Swimming

[tuffie]

Anybody have thoughts/opinions on swimming? Posting it on endurance sub-forum. Im about to get some free-time again and im curious of the benefits.
Very different than cardio and lifting/dropping weights. Certain swim techniques to hit more the core and other benefits?

For example, the differences between stairmaster / tread mill / and bicycle. These methodologies target and improve certain components of our organism. However, the resistance is much greater. Passive resistance/movement in the water... so im curious if anybody has insights

I want to add it in since i apply cardio (treadmill) and stairmaster (mainly targeting my calves walking tip-toes) and mainly train for volume (high reps/low-medium load). Im curious if this would overall improve my training.

I competed back in the day and i recall the breast stroke would kill my thighs.

 

[cyclist00]

Swimming is great, especially if you have good technique. Be careful adding in too much volume too soon, as it can potentially be hard on shoulders, but in general it’s extremely good cardio. What level did you compete?

 

[tuffie]

High school. Only 1 season since it was a winter sport and i played soccer + wrestling. They were all winter sports. And it was tough to keep up with the swim meets but I was bad. Breast stroke killed my legs my legs and in wrestling, I was #1 to finish warm-ups which was a bunch of running and shadow wrestling. I'm in my 30's now and ide like to improve my cardio and get the benefits of the passive resistance training.

The technique in freestyle swim might be the best to focus on, then back stroke? I know breast stroke was tough on the legs. I'm leaning towards breast stroke as my gateway to breakthru and enjoy the water.

The gym I go to has a pool, but haven't had time. So I'm trying to dial in a mind set instead of going with the flow.

Swim 'x' time? Or like you said, volume.. 'x' meters? I have mediocre stamina, can dedicate lots of time on treadmill but swimming is different. I'll start a swim log. I'm also on test e and hgh. Diet is not so great recently. Have to smooth out the edges because im square right now.

Yeah the shoulders I'm looking forward too , the benefits, because I have my right side a lil tweaked from going too wide with to much weight.

 

[SippinCoffee]

Swimming was one of my best sports. I swam for a league we have where I live as well as for my high school. When I stated getting back in the gym I also started swimming a few times a week. I try to go 3 times but at least 2.

My suggestion would be to swim freestyle and set a goal of how many meters you want to swim. Most pool lanes are 25 meters long but some may be 50. If you can't look at it and tell ask a lifeguard...they will know. A good goal for starting out is 500 meters. I thought that would be easy but I was surprised. Try and force yourself to do 100 meters at a time. If you can do more then great. Finding your pace will really help...once you get a good pace down you can go for quite a while. I suggest taking a breath every 3rd stroke but if you need to do it more often in the beginning then that's OK. Try and work up to 1600 meters..that's a mile. If it is getting really rough flip over on your back and swim backstroke...then you can breathe like normal.

Once you get in better shape then breat stroke and butterfly is a good way to switch it up and wear yourself out. Breast is a more lax stroke but if you're swimming it correctly and going hard it will kick your butt, however butterfly is without a doubt the hardest. Anyway...set a goal, get your pace down and start kicking ass. Good luck.

 

[glpfun]

Reviving this old af thread to say I started swimming seriously about 6 months ago, got a swim coach for private instruction, and ended up joining a masters team. It has been the healthiest decision of my life so far for a few reasons:

1. Became less reckless with gear and peptides, I wasn’t going crazy with like a gram of tren or anything remotely close but I was still operating outside of my normal risk profile, for some reason focusing on another activity made me less concerned with gear and now I’m at a pretty low dose around 105mg of test a week for actual TRT

2. C02 tolerance training and getting used to discomfort - this is something people don’t touch on much when it comes to swimming. Breathing in swimming is difficult and takes a long time to learn properly. Your stroke rate determines when you breathe not your metabolic need like in running. This leads to rising c02 levels and eventually your swimming will fall apart as the need to breathe overpowers your ability to hold it together. High c02 levels is what causes the urge to breathe in this case not low oxygen. The water is also sometimes cold and you just get in and acclimate, I’ve swam in 60 degree water with just jammers on. This constant exposure to discomfort makes the rest of life more manageable and the stressful parts make you less excitable. This is a way to intentionally remodel your nervous system, people can go from having an anxious baseline to being calm.

3. Social workouts - I find the workouts to be more social and almost like a little family, I get many people specifically don’t want that but for me some community was important

The best part is in a fight you can just drag your opponent into a nearby body of water and drown them lol jk but the ability difference between a trained swimmer and a untrained swimmer is 1000x wider than a trained runner and an untrained runner

The worst part is shoulder injuries, while many swimming strokes look shoulder dominant they are usually using lats to catch the water and shoulders are stabilizing, when your form falls apart though the shoulders take over