Beginner Swim Workout

How many of you are aware of the fact that swimming happens to be one of the best cardiovascular exercises and one that is highly recommended for weight loss? Hmm...I can see the answer through quite a few "Oh my God! I didn't know that!!" looks on the faces of some of you. That alone is a good enough reason for me to proceed with the following beginner swim workout.

Swim Workout for Beginners

All the sets of exercises that have been included in the following beginner swimming workout have been specifically designed keeping in mind newcomers to swimming workouts. There are three main aspects of swim workouts:

1. endurance
2. technique
3. speed

The best swimming workouts are those which incorporate all the above, and in balanced proportions. You should always keep this in mind, regardless of whether yours is a beginner workout or an advanced workout. The length i.e., the duration of your workout will depend on the number of times you plan to swim per week. As a beginner, you should ideally aim at swimming between 3 to 4 times a week. Swimming on all 7 days of the week is a stupid thing to do. Over-training is not at all beneficial and you will only end up getting exhausted and all your over-enthusiastic efforts will go down the drain.

Workout Details

• Start your workout with a nice warm-up. Warming up is vital for any exercise session, let alone swim workouts. It loosens your body muscles so that they can perform at an optimum level. Skipping a warm-up and directly moving on to a strenuous workout can be a dangerous thing to do and it can often lead to injuries. Begin with a leisurely 50 meter warm-up. Use the breast stroke along with a bit of back stroke for your warm-up lap.
• Once your body is nice and loose, you can proceed with the actual workout. This is where the grueling part begins. Initially, aim at a total distance of 400 to 450 meters. This total distance needs to be divided into different blocks or steps. An example could be a sequence of 50-75-100-100-75-50 meters. This progression of ascending and descending lap distances is popularly known as a 'ladder'.
• Let us see how to go about this workout while targeting the aspect of endurance. Considering the above example of a 450 meter ladder, start with a 50 meter lap and rest for 5 seconds. Next, do a 75 meter lap and rest for 8 seconds. Follow it up with 100 meter lap after which you rest for 15 seconds. Next is another 100 meter lap followed by 15 seconds of rest. Now, we go down the ladder with a 75 meter lap and 8 seconds of rest. Finally, finish off with a 50 meter lap. The main thing you should keep in mind during this endurance workout is rhythm and stamina, rather than speed.
• In case of a swim workout based on technique, do not follow the ladder pattern. Instead, keep a constant lap distance of 50 or 75 meters for the entire workout. Swim 50 or 75 meters at a time and focus entirely on your body position, your stroke, kick and breathing pattern. Use a regular swimming board or a training float for assistance.
• In case of speed workouts, as a beginner you should initially restrict them to one day a week. Do a slightly longer warm-up than you would otherwise do for an endurance workout. Once you are warmed up, strap on a good waterproof stopwatch on your wrist to keep track of your lap timings. Divide your 450 meter ladder into 3 steps of 150 meters each. Make sure that you take adequate rest between each of the 3 ladder steps. Increase the lap distance and the difficulty level as you gain in confidence, strength and stamina.

Always remember, the best swim workouts are the ones which you enjoy doing and at the end of which you get a sense of satisfaction and achievement. Remember to take adequate rest and do not push yourself beyond limits.