Swimming Workout for Beginners

Every swimming workout you do should have 3 basic steps. The three essential steps should include a warm up, main set (or the hard part of the workout), and a cool down. Many beginners make the mistake of going to the local pool and just jumping in and swimming to the point of exhaustion. There are many reasons why this is not a formidable plan to follow and we will lay out the importance of all 3 steps and give some sample workouts for you get started with.

The warm up phase of the swimming workout should be at least 5 to 10 minutes long and should be done at easy pace to get your body ready for the intense part of the training session. Swimming 2 lengths of the pool or fifty yards and the resting for 30 to 45 seconds would be a great place to start for an average swimmer. Repeat this 6 to 8 times and you will have a total of 300 - 400 yards logged in about 10 to 12 minutes. If you need more rest between each lap you do, that is fine as the main focus is here is keeping the intensity low. You can never go to long with a warm up.

The Main Set or core of your swimming workout is the most intense part of this training. It can very greatly depending on your starting ability, but it should be done at an moderate intensity for beginners. Be very careful not to over do it on your first couple of practices. It is better do start out slow and build your yardage base up over time. You should shoot for 15 minutes of moderate swimming. You still can get rest here, but not as much as the warmup. Try doing 4 lengths or 100 yards and taking 20 seconds rest after each one. See if you can get to eight of these without any more than 20 seconds rest. It is ok if you can't get to eight. Just do as many as possible with the 20 seconds rest and some where around 6-8 should give you 15 minutes of moderate swimming.

This is the part of the workout that many swimmers enjoy. Your heart rate is still elevated from the Main Set and your adrenaline is pumping. You may feel tired or even exhausted if you really pushed yourself, but you still need to get in a few more yards. Take as much time as you need, but keep swimming at a very easy effort. You should do a minimum of 200-300 yards or 8-12 lengths of recovery. If you know any stroke drills or things that you want to work on, now is a good time to work on it. The conclusion of a swimming workout for novice swimmers, should be an easy effort.

One of the goals of your Swimming workout should be to build an aerobic base. You can accomplish this by doing repeats of the same or similar distance with small to medium amounts of rest. An example of this could be swimming 100 yards 8 times on a 1:45 cycle. You should try to finish each 100 yard swim in 1:25 seconds, so you can have 20 seconds of rest or recovery before you start the next swim. If you are truly a beginner, and this sounds to difficult, you can adjust the interval to a slow pace like 2:00 or 2:15 so you can get adequate rest. One of the goals of your Swimming workout should be to build an aerobic base. You can accomplish this by doing repeats of the same or similar distance with small to medium amounts of rest. An example of this could be swimming 100 yards 8 times on a 1:45 cycle. You should try to finish each 100 yard swim in 1:25 seconds, so you can have 20 seconds of rest or recovery before you start the next swim. If you are truly a beginner, and this sounds to difficult, you can adjust the interval to a slow pace like 2:00 or 2:15 so you can get adequate rest.

Swimming with fins or flippers is a great way to increase your yardage. Many people lack the confidence to even try lap swimming. If this is you, buying a pair of flippers and lap swimming with them on can really give you the extra strength that you need to propel yourself through the water. Don't become so reliant on flippers that you do all of your work with them on, but use them to assist you to build strength during a workout, or if you want to do a long cool down you can really rack up the yardages with the assistance of flippers.

To receive proper Swimming instruction for beginners, the best thing for you to do may be to hire a swimming coach or a swimming instructor to help you learn proper swimming technique. If you have never enrolled in a swimming class or had someone critique your swimming form, finding a good person to help you does not have to be difficult. You can first check with your local YMCA or Master's swim Team and they can point you in the right direction. If this is not available close to you, have someone film you while you are training so you can see what you look like in the water.

If you are just beginning a training program in the pool, swimming just 2-3 days a week can be enough for for you to start seeing good results. Over time you should be able to work up to 4-5 days a week if desired. Tracking your yardage is also recommended as you can see how far you swam and set future goals.

8 x 50 yards with 20 seconds rest between each

3 x 150 yards @ 3 minutes per 150 yards

2 x 100 yards with a kick board @ 1 minute rest

200 yards cool down

Total yards=1150

After your main set of your workout do a mini cool down for 3 to 5 minutes then take a 2 to 3 minute break. Now try doing 4 x 25's on a 1 minute cycle. These should be at an "all out" or 100% effort. By sprinting at the end of your Swimming Workout, you don't have to save any energy to complete any more intense swimming in your workout. You can truly finish up the workout on a good note with fost swimming and then proceed into your cool down.

Everyone knows that weight loss is on of the best benefits of swimming. but how much swimming do you have to do to lose weight? The answer to this question is different for everyone. Your age, current body weight, and swimming ability all are factors that play a part in you overall calorie burn. As you customize your swimming workout, you should track everything you do in a journal as well as track your weight. Over time, you can see how much time you put in the water in a week or a month and track that with your weight loss. This will help you find out how much quality time you must put into your swimming workouts to lose your desired amount of weight.

If you go to a competitive swimming workout facility, you many notice pace clocks either on the pool deck or mounted on the wall. These are use by swimmers during their workout to help them with interval training. They are very easy to use even for the beginner swimmer. Here is a good little example of a set if you are brand new to interval training.
Swim 6 x 50 yards (or 2 lengths of the pool) on a 1:10 cycle
To do this, you are going to push off the wall on the sixty and swim 50 yards. Hopefully you complete the distance with time to spare. Your next sendoff will be on the 10 and then the 20. Repeat this until you complete the set of 6.

The best swimming workout for you is going to be totally different than what works for someone else. When you are planning your swimming workout, remember what your goals are and plan your swimming workout accordingly. Be realistic with with what you want to accomplish and better swimming results will follow over time.