[MrsWolf]

I have recently (like, this morning) started swimming for exercise. Now, I am a decent swimmer - in the sense that I won't drown - but I don't know what to do in the pool to get a good workout. How far, how fast, where to start.

Today, I swam 1200 metres in about 45 minutes. That doesn't sound like much to me, but boy am I tired and sore.

So, I am wondering if anyone knows of a good swimming program for beginners (something like the couch-to-5K for running?) or has some advice about swimming. I really do enjoy swimming, and I have learned that I need to seize on any exercise that I inherently enjoy (since I am a couch potato at heart )

Thanks!

[saef]

I'm still taking swimming lessons myself, but I can tell you that our instructor has been drilling us on our form in freestyle.

We usually do drills for a while with flotation devices. We'll do some laps using a pull buoy and a kickboard. We'll do some with just the pull buoy or just the kickboard. The idea is to isolate certain sections of the body. I suspect this would work just as well in doing laps for exercise.

More than that, I can't offer. I need to work on my form, of course, but I think breathing is so important & that I don't have that perfected yet.

Swimming reminds me more of something like dance than like running.

[Mrs Snark]

Check out the Total Immersion Forums for great information about swimming in general; I'm sure there will be good recommendations for beginner workouts.

[CJZee]

I often swim laps, alternating between the crawl and the back crawl. I cannot swim fast enough with the breaststroke to keep my heart rate up.

I used to wear a heart rate monitor to try and stay in training range, and found that the only way I could keep my heart rate up was to "enthusiastically" use the large muscles of my butt and legs while swimming. Before i figured that out, I tended to just flutter kick a little while my arms apparently were doing most of the work.

So engage your large muscles to increase your heart rate if you want a cardio workout.