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Apr 08 NewsletterPhotos from our Winter Party!
Typical "Warm-up"
At the start of practice, the coach will hand out some "easy" swims to get muscles and cardiovascular systems ready for our "main set." Each day, the coach changes the warm-up slightly, to keep things interesting.
We usually start out with some number of swims that add up to 300 yards... February 9th, we did the following:
- 25 yard swim (freestyle)
- 50 yard stroke (either butterfly, back, or breast--swimmer's choice)
- 75 yard swim (freestyle)
- 75 yard swim (freestyle)
- 50 yard stroke (swimmer's choice)
- 25 yard swim (freestyle)
We then do about 200 yards of "drill work." Drill work can be used to emphasize one or more elements of good technique. Again, the coach varies the assignment from day-to-day. For example, we might swim 200 yards in the following fashion: the following:
- 50 yard swim (using right arm only)
- 50 yard swim (using left arm only)
- 50 yard swim (catch-up drill) -- NOTE: catch-up drill is where you can't take a stroke (pull with an arm) until the other arm has "caught-up" (recovered from pulling) and touches the other hand out in front of your body.
- 50 yard swim (regular swim, nothing special)
We usually finish warm-up with a little sprint work, to get the quick-twitch muscles going. For example, we might do the following:
- Four 50 yard swims, freestyle, descending (First one nice and easy, each one a little faster than the last)
During warm-up, the coach does not assign intervals. Each lane swims at a reasonable pace--it is just warm-up, isn't it?
We're now ready for the main set.
Once warm-up is complete, our muscles and cardiovascular systems are "warmed-up" and ready for a hearty workout. It's for this reason, that it's not a good idea to miss the first ten minutes of workout. In fact, Anybody getting in the pool more than 10 minutes late will be getting in the way of other simmers that are starting the more strenuous main set.
Please do not come to practice more than ten minutes late!
