the grand scheme of things but I do ok. It took me 2 years to get under 50 which I would equate to your 1:00. If you want to get faster you may want to look at how you train and make modifications to benefit your training. One thing would be better warmups and I would assume a lot of drill work, then go after the intensity.