was thinking of cross training this winter and thought of swimming in the weekdays . How long should you swim for to get a good enough work out ? and would I gain from it ? make me faster on the bike ? cheers

Richie

I do 1000m in about 30 minutes every week. Don’t know if it helps cycling but I always feel pretty knackered afterwards.

I see I ment help cycling in a fitness way 🙂

Good thing to do but don’t suppose it will make you faster on a bike. I swim every week after needing it as part of physio after a big accident. I swim between 1500 and 2500m per session. takes between 35 and an hour. (I am sure all the swimmers will turn up and tell you it will only take 10 mins) I am a rubbish swimmer and find it very boring but I can tell it is really good for me and my wife now goes and I do it to support her as much as anything.
Despite the fact that i don’t really enjoy it I think I will continue and I can’t really explain why

Depends what you do really.

HIIT or slow and steady…

I aim for 30 mins to an hour every weekday,

I will try for an hour 2 to 3 times a week giving it my best 🙂

Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise you can do and IMO is the perfect form of exercise to compliment MTB’ing. You exercise almost all your body muscles when you do the different strokes and you build up your stamina and staying power.

Every 30mins swimming is the equivalent of doing an hours work out in a gym.

I have swam for an hour every week for about 5 years and swim on average 2500m. But it’s not just about swimming up and down. I have some routines written out by a trainer (who gave me copies before they made her redundant-barstewards) and they include sprints and float work so you are doing legs only and arms only etc as well as the four traditional strokes. It’s hard work to get 2500m in but well worth it.

The difference on the bike is remarkable. The increased stamina and strength in arms and legs means you can go twice as far, the climbs become easier, and you recover quicker. I found I can pace myself better and my times have drastically reduced. I also find a very rarely have to stop for a rest, even on the 60k killers.

Swimming really paid off this year when I managed Snowdon twice (up-Llanberis down-up-Rangers down-Maesgwyn down) in just under 5hrs !!!

If anyone wants a copy of the routines let me know and I’ll scan copies in and e-mail them.

As others say 2-3 times a week for about an hour can be great for your fitness. I used to race a lot while i was younger and am looking to get back into the pool for the winter to increase my fitness. as you have to control your breathing a lot more while in the pool rather than going for a run or cycle it is much better to increase your lung capacity and improve your the strength of your heart while exercising.
Just make sure that as you get fitter that you are trying to increase your work load, by either increasing the distance that you are swimming (most recommended) or decreasing the time that it is taking you to do the distance. As everyone has a different pace that they swim at it is difficult to say how far to swim. I would say go and have a few sessions and see how far you are swimming comfortably. Then try and increase it slightly, and carry that out for a couple of weeks before increasing further.

It’s awesome, the harder you swim the more the benefits. Go to a swim fit session or something to get sets. Otherwise you’ll plod along and get bored and get out.

Another tip… rather than swimming a length or two and then stopping for a rest or chat, swim continuously but change from sprints, to relaxed to legs only to arms only.

You cover a bigger distance and the changes in pace really pushing your heart rate up and down is the best for of exercise for your heart and is exactly what happens on the bike.

Brucy bonus… sporty ladies in swim wear… need I say more 😆 !

Yep, when I swam it did make a big difference to my fitness. Upper body strength too.

Trouble is, I found it terribly boring. There are distractions like trying to cut down the number of strokes per length and you can have a good think about stuff once you get into the rythmn but as above, if you can alternate exercises that helps a lot. I would sprint every 500m for 4 lengths…caused a bit of mayhem if there were other people in the lane mind.

Swimming the crawl….I would only use my arms. Legs are for sprinting as far as I’m concerned.

I’d be interested in the programs please excitable1.

48 now but been swimming all my life I aim for 3 times a week minimum 1500m usually approx 35 mins to 50 mins depending how i feel always do front crawl as find breaststroke knackers me knees. but vary pace and breathing technique. never stop to chat until ive finished. I find it boring but addictive. Im a lot slower now as I had a car smack good few years ago smashed ribs and sternum swimming helped get my fitness back over a 2 year period when couldnt use the bike so do it its brilliant. you wont regret it.

Every 30mins swimming is the equivalent of doing an hours work out in a gym.

Even if you swim slowly up and down for half an hour with your head out (so as not to ruin your hairdo), yet do 5000m rowing, 5km running and a variety of weights during your hour in the gym?

also look on the triathlon sites that will give you a good few exercise plans to follow (thats addictive to as well i bought a road bike as well and did a sprint triathlon damn good fun but much annoyance to the misus)

Even if you swim slowly up and down for half an hour with your head out (so as not to ruin your hairdo), yet do 5000m rowing, 5km running and a variety of weights during your hour in the gym?

FFS 🙄 There’s always one !

I’d be interested in the programs please excitable1.

Ivan, sent some scanned copies to your e-mail listed on your profile.

excitable1 – Would it be possible to send me a copy of your swimming program as well. sampsondrj@aol.com

Dan… done.

this is the way forward

http://www.totalimmersion.net/

effortless swimming the TI way, makes everyone else look like they are drowning IMO

FFS There’s always one !

Well it is the obvious comment when somebody comes out with the classic “10 minutes of my favoured form of exercise is the equivalent of 5 hours of some other form of exercise I’m not a fan of”. The thing is, I’m actually a pretty decent swimmer, and don’t pootle when I go to swimming, but I still reckon I achieve more (apart from improving my swimming, obviously) from the equivalent amount of time in the gym, where I’d typically spend significant amounts of time on the rowing machine and treadmill.

Every 30mins swimming is the equivalent of doing an hours work out in a gym

…IMO. There you go Arracer, that ought to cover it !

Excitable,
Would you mind sending a copy of the swim prorgram to tcomc1000@yahoo.com also?
Cheers
M

If you want to go faster on a bike you need to ride more.

When I quit swimming I lost weight and faster on a bike.

Personally for me, swimming makes very little difference to biking fitness. YMMV

Duplicate post

i swim about 1k everynow and then. it takes me about 40minutes. i know this is incredibly slow, but i’m going as fast as i can!

i don’t know about fitness, i’m not very good at the breathing thing, so it’s basically a lesson in breath-holding…

(i have to rest every 100m)

it leaves me knackered, very hungry, and calm – the main reason i do it.

if swimming made bikers faster bikers, then pro bikers would be first in the pool

it’s a totally different activity

it may help if you swim enough to lose some weight, but the same time spend on a bike would improve your cycling more

and as for jumping in an swimming continually for an hour three times a week….. 🙄

If you get bored swimming up and down a pool then why do it? There are other water based activities (eg. water polo, underwater hockey) that could well make you work for more intensely than just plodding up and down and which you might actually enjoy.

They’re probably just as good for biking as iDave says swimming is though.

I am a better swimmer than a cyclist, but that’s not saying much ,
I am also a level one triathlon coach but that is the entry level ,

We use this website as our example swimmer it also has many tips and training schedules Mr smooth. The animation of their ideal swimmer is very good as is the bit about what style of swimmer you are it,s faults and drills to correct them,

Just to join in with everyone else I swim every morning for about 45 mins distance depends on what training I am doing , 4 k in an hour in open water 400 m in 5.45 pool So doggy paddle is the way forward

if swimming made bikers faster bikers, then pro bikers would be first in the pool

it’s a totally different activity

Yes to get faster on the bike, ride the bike, but if it is a choice between swimming or sitting on the sofa, then it does make a difference. We are not pro bikers.

You need to do structured training, plodding up and down is useless. Its intervals at different intensity that make the difference.

1-2 hours for an experienced swimmer, 30-60 mins for not so experienced.

IMO Swimming is not good for loosing weight – it makes you really hungry!

You need to do structured training, plodding up and down is useless. Its intervals at different intensity that make the difference.

Make a difference to what? What is the purpose of this swimming training you’re doing?

1-2 hours for an experienced swimmer, 30-60 mins for not so experienced.

Is once a day enough, or do I need to do 1-2 hours twice a day?

Excitable1 please could you email to me too? tobiasgibbons@hotmail.com cheers!

Make a difference to what? What is the purpose of this swimming training you’re doing?

A structured and varied plan is better than doing the same thing wouldn’t you agree? Unless you have some specefic goal other than generally ‘get fitter’? no? Well that is what I think anyway.

Is once a day enough, or do I need to do 1-2 hours twice a day?

now now don’t be silly :0

A structured and varied plan is better than doing the same thing wouldn’t you agree? Unless you have some specefic goal other than generally ‘get fitter’?

You’re ignoring the question. Getting fitter for what? As pointed out, it’s not going to make you faster at riding a bike. Meanwhile if you want to get faster at swimming, working on your technique is far more important than doing intervals.

now now don’t be silly :0

Yeah, but the thing is, when I was triathlon training I did almost all my swim training in my lunch hour, 30-40 minute sessions. Yet I got faster at swimming than most on here (certainly not the fastest – swimming was always my weakest discipline, 6 minutes dead for 400 at my best).

Aracer… you need to calm down, relax, and get out of that sweaty gym with all those egos flying around. Why not go for a swim 😆 !

Why does (nearly) everything that anyone says on here always have to end up in confrontation. FFS this post was just someone asking if swimming was worth doing, it wasn’t an invitation to flame what each of us do for additional exercise 🙄 !

Each to their own Aracer. You enjoy the gym, stay in the gym. Others enjoy swimming, let them swim. Some of us may even like to Zumba 😯 !

The point is cycling plus another form of exercise is better for you than just cycling. Doing another form of exercise, wether it’s in the gym, pool or in the dance hall will build your strength, stamina, mussel power and endurance meaning you will be able to cycle harder, longer and yes… faster.

Now I’m off to eat a big fat f in cake 😀 !

I took up swimming lessons in April of this year, primarily for self preservation reasons due to solo packrafting, but I also had meant to get into it for years as another form of exercise. I do seem to enjoy swimming, so that is a bonus… I love the sensation of floating and moving through the water. I tried running last year and basically hated every moment…

I try to swim 3 times a week, including one leson. Up to 1 hour each time. Considering when I stared this year, I couldn’t swim 25m without feeling like I am drowning, I am chuffed I can do 1000m in 30 mins on a good day now. The group lessons I take (6 of us max with 2 instructors) help hugely with lots of variety, fun, things to work on, and goals. My other 2 sessions I try for a distance constant swim (no stopping), then maybe a warm up and cool down (usually some floating, diving, and breath exercises).

I feel the cycling helps the swimming more than the other way round in terms of lung conditioning, but I’m sure swimming helps in terms of overall condition. Also, at this time of year, going to a nice warm indoor pool feels good, especially as a stretch the day after a long cycle.

If you are thinking about it, just go try it out. I do recommend lessons, swimming seems to require much more technique than cycling.

Doing another form of exercise, wether it’s in the gym, pool or in the dance hall will build your strength, stamina, mussel power and endurance meaning you will be able to cycle harder, longer and yes… faster.

That’s not actually correct though. Nothing wrong with swimming but unsure how it develops strength and power for example.

Doing another form of exercise, wether it’s in the gym, pool or in the dance hall will build your strength, stamina, mussel power and endurance meaning you will be able to cycle harder, longer and yes… faster.
That’s not actually correct though. Nothing wrong with swimming but unsure how it develops strength and power for example.

I’m sorry to take an extreme view have you seen the size and tone of any club swimmer you should use your core muscles to obtain a good position in the water , when I get out of the water after a 4 k swim I am completely toasted all over , if I climb it’s my top half if I cycle it’s the lower half ,
Come along to one of my sessions with the Oxford tri club ,

The op was talking of training not just a few lengths of doggy paddle and a chat with the lifeguard

Ade Ward…. tell me more about the Oxford Tri Club?