Need Help

There are also lots of great books on swimming and training. You may want to check out: Total Immersion: A Revolutionary Way To Swim Better And Faster by Terry Laughlin Fitness Swimming (Fitness Spectrum Series) by Emmett W. Hines Swimming for Total Fitness: A Progressive Aerobic Program by Jane Katz The Fit Swimmer: 120 Workouts & Training Tips by Marianne Brems Or if you want to get more technical: Breakthrough Swimming by Cecil Colwin Swimming Fastest by Ernest W. Maglischo

Keep in mind that if you are going by heart rate, I believe that target heart rates for swimming are lower than for running or other aerobics. You might want to check on that to be sure. Don't worry about other strokes. You can get a great workout just doing freestyle. Start out slow. (I wouldn't even try to start with 55 mins at first.) First day, get a feel for what you can do. How many lengths can you do before you are totally out of breath? (I'll bet it is two or three at most, initially.) Measure how long it takes you to do that. Rest about the same amount of time. Do it again. Rest. Do. Rest. etc., and be content if you can keep that up for 20 minutes. Next day, try to extend 20 minutes to 22. Maybe see if you can do 4 lengths once in a while instead of 3. See if you do your repetitions faster than yesterday. (You probably won't at first.) Over time, extend the number of lengths in each rep. Extend the overall length of your workout. See if you can do each length a little faster over time. See if you can shorten your rest time between reps. Eventually you might find that you can do 10 lengths in 5 minutes. And after that, you'll improve to where you can do 10 lengths in 5 minutes INCLUDING YOUR RESTS. When you are there, you'll be doing 3000K in an hour, and most people can only dream of doing that. If you are starting out from "beginner", it would be quite an accomplishment if you achieve 3000K/hr within a year. Slow and deliberate. There is no rush. If you only reach half that much, ever, you still should be proud of the progress.

This discussion forum contains lots of workouts: Tough Love - By Jeremy Kipp Out of the Box and Into the Pool - By Mo Chambers Evolution of Speed - By Nate McBride Also, I would suggest hooking up with a local Masters swimming program. Workouts with others are always (at least for me) much more enjoyable and challenging then workouts on my own.

Don't be surprised if you suddenly want to learn how to backstroke or fly, if for no other reason to add variety in your workout. Swimming is like no other sport and it is very easy to get hooked.

Thanks. I have read those, but they seem very technical for me. I don't think I can do flys or backstroke effectively. As for finding a masters swim club. I am currently living in South Korea. So finding anything for me is a challenge. Any suggestions on how to modify some of those workouts to exclude flys and backstrokes?

I think I should mention that I am really a beginner. I can swim, but have never been part of a team or part of a class. I am simply looking for an effective 6/wk @ 55min cardio workout. Something to get my heartrate in my target range without suffering major injury. Something simple. Everything I find on the internet seems to be geared towards training for all out swimmers. Am I looking in the wrong place with the board? If so, sorry for waisting your time.

Yeah, the thought of taking lessons has crossed my mind since I got the news. Over the last 2 years I was extremely active with running, lifting and soccer. Once I get into something I usually go "full steam ahead". So I think swimming will be no different. I just hope that I can go fast enough and long enough to burn fat. I found a simple looking workout last night, please let me know if you think this would be effective: Warm Up: 9min; 25m easy kick/25m moderate swim/20sec rest (repeat) Drill: 9min; 25m easy stroke drill/15sec rest Core: 22min; 25m fast swim/25m easy swim/25m fast swim/30sec rest (repeat) Cool Down: 5min; 25m east swim/10sec rest (repeat) And, since I am not a swimmer. Would the drill part be needed? Or could I add those 9 minutes to the core? Thanks so far for all your help.

I would keep the drills. They are a great way to improve your swimming. In the long run, swimming will be more enjoyable and you will be more likely to keep at it if you improve.

I don't know of any drills. And I have not been to the pool yet. So I have no idea what I am capable of. Which is why I asked what kind of routine would be best for me. All I am looking for is something to get my heartrate in the proper range (about 113-152 for swimming) without getting injured. My plans are not to become an elite swimmer or anything like that. Just looking for an alternative cardio workout.

I agree with what these other swimmers have said. Your first day in the pool, invest in some time figuring out how far you can swim non-stop, e.g. 1 length, 2 lengths? Time yourself at an easy and moderate pace for these distances. (A good water resistant watch with stop watch function will help a lot.) This will help you establish a base line of distance and time for your specific fitness and skill level. Spend some time researching stroke mechanics so you can practice good mechanics when you swim. On this and other websites, you can find books and videos that will help you. Also, the pool where you swim may have a coach or team or more experienced swimmers who can assist you with mechanics. I would also add that "drill" may be more difficult than you anticipate. Swimming several lengths doing freestyle drills can be very taxing physically. You can use this time to work on stroke mechanics and it will benefit your lung capacity and increase your heart rate, I predict. When you get to the workouts, you can modify distances, times and strokes on almost any of the workouts on this site. I find Coach Mo's workouts geared more to drill work than the others while still being very challenging. The other coaches workouts will wait for you to build your skill level and endurance. Good luck.