Sometimes You Just Cannot Get Motivated

Some days I simply cannot get motivated to work out, be it making it to the pool for a swimming workout, grabbing a yoga class, or jumping on the treadmill at the gym.  Some days I have absolutely no desire to do anything requiring effort.  One thing I’ve learned throughout my years of exercise is that when you don’t want to work out and you try to anyway, it can often create further problems.  When I work out in the wrong state of mind, I often grumble internally and by the end of my workout I cannot imagine working out again with anything other than dread.

So today’s workout lesson is:

Know yourself and know your limits.  If you are in a crummy mood, take the day off.  If you’re only in a slightly crummy mood, hop in the pool with no expectations.  Your goal is so swim a bit and relax.  Here’s a workout for slightly crummy moods:

• 200 swim
• 200 kick
• 200 swim
• Repeat as motivated

Give Yourself a Break Every Now and Again

This evening I met up with my former flatmate from Scotland. We reminisced about the good ol’ days and laughed at long forgotten stories. Sitting down to write today’s post with Scotland on my mind, I couldn’t help but think of my first time in the pool while studying abroad.  I had been in Glasgow for nearly 4 months.  After 4 months of only walking for exercise, I’d decided I needed to get back to a healthy lifestyle – and this, of course, began with a membership to a gym with a pool.

I donned by swimsuit, cap and goggles and hopped in…and I very nearly hopped back out again.  My lung capacity had shrunk, my feel of the water had diminished, and overall my stroke was sloppy.  Disappointment shrouded my first time back in the water, but time helped to diminish these pessimistic thoughts.  On my walk home I thought about my swim and what went wrong and I realized that I went wrong.  Instead of establishing expectations that took into account my many months out of the water, I held myself to the same standards I had when I was swimming daily.  I needed to realize that I wasn’t where I had been.  From there, I could realize how to get back to where I was.  I needed to cut myself some slack in order to figure out what was going wrong.  If your stroke doesn’t feel right, don’t power through it.  Take the time to slow down (break your stroke down to kicking, body rotation, and arms) in order to figure out what to fix.

• 200 warm up

• 4 x 25 kick on front (head down, arms at side, breathe forward)
• 4 x 25 kick on front (head down, arms at side, breathe to side)
• 4 x 25 kick on front (head down, arms up front, pull every time you breathe to side)
• Repeat

• 4 x 25 6 kick switch (slow)
• 4 x 25 3 kick switch (slow)
• 4 x 25 zipper drill (slow)
• Repeat

• 4 x 50 easy

Straighten Out and Rotate

I may sound like a broken record, droning “rotate, rotate, rotate” over and over again, but unfortunately, that doesn’t make it any less true. Rotation is vital to long-axis strokes (i.e., freestyle and backstroke) for three main reasons:

1. By rotating your body, you place less stress on your shoulder, reducing risk of injury.
2. Rotating your body allows you to engage your core, not just your arm, when pulling. Bigger muscles create more power!
3. When you rotate onto your side, you create a longer, more powerful stroke. It wastes energy to take lots of little short strokes. Long strokes enable you to conserve energy.

The drills in today’s workout are intended to help you develop your rotation.  The primary drill we’re using is the straight-arm drill.  It is important to be conscious of your rotation during this drill in order to prevent shoulder injury.

• 200 swim

• 4 x 100 swim, kick (on your side), drill (straight arm), swim
• 8 x 50 kick (on your side)
• 16 x 75 (swim, drill, swim)
• Repeat

• 200 easy

• 12 x 25 sprint
• 12 x 25 scull
• 12 x 50 drill (alternate 3 kick switch, straight arm)
• Repeat

• 300 easy

Long-Distance Swim for Time

I find it helpful to do a “test-run” every once in a while.  Every workout you should push yourself, but you should actually race for time every once in a while.  Not daily, not weekly, but maybe monthly it’s a good idea to swim 1000 yards for time.  So today, we’re warming up, we’re racing, and we’re cooling down.  So here goes!

• 200 swim

• 4 x 100 drill
• 2 x 200 kick (slow, medium)

• 1000 for time

• 4 x 100 pull
• 2 x 200 kick (slow, medium)

• 300 cool down

100 x 25′s

Today we’re going to get a little eccentric.  We’re doing 100 x 25′s.  But here’s the trick, you’re going to swim half of the length of the pool, turn in the middle, and swim back.  No walls turns are a killer workout!

• 200 warm up

• 5 x 25 flutter kick with board
• 5 x 25 freestyle swim
• 5 x 25 breaststroke kick with board
• 5 x 25 freestyle swim
• 5 x 25 dolphin kick with board

• Repeat and pull instead of kick
• Repeat and drill instead of kick
• Repeat and swim instead of kick

• 200 easy

A Bit of It All

I’m in the mood for a little of everything.  Today we’re squeezing in sprints, drills, kicking and pull.  So grab your gear and hop in!

• 200 warm up

• 1 x 25 sprint
• 2 x 25 kick on right side, kick on left side
• 3 x 25 pull
• 4 x 25 drill
• Repeat

• 1 x 50 sprint
• 2 x 50 kick on right side, kick on left side
• 3 x 50 pull
• 4 x 50 drill
• Repeat

• 1 x 100 sprint
• 2 x 100 kick on right side, kick on left side
• 3 x 100 pull
• 4 x 100 drill
• Repeat

• 1 x 200 sprint
• 2 x 200 kick on right side, kick on left side
• 3 x 200 pull
• 4 x 200 drill

• 200 easy

Swimming Sprints

Sometimes the weather will feel just right and I suddenly feel the urge to run, to race down the street, leaving everything behind.  There’s a sense of freedom, ease and relaxation that comes with a sprint.  The feeling on land is the same as in the water.  A swimming sprint creates the same feelings of independence.  Today’s workout is full of sprints – full of freedom.

• 4 x 100 (swim, kick drill, swim)

• 8 x 75 (build speed within 75, 10 seconds rest between each)
• 12 x 50 (negative split, 15 seconds rest between each)
• 16 x 25 sprint
• Repeat

• 3 x 200 kick (5 seconds rest between each)

• 500 easy

Kickers vs Pullers

There tend to be two types of swimmers: kickers and pullers.  I was, am, and, in likelihood, always will be a puller.  But just because you like something and you’re good at it, doesn’t mean you should let yourself off the hook.  Today we’ll alternate between a standard set and a kick or pull set (your choise).  I challenge you to reach outside your comfort zone on this one.  Pullers, grab a kick board and kickers, grab a pull buoy!

• 400 (alternate 50 swim, 50 drill)

• 3 x 100 (slow, medium, fast)
• Repeat

• Kick or Pull Set (found at bottom of page)

• 3 x 75 (straight arm drill)
• 3 x 75 (fist drill)
• 3 x 75 (3-3-3 drill)

• 200 easy kick or pull
• 200 easy swim

Kick Set

• 4 x 200 (negative split each 200 and make each 200 faster than the previous)

Pull Set

• 3 x 150 (50 right arm, 50 left arm, 50 regular)
• 4 x 50 (negative split and make each 50 faster than the previous)
• Repeat

Favorite Childhood Workout

Today New York Family published Making Waves, an article focusing on swim teams.  The article includes interviews of several young swimmers who state their favorite strokes and it also includes advice from Physique Swimming’s Vadim Shoyket.

Reading about swim team and favorite strokes brings a bit of nostalgia, so today it will be my FAVORITE workout from my childhood.  Keep in mind, I’m a long distance freestyler…so this will be a loooooooong workout (feel free to cut everything in half).

• 500 warm up

• 16 x 100 (1-4: 20 seconds rest, 5-8: 15 seconds rest, 9-12: 10 seconds rest, 13-16: 5 seconds rest)

• 1 x 200 breaststroke kick easy

• 8 x 200 (1-2: 25 seconds rest, 3-4: 20 seconds rest, 5-6: 15 seconds rest, 7-8: 10 seconds rest)

• 1 x 200 breaststroke kick easy

• 4 x 300 pull with paddles and pull buoy (30 seconds rest, negative split)

• 400 easy choice

A Workout for Your Inner Child

Today the heat is sweltering.  It’s the beginning of the oppressive summer weather that blankets New York City every year.  Now, it’s easy to look at this weather and think to yourself, “How in the world am I supposed to make it to work in my suit and look like anything other than a sopping mop?”  Or you could think back to your childhood and remember that you LIVED for these days.  Days during which the only thing to do was hang out at the pool, lounge in the shade, drink lemonade, and escape to the basement for a brief respite from the sun.  Since you’re never to old to be a kid at heart, today’s workout is for all of your inner kids.

First, ladies and gentlemen, let’s head to the deep end.  If you are letting your inner child reign, let’s see a cannonball.  If your 30/40/50/etc. year old self is still in charge, start with a dive.  After you pop up to the surface, it’s time to tread some water.

• 1 minute flutter kick (15 seconds rest)
• 1 minute dolphin kick (15 seconds rest)
• 1 minute breaststroke kick (15 seconds rest)
• 1 minute flutter kick arms out of the water (15 seconds rest)
• 1 minute dolphin kick arms out of the water (15 seconds rest)
• 1 minute breaststroke kick arms out of the water (15 seconds rest)
• For fun (to some people) try 1 minute with your arms out of the water in a streamline position

• Swim to the other end (no legs)

• 10 x 25 sprint
• 10 x 25 underwater swim
• Repeat 4 times (fly, back, breaststroke, free)

• 2 x 50 scull (arms out front)
• 2 x 50 scull (on back, arms at sides, feet first)
• 2 x 50 scull (sitting on kickboard, arms at sides)
• Repeat 3 times

• 200 elementary backstroke cool down