Out of shape senior needs your help.

[mikeall08]

Hi I am new to these forums but I need your help.
As a freshmen in high school I was a Texas regional champ..
As a sophomore I was getting near a min flat in my 100 beast.

Then my jr. year I moved and my new school did not have a swim team.
I am now back in Houston (my old school) and haven’t really trained for swimming in over a year and a half. My old coach/ coach is really excited and expecting allot out of me.

Unfortunately I have grown very fond of my computer and work... not that I gained allot of wait but... I lost that muscle memory and tone from before, if you know what I mean. Also if you didnt notice the time i posted this it was right before 4 am... i seemed to picked up a little insomnia so if anyone knows a healthy way to help me there also =D



I dont have a 50 yard pool or anything like that i can use anytime soon so. the lake not to fare from my house is the best i got.

I need to get back in shape by the end of august and I am asking for your help. I need dry land drills, diets, running schedules, etc. I am very willing at this point and I would really like to focus on my abs, back, and thighs for now. When school starts get my stroke, and stamina back.

Thanks, mike.

PS: I work at academy. a sports and outdoors store so getting free waits/excersise equipment wont be a problume but money is a factor

[silly]

Get with your coach. Tell him the situation and ask for help there.

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by silly

Get with your coach. Tell him the situation and ask for help there.

I totally agree. Being up front about it can only help. If he knows what you are capable of from the past, then he will be motivated to assist you in getting back in shape.

[mikeall08]

Thanks, I still would like to look decent when school comes around. so do you yawl have any dryland drills / free wait work outs for swimmming?

Ill be talking to my coach asap I should have done this along time ago.

[Jimbo]

Here's an article I found...

http://swimming.about.com/cs/dryland...wim_weight.htm

Weight Lifitng for Swimmers - Phase A
Weight Lifitng for Swimmers - Phase B
Weight Lifitng for Swimmers - Phase C

You obviously wont have time to use all these routines prior to the end of August, but maybe it will give you some basic ideas about what to incorporate into a lifting program.

[milkman21]

Hmm... sounds like you've got a lot of work to do (which you know), and you're not totally into it mentally (which you also know).

First of all, you need to decide how important this really is.

I've known *so many* swimmers who competed and trained for 1-5 years too many. Their hearts weren't in it, and it made the whole thing a miserable experience. Frankly, at your level of swimming, you need to be 100% motivated at this stage in the game, or you'll really question your motivation when the workouts become long and intense.

Now, if you're motivated, then here's what I'd suggest:

1. Swim 5 days/week. There's no better way to get in swimming shape than to swim (duh!).
2. Find a lap pool if you can, but you can make due with a lake if necessary.
3. Aim for 3000 - 5000 yards/day. (See workout ideas below)
4. Strength train 2 days/week (on a light swim day, and one day on the weekend) (see workout ideas below)

Here's a sample week, of what I would do if I wanted to get back into competition shape:


Monday:
Swim - 4500 yard minimum, Endurance/Aerobic focus. Sets should be composed of swims that are 400 yards and longer.
500 warm-up
10x50's build on an easy interval
8 x 400 freestyle (descend 1-4 and 5-8 to fast)
warm down


Tuesday:
Swim - 4000 yard minimum, IM focus.
500 warm-up
12x50 IM Drills
4x(4x50 stroke + 200 IM) (one stroke per round)
4x(4x25 stroke + 100 IM) (one stroke per round)
20x50 kick (IM order, build speed/effort throughout the whole set, end with sprint kick)
warm down

Wednesday:
Swim - 3000-3500 yards, hypoxic work, drills, and technique.
500 warm-up
10x75 k-dr-sw (work non-freestyle stroke)
10x50 with some breath control involved (as hard as you can handle)
10x100 minimum-stroke count IM
warm down

Lift - 2 sets of 10-12 reps of each:
squats supersetted with horizontal rows
lunges supersetted with bench
pull-ups supersetted with shoulder press.
Do some additional shoulder prehab work if you're prone to swimmer's shoulder.

Thursday:
Swim - 3500-4000 yards, anaerobic focus, some stroke, some freestyle.
500 warm-up
10x50 build
5x200 stroke (2fast, 1 easy) on 30s - 60s rest
5x100 stroke (2fast, 1 easy) on 20-45s rest
8x75 kick (1fast, 1 easy) on 20-30s rest
20x25 hypoxic work (3F, 1E, fast should be as fast as possible while making breathing goals)
warm down

Friday:
Swim - 2500-3000 yards, sprint/lactate focus
500 warm-up
10x50 build
4x25, build each to sprint speed
6x100 sprint (from blocks, if possible) on 5 minutes rest. Record your times.
200 EZ
4x50 sprint on 3 minutes rest. Record your times.
warm down as needed


Saturday:
Lift - 3 sets of 6-8 reps of each:
deadlifts supersetted with chin-ups
lunges (or bulgarian split squats, if you know what these are) supersetted with military press
DB bench press supersetted with DB rows
Add shoulder "maintenance" work if necessary.


Sunday:
Stretch, foam roll, recover.



Hope this gives you some ideas, for starters.

[mikeall08]

awsome man thanks.
sounds like somthing i would do in summer league =D

lol

anyway thanks for the work outs. Ill see what i can do about finding a lap pool.

the closest one is at a local y... on the other side of town.. but ill see what i can find =D

and actully i used to swim for oher people... IE: my coach, parents, grades... w.e but now i hope that *I* have enough drive to do it for my self.

[milkman21]

Good to hear.

These are workout ideas (not to be taken as Gospel), but I really do recommend training with:

1 endurance/aerobic workout per week
1 IM day per week
1 day of sprinting per week
1 day of highly anaerobic intervals (good place to do stroke work)
minimum 1 set Kicking focus on most workouts

The rest of the workouts can be toyed with, but these are all foundational areas that you need to hit at least once per week.

Depending on how far you're willing to push yourself, you can increase total yardage and add more training sessions. Never let quality suffer, though. Most swimmers, coaches, and swim programs are addicted to high-yardage, but often lose focus on the intensity, precision, and making each stroke count. A short, high-quality workout is almost always better than a sloppy, long workout.

[mikeall08]

Thanks for the advice.

Im thinking now i am just going to go get a membership at the local y.

I just hope i have enough to still motivate myself.