BEGINNER SWIM WORKOUT FOR TRIATHLETES... group swimming, pool tools, and overtraining

(1)One of the most common mistakes a new triathlete or anyone new to the swimming discipline might make in a beginner swim workout is to spend far too much time in the pool working hard to go faster.

It would make more sense to spend those extra training hours working on technique and developing a sound swimming stroke. It's also important to have sufficient rest between your swim workout days.

GROUP SWIMMING

(2)Swimming in a group setting can be great for your social life and takes a bit of the boredom away that normally comes with swimming on your own.

However, for those who are poor swimmers or perhaps who are taking part in one of their very first beginner swim workouts, groups are not always the best thing.

Most groups are structured in such a way that there are fast lanes and slow lanes. If you are among the slowest of the swimmers, you will be stuck way over in the slow lane.

The idea is, as you get faster you are moved into a faster lane. I've been there and done that and spent all my time trying to swim as fast as I could just so I could get out of the slow lane.

By doing that, I really wasn't learning the proper mechanics of the swim stroke and I wasn't paying attention to the coach. Your swim training sessions should not be about competing with others.

It should be focused on becoming the most efficient swimmer you can possibly be. "HOW" you get to the other side of the pool is much more important than "HOW FAST" you get to the other side.

Often the biggest strides(or strokes) you will make in your swimming ability will come from the times you spend alone working on the drills that will make your swim stroke longer, smoother, and more economical.

KICK THIS HABIT

(3)Like most new swimmers, when I started out on the Ironman Triathlon highway, I would use any method I could to make it easier to get to the other side of the pool.

My feet would sink all the time and I found that if I used a "pull buoy" it was not nearly as hard to swim because the foam floats kept my feet up near the surface of the water and I was automatically more "streamlined".

Then I would put on hand paddles so I could grab more water. Or I would put on flippers so I had the illusion that I was going faster.

Well I was, but not on my own steam. All this would be great if you could use all that gear on race-day, but you can't. They give you a false sense of security and prevent you from learning the proper body positions without the use of aids.

Pull buoys and hand paddles if used improperly or too often can also cause injuries from the extra stress they put on your arms and shoulders.

Occasionally, swim fins are beneficial when you are doing drills and you need the fins too keep your forward momentum. Other than that it's best to avoid using swim aids as much as possible in your beginner swim workouts and concentrate on learning the proper body positioning that will keep you stream-lined in the water.

POOL TOOLS

(4)I don't know what it is about those kick boards, but I truly came to dislike and even "dread" them. It still baffles me why people feel they have to do hundreds of meters of kicking during every swim work-out.

It simply makes no sense. Once you learn proper body positioning and have refined your stroke, there is really very little need to do much kicking.

As a matter of fact, wearing your legs out by kicking like a demon all the way through your beginner swim workout is usually a waste of energy.

Using your kick to actually propel yourself faster is best left to the pros who need every minute they can find. Your beginner swim workouts should be concentrated on doing the proper drills that will ingrain the best technique into your muscle memory.

If you are just beginning your triathlon career or just staring out on your beginner swim workouts, it's best to learn proper technique from the very beginning.

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