I'll be training on my own until around the end of April, and I'm looking to swim the IM and was wondering if this sounds like a good training schedual?:help: I'll be swimming about an hour a day while lifting weight 3 days a week
monday - fly only
tuesday - IM
wednesday - backstroke only
thursday - IM
friday - *** only
saturday - IM
sunday - freestyle only
then the next week rotate so the IM starts on monday
monday - IM
tuesday - fly
wednesday - IM
thursday - Back
friday - IM
saturday - ***
sunday - IM
then start the next week with freestyle etc.
its my first year swimming:wiggle: so im looking for any feedback on a plan like this, im just trying to stay in shape and work on techniques for all strokes, until i start swimming for a team again.
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Former Member
Keith, I am now a distance swimmer, and I used to be a backstroker and 400 IMer. If your fly is weak and we can't see your form, you have to build stamina in that portion and there are many ways to do this. A drill we used to do pre-Olympic days was Under/Over. What this means is: you swim dolphin kick underwater with arms overhead and your head squeezed inbetween them and you surface when you need air, take some breaths, and finish the length doing the same thing. When you reach the end of the pool, you start kicking backstroke, arms overhead, to finish that length. With a little rest, you start the process all over again. This builds the kick and your ability to swim with little oxygen.
I would also be doing transitional sets: 1 or 2 lengths fly followed by the backstroke; rest; then backstroke/breaststroke; then breaststroke/free to get used to these sections. Another set you can do is a 50 fly followed immediately by a 50 free; rest and repeat. There are a lot of combos you can do but stamina and conditioning are imperative for doing the IM. You don't want to just survive the fly, you want it to be as strong as you can make it. It sure would be great to see your fly so if you could video tape it and put it on YouTube it would help.
Also, start timing your 100 IMs and swim lots of them to get used to how they feel as you work toward the 200 IM. You can also perfect your turns during this time.
Keith, I am now a distance swimmer, and I used to be a backstroker and 400 IMer. If your fly is weak and we can't see your form, you have to build stamina in that portion and there are many ways to do this. A drill we used to do pre-Olympic days was Under/Over. What this means is: you swim dolphin kick underwater with arms overhead and your head squeezed inbetween them and you surface when you need air, take some breaths, and finish the length doing the same thing. When you reach the end of the pool, you start kicking backstroke, arms overhead, to finish that length. With a little rest, you start the process all over again. This builds the kick and your ability to swim with little oxygen.
I would also be doing transitional sets: 1 or 2 lengths fly followed by the backstroke; rest; then backstroke/breaststroke; then breaststroke/free to get used to these sections. Another set you can do is a 50 fly followed immediately by a 50 free; rest and repeat. There are a lot of combos you can do but stamina and conditioning are imperative for doing the IM. You don't want to just survive the fly, you want it to be as strong as you can make it. It sure would be great to see your fly so if you could video tape it and put it on YouTube it would help.
Also, start timing your 100 IMs and swim lots of them to get used to how they feel as you work toward the 200 IM. You can also perfect your turns during this time.
