Are there any advantages a serious runner has when first getting into swimming? Given that swimming uses totally different muscle groups, does any of the aerobic capacity developed in running carryover in swimming? I’m talking endurance not speed or form which comes from technique. Like when I first started running, I was only able to do 3-5 mile runs and then gradually increased mileage. The aerobic capacity of XC skiers or maybe even cyclist seem to transition well into running. I’m wondering if the same is true for runners to swimmers.
I don’t know about experience from others, but I started out as a runner last year, and started swimming to keep in shape after a calf/achilles injury.
No background as a swimmer, so my technique was (and is) far from efficient. Yet I still stood on the side of the pool, thinking “I run 10k all the time, this should be easy” then proceeded to almost die swimming one 25m length :-p
If you know how to breathe/move better, it might be a different story, but for me there wasn’t much fitness transfer. I’ve since done 3 Oly tris (slow - swim leg usually around 30min) so endurance will come with time, just like the run and bike.
Aerobic fitness yes, specific fitness no.
Not so much unless you swam club as a kid.
So, for example, take two people one being more phyically fit as a runner and all else being equal. What could the runner do in terms of swimming? Swim more laps back to back, be able to last longer in the pool even after taking breaks, or swim faster?
I would say pragmatically no. The big problem is that swimming is such a function of good form. Your inefficiency from bad form just can’t be made up in aerobic fitness. The drag you generate in the water from poor body position, mechanics, hurts you so much worse than say aerodynamic drag on the bike. I guess the only analogy I could come up with, is that most non swimmer’s form (in the beginning) generates as much drag as if they deployed a full size parachute behind them if they were biking.
The other thing is that the shoulders, lats used in swimming don’t translate over from running. It kind of is like asking could you rep out more pushups non stop that some non runner. I doubt it since you just haven’t developed the pec, delt, and tricep strength to do this specific task i.e. you’ll never even get to the point of utilizing your aerobic fitness…
Base fitness means less to the equation than upper body strength (lats, triceps, chest, shoulders), shoulder flexibility, ankle flexibility (huge problem in runners), sense of balance in the water.
moved to texas in college and was racing road bikes. decided i’d do some swimming to take a break from the heat. show up at the pool where there are 2 chicks swimming like fricking dolphins. thought no big deal, if these girls can do it so can i. swam 25m down, 25m back and thought i was going to drown. very humbling. crept out of the pool when they were going away from me.
it didn’t take toooo long till i could swim for more than 5 mins at a time without wanting to hyperventilate, but did i have the ‘fitness’ needed to swim even somewhat first time in the pool? not even close.
The aerobic fitness helps you but obviously does nothing for your form. Having had a swimming past, if I’m in shape from biking or running, it becomes mostly an issue of building muscular strength and endurance. If I’m just out of shape, very quickly it beccomes an issue of aerobic fitness for me.
Very similar for me.
I have been runnin marathons for years. Not terribly fast but a decent runner. This past year I was really enjoying some time on the bike and decided to start swimming and do a fwe tris this season. Well…I go to an open water swim thinking NBD I am in shape(haven’t swam in 10+ years). Make it maybe 50M and am gasping and just shot. It was humbling for sure.
However where I do think the run fitness helped was once I learned a little more technique and breathing I was able to ramp up distance in the next month substantially.
Sort of an off topic question here. But do swimmers think of training the same way runners do? In terms of weekly mileage or meters I guess in the case of swimming. I’ve pretty much resigned to swimming everyday since I can’t run anymore. Since 30-40 miles a week is what a beginning runner might be doing for awhile before feeling comfortable ramping up mileage, is there an training equivalent in swimming? From what I understand, most of the training that swimmers do revolves around sets rather than steady distance swims. Like doing a track workout every day.
Whatever RealAlbertan says!!
If you want to be a good swimmer work on your technique, get specific swim strength and build specific swim fitness.
As with most of the comments above… nope, not much will carry over fitness wise unless you have good technique, what will carry over is tight ankles, tight achilles, tight hip flexors… all the things that make getting a good body position in the water more difficult.
Gotta do the swimming to swim better. I ran 15:30 for 5 k, 32:50 for 10k and swam a mile in 39 mins. Breathing was fine for 50 yards then stroke went to pot.
I have seen lots of top-shelf runners absolutely humiliated in the pool.
+1 to aerobic fitness assuming the runner has some basic technique down and isn’t fighting the water every step of the way.
Unequivocally no. The lack of swim specific strength that runners have cannot be initially overcome by even world-class run fitness. A world-class runner may progress more quickly in the pool than a couch potato, but on day 1 the couch potato and runner would probably be basically the same speed.
like The thread should end on that note…
I’d say no based on my own experience. I had a strong running background when I first got into tri’s and my first time in the pool I was completely smoked after just two laps. I spent a lot of time working on technique and learning how to swim properly as a result.
Sort of an off topic question here. But do swimmers think of training the same way runners do? In terms of weekly mileage or meters I guess in the case of swimming. I’ve pretty much resigned to swimming everyday since I can’t run anymore. Since 30-40 miles a week is what a beginning runner might be doing for awhile before feeling comfortable ramping up mileage, is there an training equivalent in swimming? From what I understand, most of the training that swimmers do revolves around sets rather than steady distance swims. Like doing a track workout every day.’
Forget it dude. Swimming is so different than running that if you’re a new swimmer, consider it essentially no overlap. Yes, the aerobic part will overlap, but you’re so many years (or decade+) from even getting your arms to catch up with your aerobic ability that it’s fruitless to even ask.
I think you figured this out for yourself when you did 25m and it felt hard. Well guess what - going distance is the easiest part of swimming. Going fast is like 10x harder than covering the distance.
It’s a totally different sport, and is best to consider it that way as a pure runner with no swim background.
Even the training is totally different. Yes, volume helps, but in swimming, you absolutely can’t just go and bang out the yards - if you just do that you’ll plateau pretty quickly, and if you’re a beginner with stroke errors, you’ll just reinforce those errors and make it even harder to improve. Swim workouts look very different than run workouts, like 10 x 100 leaving on the 1:30 and rarely doing like 3000 straight, whereas that continuous run is a staple of run workouts.