Getting ready to head out on deployment, and I’ll be able to run on the treadmill, probably bike on the stationary, but, obviously, there’s not a lot of Olympic sized pools on Navy ships. I’m interested in how people maintain some sort of swim fitness without a pool. I’ll be getting back in the spring, and don’t want to lose the summer trying to get back into swim shape starting from square one.
Swim next to the ship. See if you can keep up.
I did some stroke work with an exercise band and a weight bench when i was pool-less, not sure how much it helped since my swim sucked then and still sucks.
can you bring a vasa onboard?
otherwise, stretch cords.
I would suggest you use water, but what do I know, I suck at swimming.
How big are the bath tubs on that boat of yours?
I did a lot of pull-ups at Camp Fallujah and then wrecked my bike the week I left. It messed up my elbow so I could not swim for a few months. Thus, I have no idea how well the pull-ups and other strength work would have prepped me to get back in the pool. So the moral of the story is, don’t wreck on your spin bike. 
Good luck.
Chad
There’s no room for a vasa, there are no bathtubs on Navy ships, and I don’t think too many people really want to swim in the waters we cruise around in, but thanks to all for those suggestions. I was thinking more along the lines of bands or resistance exercises that can help both upper and lower body and that are focused towards the strengths you need for swimming.
torture is being surrounded by water you can’t swim in.
Could you get some stretch cords? I’ve seen the other college fishies playing with those a lot.
I am new here first post
Hmm this is a hard one?
How about spit on the ground jump into that spit
and start swimming.
You can call it Spit Swim!!!
Woody
Slowguy,
There is a system that I have been seeing at some local races by a guy in Ann Arbor called HALO. I think it is a deal more compact than a vasa, about the size of a weight bench. It uses resistance bands for tension and there is a template that you move your arms around. I don’t know anybody who uses it personally, but it seemed intriguing on site; I don’t know why it wouldn’t do in a pinch as a substitute. Here is a link:
http://www.haloswimtraining.com/guest/index.php
Bernie
Pull ups and push ups are both great, work the shoulders and triceps. Is there a rowing machine, that is a good shoulder and cardio workout.
There’s no room for a vasa, there are no bathtubs on Navy ships, and I don’t think too many people really want to swim in the waters we cruise around in, but thanks to all for those suggestions. I was thinking more along the lines of bands or resistance exercises that can help both upper and lower body and that are focused towards the strengths you need for swimming.
The problem is that swimming is a total body activity, and there’s just no way to adequately mimic the movements to retain actual swim fitness without, well, swimming. My suggestion is to not stress too much about it. Instead, use the time to work on your bike and run to the best of your ability. If you were a good swimmer before, you’ll be able to pull yourself back into workable swim shape once you regain access to swim facilities. If you weren’t, well, nothing you can do with a Vasa, stretch cords, or weights is going to get you there without being able to swim.
That said, you can use stretch cords or weights to work the same upper body muscle groups in similar ranges of motion. This can prevent a general loss muscle tone or strength, and may make it easier to regain your swim fitness once you have access to a pool again.
Hope that helps!
cramer
The bands should help maintain some of the muscles specific to swimming, then you gotta find a way to maintain the cardio aspect of swimming. Jumping rope is a great way to do this when space is limited. Heck, on one cruise I got permission from the C.O. to bring my bike and trainer to ride in the hanger bay. That was a rare occurrence though…
Thank you for your service. Best to you on your deployment.
There is something ironic about the Navy not having facilities for guys & gals to maintain swim conditioning/technique during a long deployment, ON THE OCEAN! Might could come in handy one day. (I hope not in your case, though)
"There is something ironic about the Navy not having facilities for guys & gals to maintain swim conditioning/technique during a long deployment, ON THE OCEAN! Might could come in handy one day. (I hope not in your case, though) "
Well, it’s not like there are a lot of sinking ships in the U.S. Navy. We haven’t had to abandon ship for awhile, and we do have various floatation devices and liferafts to keep us from having to swim anywhere. Plus, if a 2.4mile IM swim is tough, I don’t think any kind of conditioning program is going to get my Sailors in shape to swim much of anywhere from way out to sea where we generally operate. 12 miles (the boundary of territorial seas) is a long swim. Plus, I imagine if we started putting pools on Navy ships, there’d be a pretty big backlash of people talking about wasted tax dollars.
you can stand or lay face down on a bench, and pull a bar (or two separate grips, one for each hand) from a stretched out position down the length of your body, to approximate a whole swim stroke. you need a pulley on the ceiling or an adjustable home-gym type weight system to do it. i think you could use elastic cords to do the same thing, but this offers better resistance, i think. i have one in my garage: little pulley, rope, a few dumbbells and a broomstick, and do a little weight for a lot of longer (15-20 min) sets. it works great for cardio and muscle groups. i find i have to switch up my ‘stroke,’ in order to work the shoulders more, or tris more, or simulate a catch or a finish, so i tend to think of these exercises as like a treadmill deal (you get the approximate cardio benefit) or drills (you can strengthen separate muscle groups/parts of a stroke). i’ve tried it standing on one foot, or on a board that makes my footing unstable in order to ‘work’ my core at the same time, in the hope that i’m getting some ‘full body’ work.
i did very well this season with these workouts and just a few intense pool workouts before races.
stay safe.
andrew moss
Triathlete Magazine has a short article on things to do with limited pool size or no pool this month (September).
Stretch cords can be very useful if you have the patience to use them for extended periods. You can mimic swim-specific movements and attempt to maintain some strength at the limiting points in your flexibility. On the other hand, you can do pull-ups, they’ll make you looked ripped in a T-shirt.
You can do extensive flexibility work regardless of swimming. You can develop your plantar flexion if you wish, that would be a key one where you really would see a difference if your tried. Obviously the shoulders are key, internal and external rotation. Being able to hyper extend your legs a little can add to your kick.
And then core work. And more core work.
Good point, LOTS of stretching!!