Do you Swim non stop or do intervals and drills ?

Former Member
Former Member
I saw this in a post: I will swim 200 laps in a 25 meter pool. All free style. Non stop. This is done in 3 phases , !st 64 laps is moderate speed 2nd 64 laps is distance the balance is for endurance. My first reaction was WHY ? If you swim like this you will never know how good a swimmer you could be ! Reasons why. 1.- Your range of motion becomes less as your muscles fatigue and tighten up. This leads to the long, smooth stroke that your first few lengths have, deteriorating into a short, choppy survival stroke. 2.- You can only train one energy system, Aerobic, the anaerobic & lactic systems are untouched. 3.- You cannot improve your technique unless you use drills in a progressive manner. 4.- Why not put in some drills to check your technique. For example 10 strokes of head-up free every few lengths to check you hand entry ? 5.- By only doing Freestyle you are setting yourself up for injured shoulders, with all kinds of impingement problems. 6.-Where are the Kick sets and fly kick sets to improve core body strength and awareness ? 7.-What about the joys' of fly, back and *** ? I put together this poll to see how people out there are training.
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  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Thank you to everyone who replied to this thread. I had no idea when i started it that over 30,000 people would read it. Many very interesting views. I am now coaching a few ironman triatheletes who love to swim in lakes so I can appreciate how different their needs are to the club swimmer competing in meets. I do a lot of technique work with them in the winter and they do a lot of their own distance training in the summer. I do feel that all need variety in ther training whatever their goals. If you feel that you have plateaued then mix it up for a while. :)
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  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Thank you to everyone who replied to this thread. I had no idea when i started it that over 30,000 people would read it. Many very interesting views. I am now coaching a few ironman triatheletes who love to swim in lakes so I can appreciate how different their needs are to the club swimmer competing in meets. I do a lot of technique work with them in the winter and they do a lot of their own distance training in the summer. I do feel that all need variety in ther training whatever their goals. If you feel that you have plateaued then mix it up for a while. :)
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