About 18 months ago, I was still a “retired” swimmer. I would get in every now and then, but I found more good reasons (excuses) not to swim than to swim. The problem with this: I’m not meant for land. Google “baby giraffe tries to stand for the first time” and you will see actual footage of me running…
When I finally decided to try Masters swimming, I had to ease my way back in the pool. I’ve worked my way up now to workouts between 3-5,000 yards but that has taken nearly two years. So by request from an old hometown friend of mine, here is an “I want to get back in but don’t want to die” workout.
As with any workout, modify for your abilities and physical limitations. If you need more rest, take it. If you haven’t been in the pool in a long time, start out with rest intervals instead of timed intervals (:20 sec rest vs. repeat yardage on a set interval). If the only stroke you know is freestyle, swim freestyle! If you don’t know any drills, comment below and I’ll help you through it :-).
One tip I learned when I got back in, equipment is your friend! If you have fins, use them – It will help you stay long and stretch out your stroke. If you don’t have a kickboard, most pools will have some you can borrow but when all else fails, kick on your back. The key is not to overdue it on the first workout. Start with one or two workouts a week, then build up from there. If you can’t figure out what
Happy swimming!
The Lane Line 