Do you get in the pool some day’s and just think “holy crap, there must be an easier way to get through the workload”.
Well there may not be an easier way to work hard, but there definitely is a more efficient way to train.
Time is a commodity that we all seem to be short of. I’m sure even elite athletes feel time poor. We can save a bit of of time by cutting fluffy sets out of our swimming workouts.
Whether you are a triathlete who is having to train three disciplines or a marathon swimmer that has a family and a job, you are always looking for more efficient ways to get your sessions in.
Here are a few helpful hints to help you streamline your sessions and save TIME.
Program focus will save you time.
This simply means that if you concentrate mentally on the set you are completing at that moment as well the goal of that set then you are being program focused.
Warm-up properly with your program focus attitude.
If you do this you wont have to do as much. Lets face it, when you are warmed up you are warmed up, thats it, you don’t need to keep warming up. Try some Dynamic stretches (these are stretches through movement) before getting in the water. This is the first part of the warm up. Incorporate your swimming drills into your warm up. That way you are getting your stroke maintenance in while you get warm. Maybe a few surges or sprints to shock the body into work mode and you are ready for the main set.
With your main set you want to select sets that are specific to you.
If you know something doesn’t work for you but you do it because everyone else is doing it, then you are wasting your valuable time. Every swimmer is different. We all have different body shapes, range in flexibility and are training for different reasons. If someone tells me they swim 2km straight every day and they do it because they enjoy it, well thats awesome. They are achieving their goal and they are not wasting their time.
The warm down. Similar to the warm up but in reverse.
Here you are trying to calm the body down and get rid of some of the lactic acid build up in your muscles. This takes as long as it takes but if you are warming down from a big freestyle main set then try doing some backstroke in your warm down. This will even your suffering shoulders out because you will engage the reverse side of your body. This will not only offer some relief but it will also help to prevent shoulder injury, which is a common problem for swimmers. Warm down slowly, the hard work is done. Once again when you are feeling loose finish the session with some static stretching ( stretching without movement).
Remember quality not quantity, taking the time to select the right sets and program for you will save you loads of time.
What time saving tips do you have for training? We would love for you to share them with our community below.
