I've poked around but can't seem to find a swimming thread. If there's one I haven't seen and some one could point it out to me - I'd be super happy

If not, let's start one!

I swam up until my freshman year of college, and have only been in the water a hand full of times since. The one thing I do know is that I have NO lung capacity anymore, so there is some definite breathing between the flags!

My husband and I are joining the Y this weekend - so I hope to get back in at least 4 times a week. I'm trying to figure out a workout for an "out of shape" me that won't take 2 hours - as those are the types of workouts I'm used to planning. 45 minutes for me - I just don't have that much time anymore.

Any suggestions? I have fins, kick boards, paddles, pull buoys, and all that fun stuff from my last urge to start again that failed. This one won't fail!

It just won't...

I used to swim competitively, but also haven't been in the pool much since college. I'm going to try to get one day of swimming in as cross training for running. I think I over did the running in my last half marathon training schedule so I'm trying to work in some yoga, weight lifting and swimming this time. I don't tend to follow a formal work out anymore when I get in the pool. Just do a mix of all strokes, some drill work, maybe get out the kick board or pull buoys for a while. Dolphin kicking with fins on is a great core work out! Great thing about swimming on your own is there's no coach to yell at you if you're skipping flip turns and breathing whenever you feel like it. I'm sure if you poke around the internet you can find a training program that works for you.

I love swimming. Unfortunately, as I'm no longer a university student, I no longer have free access to a pool and I'm finding them hard to locate. I've never been an amazing swimmer and I'm lacking some of the little techniques...like flip turns, and I never learned how to butterfly. Would they teach that stuff in a stroke improvement course?

Probably. You could also ask some you see swimming all the time how to do them. I'm sure they'd be willing to teach you. Plus, that way it's free

I swim but only as part of my triathlon training. Its not my favorite activity, but it's grown on me. I still need tons of work on my freestyle form as I'm way too slow. I swim about twice a week and currently will be splitting that between open water swimming and pool swimming with drills. My swim for the current training is for a 1.5k portion of the race.

Will probably take some lessons again this fall. Before last spring I didn't swim since I was a kid.

I love to swim! I can't afford it right now! But my first goal would be to learn how to do a flip turn. I just can't seem to do it without hitting the bottom of the pool or getting a ton of water up my nose. I can't figure it out!
Kira

You can get customized swim workouts at Swimplan.com. It a free website, but it does require registration. I haven't used it, but I believe that once you've registered, you input how long you want your workout to be, what length of pool you're swimming in, and what equipment you have available and it will give you a customized workout. I think you might even be able to specify that you want drills to work on certain aspects of your stroke (e.g., speed, form, breath control, that sort of thing).

I swim once a week; it's sort of my easy day because I don't push myself at swimming the way I do at everything else. I just enjoy the sunshine and being in the water. Or the clouds, wind and rain if the weather isn't nice. Or the moon if I'm swimming at night. Every time I swim, no matter what the weather, when I finish I think "wow, today was a perfect day for a swim." I think of it as my form of yoga--it's a very zen experience. It's the only form of exercise I do where I feel graceful and confident. If I weren't a human, I'm sure I would be a fish--a slow, ugly, bottom feeder (I'm not too fast but I have great breath control)--but a fish none-the-less.

Sylvied, you should be able to find a stroke improvement course that teaches flip turns and butterfly--I would expect both of these skills to be pretty standard (definitely flip turns, butterfly maybe a little less so), but ask before you sign up.

Hi, Marbear! I'm getting back into Master's swimming after a long break. I only went to one meet this spring, but I am going to be ready to compete again in the fall. I like the pool over ALL other forms of exercise, and do all sorts of different types of workouts, from distance/endurance, to stroke drills, and speed training.

I can recommend the Total Immersion video series by Terry McLaughlin - and there's a starts/turns video along with all the basic strokes. He does a nice job of breaking everything down step by step - I finally was able to learn what was wrong with my breaststroke after MANY years of doing it wrong.

I'm getting about 3000 yards in a short-course yards pool, in an hour. There was a time in my life where I spent 18 hours a week in the pool, but the objective was a lot different! I love the stretching out, getting away from gravity, and the smooth muscle profile it builds. Vive la pool! lol!

I did a trial run last night to see how out of shape I was. I'm still pretty fast, but the endurance is gone. Hopefully in a month or two I'll be back into the swing of thing. It's quite weird to feel so horrible and out of shape, and to have people comment on my speed. I naturally pop out with "God, I'm so out of shape" without thinking and they get miffed. I kind of feel bad about it but for me, I am out of shape. If they spent a minimum of 3 hours a day,6 days a week in the water for 15 odd years - they'd feel crappy in my shoes right now too.

ICU - I was looking at the Masters Swimming here in Maine. It looks like something I may try in a month or two. I truly enjoy the thought of comeptitve swimming without having coaches to deal with...
Blue - Thanks for the link!

kira - If you start to slow down during a flip turn you'll start to sink. Try keeping your speed up. Take a deep breath a stroke or two out from the wall and blow all the water out of your nose while you flip, it'll keep the H20 out.

Have a great day ladies! Your continued chatting is welcome!

Welcome back to the wet stuff! Not sure if you were distance or sprinter, but as a distance swimmer, my endurance came back surprisingly fast (for 42). From what I've read, if you're just trying to lose weight, sprinting is the way to go. I do distance as a form of escapism ...

I swam Breaststroke and the IM - so there weren't many distance options. The closest I came to distance was holding the lap cards during the 500 and 1000. Ha. I agree on the escapism though. Blocking out the world is a very good thing. Thinking of getting an under water MP3 player. Have you had experience with any?

Swam last night for the first time since ELEMENTARY SCHOOL swim team! (Of course, I have been in the water since then, but not attempting to swim laps.) I had my 9th-grade stepdaughter, a swimmer, give me a quick form critique, and she said she'll teach me to do a flip-turn when the time comes. For now, I can only swim one length before I need to stop for a minute.

I'm thinking of doing what you're doing, Barbara, and making swimming my "easy day." It hardly feels like exercise, partly because I can't do it long, but partly because it's so relaxing! I'm also working through Couch-to-5K, which I credit for giving me the cardio capacity to do a length or 2 without dying, but more importantly for teaching me how to start out slowly--just do what I can and keep pushing a little each week.

Where do you ladies go for a flattering sport-type swimsuit? I love my "pretty" suit, but it's not really practical for swimming laps.

I usually order stuff from Kiefer.com but if I need them in a jiffy I go to Dicks or some other psorting goods store. Since summer is in full swing, I found quite a few suits on sale a week or two ago.

"Thinking of getting an under water MP3 player. Have you had experience with any?"

No experience here but I've been thinking of getting the finis swimp3 off and on. I'll let you know if I end up getting it.

I swim. I used to swim on a regular basis about 7 years ago, then stopped and now I have returned to the pool. I am pretty good in terms of endurance, I usually swim laps for 45 minutes without any break. But I can swim only breast stroke - when I was a kid, I had no problem holding my breath under water (i remember that I was able to float with my face in water, with my back up - and then somehow I lost the ability. I would love to be able to swim crawl but I have to master the breathing first somehow. It seems to me that the moment my face is underwater all the water just rushes into my nose (unless I hold my nose - well, that's no way to swim crawl LOL.) Any tips, ladies?

Otherwise, LisaJean, if you are buying a new swimsuit make sure you get one that is chlorine resistant - if you plan on swimming in a pool. If the swimsuit is not made specifically for swimming in chlorinated water, the chlorine will eat through the fabric in no time. I lost many decent (and expensive) swimsuits that way.