How often do you swim?
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Riverbrady posted 1 year ago.
If swimming is your weaker leg, swimming more (providing ok-decent technique) is only going to help things. If you're getting in a solid 3x/week consistently you're already ahead of many people out there (myself included :p). If you can fit in a 4th easy swim during the week just working on technique, comfort in the water, or open water...even better.
"Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible."
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PrinceofClydes posted 1 year ago.
How often do you swim?
8, maybe 10 times a year, whether I need to or not.
No, really, see the graphs of my last 4 years of Ironman training here.
But for you? Swim every day if you can, make the workouts short and concentrate on technique. Then, when you feel you have the stroke down, do longer swims - up to 2k.
If you are, "not too good of a swimmer" as you say, SKILL is your problem. Fix it.
Skill is best acquired by short sessions, repeated on a regular basis.
There is no point in doing half-iron distance, i.e. one mile swims if you are just thrashing around. It is very hard to learn good technique when you are fatigued.
PoC
"Pain doesn't last, chicks dig scars, glory is forever!"
- Shane Falco.
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kylie posted 1 year ago.
Yeah, get the technique down, finding a coach if you need to (even if just for a session or two). Make frequency, not volume, the goal. Get in the water for 20 min 4 times a week instead of 40 min twice a week, and work drills to become a more efficient swimmer.
Once you have some technique nailed in your body and mind, start increasing those times. Now I tend to do 3 swims a week, and I try to never have more than 2 days without swimming. I find I lose the feel of the water if I do. So I often swim M, T, F, Sa. Of course one is often short, but I'm in the water and that is what has been helping me. Ideally they'd be a bit more evenly spread through the week, but that is what also fits in my Life Schedule ;)
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wirebook posted 1 year ago.
3 times a week.
Weds/Fri/Sun.
Works out fairly well and adds another layer of consistancy to my overall training schedule. By simply 'knowing' I'll be at the pool those days, I don't have any reason (i.e. excuse) not to.
-Ray
Tri Blog: Http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com
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ScottHughes posted 1 year ago.
I swim 2 or 3 times a week, but that's because the town's pool is only open 3 days a week, and one of them is only on Friday night.
I think 3 times a week is fine, but I know that swimmers usually do more. Of course, for triathlon training you also have to work in cycling and running.
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Ironmom posted 1 year ago.
I swim 2X a week, but that's mainly because swimming is my strongest leg of a tri, and because getting to the pool is the most time-consuming workout and often involves getting babysitters so it's the most difficult for me.
If swimming is a limiter for you, I highly recommend finding a good coach or Master's group. I've seen people swim 4x a week for a decade and never improve one tiny bit in swimming. Improvement in swimming is largely about technique, not volume, at least at the start. I'd say unless someone is swimming in the vicinity of 1:30 average per 100 yards, they need more coaching, less volume. Swimming speed is rarely about swimming fitness (I could outswim most triathletes at 9 months pregnant, when I could barely breathe and was as hydrodynamic as a whale). Once your technique is not a limiter, then start ramping up the volume. If you're training for a HIM this season then of course you need to do volume now, but concentrate on technique in the off-season.
Blue Skies, -Robin-
http://ironmom.blogspot.com/
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TryScott posted 1 year ago.
The last time I was in the water was Aug 19th for my first Tri (35 min for 1500m), and I have my second Tri in a week. Soon I'll know just how much 4 weeks of no swimming affects me.
My summer membership at the pool expired on Aug 20th, and I don't want to pay $45/month to renew it.
Before Aug 19th I'd swim 3-4 times a week for 2 months. To confirm that people here know what they are talking about, during that 2 months of swimming, I never got any faster. I didn't work on form, and I didn't have a coach. I just jumped in the pool and swam for 30 min nonstop, then got out. It was basically a way for me to burn calories during my lunch break, instead of consuming calories.
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Iron Dan posted 1 year ago.
3x a week is a very good amount. I tend to disappear form the pool for a few months after the season is over, it is quite a ways to the nearest pool. During the season I get about 2-4 workouts a week at the pool and have had decent success at improvements in my swimming.
I know it really depends on distance and skill level. I am training for HIM swim distance. I am not too great of a swimmer. Should I swim 3 times a week or should I be swimming more? After focusing this summer on long distance running I am back in the pool now getting ready for longer distance Tris early next year and next summer. I swam about 3/4 a mile this morning which was pretty good since I had not been in the pool for awhile. I know it depends, but any advice would be great...!