Back to the Basics

Everyday I am getting stronger for the bike and run but not the swim! It is 4 weeks since I was sick and taken to emergency room. It has been slow process gaining weight and getting muscle strength back. In another couple weeks, I will be back to pre sick pace and power on the bike and run. But the swim is like I am slow motion no matter how much I push. So it is time to get back to basics of the swim: body position, freestyle stoke phases, body rotation, kick and arm/back strength. Strength part using body weight and weights (dumbbells and machine). Swimming is getting the pool doing drills by focusing on body position, freestyle stoke phases, and body rotation. Drills should not take up the whole swim workout or you will swim like a drill. An example of workout: warmup 300-400 yards; drills 4 x 100 yards focusing on body position, hand/arm entry, catch, pull and recovery phases; main set focus on speed and endurance, which is 60-75% of total yardage; cool down 100 yards. Many think using hand paddle for the majority of the swim will make you faster. Wrong, it is all the form! And you can get injured with paddles if form is bad. If you don’t know why your swim is bad, have a friend do video or have a swim or triathlon coach look at your swim. I am going to have my boyfriend video me but I have some good swim workouts to do in the pool to get me faster. Happy swimming! Be Safe and healthy! @pamhouck