Workout in hotel pool?????

It seems like a good opportunity to perfect turns, to do some vertical kicking (if deep enough) ... fists instead of paddles will be a little slower to accomodate the short length of most hotel pools. If you are really considering five days a week ... try to find some longer pools. There are hotels with lap pools (really 25 yds), but I think they are few and far between. Maybe you can stay near a real pool as the previous poster recommended, and get in a time or two a week. Here in Chicago the city pools 20 or 25 yds long (depending) are either free or $10/season unlimited use. Some are really nice and alot are definately adequate. Good Luck!

Some times hotels don't have pools themselves but with your key you can go to another facility with a pool, like a Y or a health club. Ask them when doing reservations.

Personally I think you'll be getting the most use out of the tether you purchased. Most hotel pools aren't big enough to use a kickboard or fins (unless you like hitting walls alot). Just make sure the stationary object you attached to is really stationary! Also be aware--most hotels have steps leading down to them and this is where the railing is that you might attach to. You might do better finding out if there is a YMCA, JCC or other real swimming facility that you could join on a guest basis for a week. Make sure you carry your USMS or Y membership card with you--this could get you a reduced rate.

I'm with you, aquageek! I always find a decent pool to swim in rather than use a hotel pool, which are pretty useless imho. I belong to a Y, so I can usually get into a Y free, but if there isn't a nearby Y, I will swim wherever I can. With swimmers guide online it is very easy to find a pool wherever you go. Swimmers guide gives information about the pool that is useful - hours, cost, pool temperature, and whether there is a masters group. People at the hotel will always remark, "But there is a pool here," upon learning that I got elsewhere to swim, and I always find this a bit amusing. Hotel pools are glorified bath tubs.

I tried working out in hotel pools and between trying to swim in a 12 yard pool, dodging other people, looking silly in my Speedo and avoiding flotsam and jetsam, it was a miserable experience. Not to mention, the chlorine they use in hotel pools appears to be surplus WWII chlorine and so toxic it is impossible to rid yourself of. Troubling if you have meetings that day. I have yet to find any town without a Y or even a local Masters chapter. That's not to say there aren't some interesting Ys out there but most at least have lap swim hours and a 25 yard pool, repeat most. I personally see no benefit of swimming in these hotel pools. So much adaptation is required to have any meaningful workout that once you get home to a real pool, you have to readjust to real swimming again.

Hi, Just got back in town. Thks for all the tips. Points well taken re hotel pools. I can (and have) join a local Y which reciprocates with one other city I travel to, but so often I am in a small town where there is no Y. I got this wild idea to try to get some exercise in the postage stamp size pool simply as in many little towns it is "the leper with the most fingers" as Jack Nicholson said. I think, for a trial run, I'll see if I can get the muscles worked a bit trying my grandiose plan.... and I'm sure I'll be back here soon berating my idea also. Thanks for the ideas all,

Swimmer's Guide Online offers good information on pool locations, even in small cities (or look for closest one). YMCA, as noted above, is a good option. Like you, I have no local YMCA to affiliate with (I'm overseas), but a quick email/phone call to the YMCA swim coach (usually youth team, often a Masters team) can get you an "invite" or guest pass for little or no cash. Finally, check the high school or city pool for local swim team (school, USS or USMS). I've managed to swim in every city I travel to (or close enough that the commute is not an issue) by using one of the methods above.

I have also had to make-do with hotel pools more than I want. I try and work on flipturns. Try swimming for as long as possible doing a flipturn on each wall. In some pools I flip, take a stroke, and flip again, but I really concentrate on getting a good flip. If the pool is deep enough, vertical kicking is always a good idea. It is also good to do vertical kicking if there are other people in the pool with you. I usually do 30 sec. kick and 15 sec. rest with my arms crossed, arms on head, and arms in streamline. If the pool is shallow, a good cross trainer is to do vertical leaps. Just crouch down and explode off the bottom of the pool. This will help build your leg muscles and it helps with learning how to explode of the diving block. I hope this helps, JJ

Another place to look for a pool in a city or town is call the local high schools. They may have a pool--they are usually a regulation size and often have lap hours for the public.