I have a pool in my backyard that’s about 13 yards long. I usually only use it for fun and some kicking drills… but given the situation with the pools closed, can I do any meaningful swimming workouts? I tried swimming laps and even without flipping turns it gets annoying quick since i can only take a few strokes per length. Any ideas?
13 yards is an excellent distance for under water kick drills:
1 dolphin underwater, arms in streamline
1 dolphin above water hands on sides breath every 4th kick
kick on back arms in streamline
breast stroke legs only
kick on side (free)
kick on stomach in streamline underwater or at surface don’t lift head up to breath
Multiple sets of each and you can easily last an hour and get a killer leg and core workouts. If you want an upper body workout you’ll need to wear a drag chute or something to get any meaningful work since any reasonable push off the wall gets you to 5-6 yards.
Did not think of the underwater option! This sounds great. Thanks!
Did not think of the underwater option! This sounds great. Thanks![/quote
It’s totally awesome. Often when the lane swim ends and public swim starts, they rope off a section in the deep end where kids are diving and bouncing around, but I often finish with an extra half hour of doing widths of the part of the pool roped off (longer than 13yards, probably around 15m). Its a fantastic core workout and lung buster.
here is the butterfly meraid drill that I do, but I come up to breath every 4 kicks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6myM_lTC2Ao
There are also a few in here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smqMGcn6-cM
Fly kick on back arms on side is another one you can add.
All of these are fantastic for when we get back to normal swimming and you can incorporate all this into how you use your body and legs…and I bet it makes your bike leg stronger after T1 because you will be less cooked after the swim because your core and legs are so well conditioned.
Let me know when and if you are able to try some of these kick/core sets. Curious to see how they work out in a 13 yard pool. You could alternate one lenght completely underwater in a streamline kicking with both sides of your body (abs, quads, top of feet down, lower back, hamstrings and calves and bottom of feet going up) and then return doing an on surface drill to get more oxygen and recover for the next underwater leg
You could hold your arms against the wall and do butterfly kick. Strong Core workout
Some people put something on their leg like a surf leash and tie it off so you can swim normally without moving in the short pool.
I have a pool in my backyard that’s about 13 yards long. I usually only use it for fun and some kicking drills… but given the situation with the pools closed, can I do any meaningful swimming workouts? I tried swimming laps and even without flipping turns it gets annoying quick since i can only take a few strokes per length. Any ideas?
Band only, no kicking off the wall
HI!
I tried the dolphin drills today. They kicked me butt after 20 mins!!! So challenging under water. I will try doing the combo of underwater/on the surface but head down drills tomorrow. Had to bail out after 30 mins and wimp-ily go run…
Thank you for your guidance. That’s why love ST.
And then there is this
Can seem awkward at first, but as you get better with core strength and water balance it can be pretty smooth. MUCH harder than swimming open water or laps
HI!
I tried the dolphin drills today. They kicked me butt after 20 mins!!! So challenging under water. I will try doing the combo of underwater/on the surface but head down drills tomorrow. Had to bail out after 30 mins and wimp-ily go run…
Thank you for your guidance. That’s why love ST.
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2 years ago when I was run over by a bus, when I was allowed to get back in the pool (bus ran over my arm), I basically did what I typed for you but in a 25m pool with and without fins. My ultimate set was 10x200IM kick only (50 fly kick, 50 back kick, 50 breast kick, 50 free kick). I got my 400IM “kick only” down to 10:15. I never broke 10 minutes.
Whenever I get into a short pool, its all core/leg work.
SwimSwam published this yesterday, it has some pretty good ideas. Caveat that it is republished from a company that is trying to sell you the tools to do some of these exercises.
https://swimswam.com/can-competitive-swimmers-train-effectively-in-a-backyard-pool/
Thank you - some great ideas there too!