PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR PHYSICIAN BEFORE STARTING ANY EXERCISE PROGRAM

Prerequisite:  PHED 1410 Swimming II

This information is to assist individuals in getting started with a swimming fitness program.  According to most fitness experts, the swimming fitness training program should meet the following criteria:

·        Should be continuous and be performed at a moderate pace

·        Should utilize all or most muscle groups

·        Should have minimum risk of injury

·        Should be fun!!!!!!!

Before you start:

·        Please get a physical or an OK to train from your doctor

Some of the benefits of fitness swimming are:

·        Body composition changes

·        Circulatory changes such as resting heart rate, blood cholesterol, stroke volume, blood pressure, HDL, working heart rate

·        Improved flexibility

·        Psychological benefits

Stroke Technique

The best first step is to get some assistance with stroke technique so you can become more efficient in the water.

F.I.T.

·        Frequency (how many days a week?)

·        Intensity (How hard should I train?)

·        Time (how long should I train?)

Do not increase more than one category at any one time.  Two examples of increasing your workload would be:

          EXAMPLE ONE

          Week 1-3          3 days a week for one hour

          Week 4-6          3 days a week for one hour and 15 minutes

          Week 7-9          4 days a week for one hour and 15 minutes

          EXAMPLE TWO

          Week 1-3          ½ mile 3 days a week

          Week 4-6          ¾ mile 3 days a week

          Week 7-9          ¾ mile 4 days a week

BEST OF LUCK WITH YOUR SWIMMING FITNESS PROGRAM

Training Principles and the Anaerobic Threshold

Adaptation

Overload

Progression

Specificity

The Adaptation Process  -  “The change that occurs in response to training”

1.        Increase  in training increases the demand for aerobic energy which increases the size of  muscle mitochondria

2.        Three steps to adaptation

a.        Creating the need for more energy with training

b.       Providing proper nutrients to build and repair tissues

c.        Providing athletes with enough rest to build and repair tissue

The Overload Principle – Adaptations take place only when  the demands of training are greater than the usual demands made on a particular physiological mechamnism.

The Progression Principle -  A step-by-step process of increasing the overload

1.        The principles of overload and progression can be applied by manipulating three variables:

a.        Speed of swimming sets – INTENSITY

b.       The number of repeats – VOLUME

c.        The rest interval  between repeats -  DENSITY

The Specificity Principle  -  Training each system

1.        Swimming a particular stroke is the only way to produce adaptations in that stroke

2.        Athletes should do both endurance and sprint training

Heart Rate Monitoring

                220 – Age  =  _________

                For healthy adults, an exercise heart rate between 120 and 170 is considered adequate for aerobic fitness training.