I've been doing 2-3 days a week and I am by no means an authority on training but I am usually in the top 3rd of AG. Depends on how much time you have and what other activities your into. I read some stuff on hear and it just baffles me how people have that much time. I would say 5-6 days is NOT normal.

I have done it on 3x per week. That said my big build weeks are 5000-5500 per set...................Also always did my long swim with my long bike. In the off season was swimming 2000 per set

If you're still working on improving your technique and also working on holding your form, a good very approx rule of thumb is:

Swim more often and less yards per swim, vs. swimming less often with more yards per swim.

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Depends,

Are you reclaiming speed you once had or is this an effort to move your swimming to the next level... ?

8k per week will get a talented swimmer to a 50 minute 3.8 but won't be enough for a slower swimmer go go from 1:05 to 55:00

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It obviously depends on your background as a swimmer, and how far away you are from that hour flat goal already. If you consistently swam 3 times a week w/ 12-15k per week for 6 months - you would be in a small minority of triathletes - and you will see improvement if you'd only done half that before. If you bumped that to 5 days a week, you would likely see massive improvements - assuming you were getting close to 18-20k a week. That said, it may not be the best use of your time to do 5-6 swims. That time would probably be better spent on the bike or running.

If you're already flirting w/ 60 flat, then all your swimming should be quality. No need to waste time w/ a lot of drills sets, kicking, etc. Just get in and hammer.

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It really depends on where you're starting from. If you're a 1:30/100y type of guy, then you're probably going to need at least 20K per week, for a long time to see that kind of improvement. If you're already a decent swimmer, you'd need less. Post up what your current swim fitness is, and the true fish on this site could probably give you some good advice.

Yes, I guess a little background on me would be helpful... I have done a 1:05 and a 1:07 in the past. I'm not a fish, my technique is not solid to be sure - I can hold a 1:25-1:30 consistently - but that isn't going to get me there. I would prefer to be around 1 hour and not completely spent when I exit the water. What is it going to take? I do the occassional Masters class and have had my technique critiqued - but how much swimming is it going to take? Your thoughts and advice are greatly appreciated.

I would say if you are swimming 1:05 or so already, you are a pretty good swimmer. Just looking at the top finishers at Lake Placid, they are all right around one hour, some slower than 1:05. Do you really need to shed 5 minutes off an already fast swim time? Save it for the bike and run and shed some time there.

8k per week will not get a slow swimmer to 1:05. Might not even get them to 2:20.

I've been swimming off and on for 15 years. When I started a 3x500yd set would be done on a 10:00 interval and take me about 7:45 to complete. I was between a MOP and FOP swimmer then. Over the years I have taken many breaks from swimming, some very long, and I still take a couple of months off almost every year for one reason or another, although I have deficiently become more consistent over the last 5 or 6 years.

I don't think I have ever put in a 9k yd week, and almost never go over 8k, but I am pretty regular in the 7k range. I have become more fit and have pretty much continually improved my form - this year I am trying to clean up a dead spot in my kick and some subtle snaking by transitioning to and ingraining a 2-beat kick patter - and I have become faster every year. Now, I can comfortably swim that same set on a 7:00 interval and can come in around 6:30, or so. For context my pool is at 7200 ft.

I am not an outlier kind of swimmer, but it is a strength and I have been able to post very competitive FOP swim times for my AG for the last 5 or 6 years. So when people say you have to swim a zillion yards to be a fast swimmer, it's hooey. Your fitness is integrated over three sports and how-ever-many hours a week you work out. You don't need to train like a swimmer to start competing with them.

About 5k a week got me to 1:04. My "swimming background" consisted of a one summer on a swim team when I was 10 or 11.

you aren't a slow swimmer. how much you swam growing up is not what defines slow, mid, fast swimmer. if you swim a 1:04 you are not a slow swimmer. it might be slow compared to your potential. but it is not slow.

Forgive me but that seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy. A "fast swimmer" is someone who violates the rule that "slow swimmers" won't be helped by that little volume.

I could be reading you wrong but that's how it sounds

Do a swim-block over winter 20k's a week for two months. Spread that out over 5/6 days and 5/7 swims.

The best bang for your buck comes from tecnique improvements, hence swimming in a coached squad is probably the best 'shortcut' to a sub 1hr performance. Best way to build up mileage is to extend swim sessions from say 45-60mins to 90mins.

It is diminishing returns when it comes to swim gains relative to the hours put in....its finding that balence, I havent been below 20ks for months now but my goals are short-course. I train with a few 3rd tier IM pros and low 9 Kona guys they still do nearly 20ks a week in the pool, not only does it mean they can get out of the water fresher they exit T2 right up the front with the guns, not with the decent AG'ers and hence play catch up all day....food for thought.

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I would recommend that if you do not care about triathlon and only care about getting better in swimming, then yes 5-6 x per week is ideal. But, I suspect that you probably care about performing in triathlon. So, the swim accounts for ROUGHLY 1/10 of the overall ironman time. Keep that in perspective. I'm not saying to only spend 1/10 of your training time in the pool, but dont go overboard. I think your 3-4 times per week with 12-14k is plenty sufficient.

How far do you live from the pool? If you're like most people, you spend 20-30 minutes driving each way. You spend 10 minutes in the locker room on either end. You spend 5-20 minutes chatting with people by the side of the pool. That's 60-90 minutes of extra time spent not swimming. Personally, I think if you want get to 20K per week, you're better off keeping it at 4X per week, but raise to an average of 5K per workout. I think this is a more efficient use of your time than getting to the pool 6 times and only swimming 3500 per workout.

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Maybe not in line with your goals...

But wouldn't the additional 2-3 hrs (plus another 1-2 driving to and fro) be better spent biking or running (or resting, or balancing family life..)? You are looking at a 4-5 minute improvement in an IM by putting in 2-3 hrs of additional work per week.

Pretty sure you can see those gains on the bike or run, on less work...

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I swim on average three times a week around 1500 to 2000 yds each session, that is all i have time for.

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Swimming is primarily technique and form, thus the more often you can repeat the motion the better. I would strongly suggest that 5-6 times in the water is very important for drilling in proper form/muscle memory. I am not a competitive swimmer, but a good friend in college was and she was in the pool every day, would not miss a day, simply because she wanted to maintain the feel for the water. As far as yardage, it will depend on how much junk is in there. Assuming you do not have a competitive swimming background, i think that 12k-15k can produce very good results such as an sub 1hr IM. Possibly try and have two or three swim blocks where you do 10 days of around 30-40k, this can make a big difference.

If you want to be a normal age-grouper, I'd advise you to stop swimming so much.

I swim 25k a week and I'm an age grouper. This is over 5 or 6 sessions. Especially in the off season yardage is crucial to develop speed in the water.

+1 - every normal age-grouper wants a 1hr swim split, but is well behind that. If you've done a 1:05 then you're a good swimmer from where I stand. From some back-of-the-envelope stats, that should put you around the top 30% of swim splits. So for this AGer, 2-4x/week is normal (5k-10k). I'm doing less yards in more time now that I'm doing a stroke clinic, but when I do swim I'm getting faster.

Personally, I think that if you're already swimming 12-14k per week, then to get the best gains you might want to find technique coaching and fit that into your current swim sessions instead of some of the extra volume. Then again, you're faster than me, so please feel free to disregard.

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If you want to be a normal age-grouper, I'd advise you to stop swimming so much.[/quote]





I agree, most AG would be better off if they worked part time and spent less time with their spouse and children in order to swim better, otherwise your a loser.

I agree, most AG would be better off if they worked part time and spent less time with their spouse and children in order to swim better, otherwise your a loser.[/quote]
Even after editing your post doesn't make ANY sense. Want to give it another shot?

Your thought process is your limiter. Instead of asking "What is enough?" ask "What does it take?"

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it takes 2 * 3000 metres per week for most of the year and 3 * 3000 for a 10 week period.

Did this for 1 year and went from 1:04 to 1.

Previously did 15-20k a week and got worse or never improved cut down to 6-9 and did all of that with a proper swim coach.

6 K per week returns a sub 30 min half im swim