/swim/ - Swimming General

>>41892387
Ya man! Recenty picked up swimming again as wel and digging it so far. Never really researched anything about routines and such though, so I don't have much to contribute. Will be lurking and posting interesting stuff I can find in the next hour

>>41892387
I'm cutting right now and I do HIIT in the pool twice a week.

6x50 M sprint with progressively shorter breaks in between. (Use freestyle, fly or back, not breaststroke.)
Another amazing feeling is to just swim a kilometer or two in the pool for moderate intensity cardio.

File: 2112486-2112485-char_belethor.jpg (30KB, 640x640px) Image search: [Google]

30KB, 640x640px

>>41892387
Don't mean to shoot you down OP but swimming is one of the worst forms of cardio. Typically you need to effectively double the amount of effort you put into running to match the amount of calories you'll burn swimming. However, swimming will give you a better workout and build muscle better than running due to the higher level of resistance.

A few stroke tips:

For front crawl, make sure to be breathing bilaterally. Every three strokes is the typical time between breaths, breathing in for two seconds and out for 4. You want your cheek and ear to remain underwater whilst only your mouth surfaces, so that you remain streamlined in the water.

For breaststroke, you don't want to be pulling and kicking at the same time. For your arms, imagine your scooping out a bowl with the palms of your hands as your bring them together under your chest. Difficult to describe but you should be able to find a video explaining. Once you've extended and contracted your arms, you should kick. Once you've kicked, you should immediately reintroduce the pull. Basically, no part of your part should ever be static for long.

For backstroke, there's not a lot of tips. Only thing I would say is that you need to be turning your palms so that your little finger enters the water first on every stroke.

Finally, recent research has suggested that spreading your fingers slightly into a rake-like pattern is beneficial for front crawl, as the space between the fingers develops a web of water which increases the surface area of the hand and gives you a higher level of propulsion.

Also, don't forget to warm up and cool down. Whilst you won't feel it when swimming as much as you would running, lactic acid buildup can ruin your training. Typically do 200-400 meters of each stroke before starting a session, and half that on a cool down.

Hope I've helped OP, good luck in the pool mate.