Shape Up!

 

GETTING STARTED

Preparing to Swim

Along with this book, you will need a few things to establish your Shape Up routine with swimming. These include:

A PLACE TO SWIM

Choose a pool that is convenient to you, so that maintaining your swimming routine will not be difficult, in terms of time and effort to get there. Especially in the beginning, and on low energy days, it is easy to find an excuse to skip your swimming workout. Making sure it is not a major effort just to get to the pool is a good first step.

The workouts in this book are formatted for a 25-yard/meter pool. If the pool you are swimming at is another length, for instance 50 meters, or 33.3 yards, the workouts and sets easily adapt to these pool lengths. You will have to recalculate yardage. If you are swimming workouts in two pools of different lengths, make sure you compare Benchmark Swims from the same pool length.

TIMING SYSTEM

This collection of workouts uses timed swims, timed rest, time intervals and heart rate measurements that require a clock. Many swim centers have large-faced pace clocks that are visible from the pool. You can also get a wristwatch that will perform the same functions, although some swimmers find it difficult to focus on the small numbers on a watch through their goggles during the brief rests between swims.

Whatever timing system you choose, think of the clock as your workout partner. It will keep you on schedule: telling you when to go, and how long to rest. It will give you feedback: telling you your times and reflecting your progress. The clock will be there with you. It will keep going as long as you swim. It will never lie!

EQUIPMENT

Besides a swim suit, a few other items you might need are:

Well-fitting Goggles

Good goggles really do make an extended time in the pool more enjoyable. Without the distraction of painful eyes and limited underwater vision, a swimmer can focus on their swimming experience.

A Kick Board

A kick board is not required, but some swimmers enjoy this face-up manner of accomplishing flutter and breaststroke kick. Kick boards should not be used for backstroke or dolphin kick as it detracts from good body position and kicking technique of these strokes. Figure 1 shows the correct and incorrect use of a kickboard.

Figure 1
Position the kickboard against your chest, about at arm pit level, then rest your arms over the board. Balance your weight on thearea where your chest meets the kickboard, so that the board ison the same plane as the water is sufrace. Avoid submerging thekickboard underwater. This will make you use your kick to stay up, rather tahn to move forward. Figure 2
Use the smallest pull buoy possible, so that your legs do not float too high, distorting your body position, leading to reduced efficiency of your arm stroke. An over-size pull buoy can cause lower back pain. A Pull buoy

A float worn between the legs during pulling sets, that allows the swimmer to maintain good body position without kicking. The smallest pull buoy possible should be used, just large enough to provide slight floatation for the stationary legs, but not enough to force the spine into a overly curved position. Figure 2 shows the correct and incorrect fit of a pull buoy.

A Plastic Bag

Because it is best to have the workout you are doing at poolside, and to be able to easily refer to definitions and such, a zip type plastic bag for this book might be in order.

Workout Presentation

This collection of workouts is organized by stroke emphasis. The first 25 workouts focus on freestyle technique. The next 25 focus on backstroke technique, then 25 on breaststroke technique, and 25 on butter-fly. It is important to be familiar with the presentation of the workouts to get the most benefit from them. This section describes the elements, terminology and formats used in this collection of workouts.

WORKOUT ELEMENTS

The workouts are built with various elements, each with its own purpose and relationship to the workout as a whole. These elements include:

Tip of the Day

The theme or emphasis of the workout, designed to focus the swimmer and his or her efforts during the workout.

Warm Up

The initial exercise period of sustained, medium intensity swimming lasting at least ten minutes, or at least 10% of your total yardage. Also an opportunity to review what you covered in your previous workout, and to refresh your "feel" for the water.

Kicking

Leg action only. A kick board is not necessary, but may be used for front flutter kick, or breaststroke kick. However, backstroke kick and dolphin kick should always be done without a kick board. Kicking is an excellent aerobic element of your workout.

Pulling

For freestyle only. Using a pull buoy to float your lower body, practice the upper body action of the stroke, including arm stroke, roll, alignment, use of core, stroke and breathing rhythm, leverage, cadence and body position. Many swimmers find pulling easier than swimming. This is an indication that time and attention should be paid to body position. These swimmers should use pulling as an opportunity to analyze their body position, that is being "corrected" with the pull buoy, then try to duplicate that body position while swimming. Avoid using the pull buoy as a crutch when you are tired.

Stroke Drills

Exercises to emphasize one aspect of a stroke, or to practice a particular stroke element in order to maintain and build stroke efficiency and quality. Drills appear regularly within this collection of workouts, as a reminder of the importance of stroke quality. The following drills are called for by name within the workouts. Grouped by stroke, and in alphabetical order, each drill is accompanied here by a brief description of how to perform it, and its purpose. It is important to study the drills and understand how to do them correctly to get their full benefit. Most of these drills are also described in complete detail in the book The 100 Best Swimming Drills, also by Blythe Lucero. This is an excellent resource to accompany this collection of workouts. In addition to step-by-step descriptions, each drill is illustrated, and its purpose is clearly outlined. Feedback charts also follow each drill, to address common problems that can interfere with feeling the point of the drills.

FREESTYLE DRILLS

12 Kick Switch - To feel alignment, the rolling action of the stroke and the length of the stroke, kick on side for twelve kicks, low arm leading, other arm at your side, face in the water, then switch sides, and arm posi-tions, and repeat.

3 Strokes, 6 Kicks - To emphasize the rolling action of the stroke, and constant kicking, take three regular freestyle strokes with kicking, then kick only in the side floating position, low arm leading, other arm at your side, for six extra kicks, face in the water, then do three more freestyle strokes, then kick only floating on the other side for six extra kicks, and repeat.

All Thumbs Drill - Freestyle arm stroke extension actively pitching the wrist so the thumbs point in the direction you are swimming for better catch and stroke alignment (see illustration on next page).

Figure 3
For the most aligned stroke, and the best catch, point forward, with your thumb in the direction you are going. Avoid over-reaching and leading your stroke off course with a collapsed wrist and elbow.

Catch Up - Like regular freestyle, except one arm catches up to the other in front, emphasizing that one arm should always be reaching, and the other stroking. Start with both arms leading, then do a complete freestyle stroke with one arm, when both arms are back in the leading position, do a freestyle stroke with the other arm, continue.

Freestyle with Dolphin - Regular freestyle arms with a dolphin kick, to practice coordinating the arm and leg actions. Each time your hand strikes the water in front, the feet snap down.

Hip Skating - Regular freestyle with an imaginary ice skate on each hip bone in front. Shift weight from hip to hip and achieve a skating rhythm to practice core leverage.

Pendulum - To feel leverage, switch rhythmically from one side floating position, with low are leading, and other arm in high elbow recovery position, to the other side, continue.

Push/Pull Freestyle - Regular freestyle isolating the pulling motion from full extension to the shoulder, and the pushing motion from the shoulder to the end of the stroke past the hip.

Figure 4
The path of the freestyle arm stroke underwater. Pull when your hand is in front of your shoulder. Push when it is behind or shoulder.

BACKSTROKE DRILLS

Armpit Lift - Exaggerating the roll of the backstroke to feel that the high recovering side provides leverage to the low stroking side of the body.

Backstroke 3 Strokes, 6 Kicks - To emphasize the rolling action of the...