Where all the various types of exercise are concerned, swimming is one of those activities that is so much fun it doesn't feel like "working out" most of the time. When you swim casually or just for fun, you're receiving the health benefits of the activity while still enjoying yourself. Of course, if you want to take it to the next level, it's going to require lots of hard work and dedication too. Competing against others, or at least pushing yourself harder, is the natural next step to take. Swimming's place in global culture as one of the most fundamental skills a person can have means it's made appearances in competition for thousands of years. Its inclusion in the modern Olympics from their very first meeting in 1896 to the present day speaks volumes.
Olympic swimmers are at the top of the world in their stroke categories, and watching them is often breathtaking. The speed and grace with which they cut through the water reveals how much effort they've poured into their training. How can you train like they do to put yourself in peak swimming condition? Whether you're aiming to compete on a higher level or you simply want to improve your ability, knowing how to practice like an Olympic swimmer can be a big help. From choosing your exercises wisely all the way to eating right, we'll go over some of the basics of how Olympians train. By the end, you should be able to begin planning your Olympic-style swimming regimen, too. Let's get started.
Choose the type of swimming on which you want to focus
You can't expect to dive straight into the pool and start practicing like crazy, though. Instead, you'll need to spend some time figuring out where your strengths and weaknesses are. The first step in that journey is determining which swimming strokes you want to focus the bulk of your practice. While most Olympic training doesn't focus solely on one single stroke, many swimmers have a specialty area they particularly excel in. If you feel like your backstroke is your weakest form, for example, you probably won't plan to compete in those events.
However, that doesn't mean you should totally ignore it, either; instead, some of your practicing should focus on developing your weaker skills. Working on weaker skills is a core part of Olympic-style training: you work to hone and refine your best skills while using practice on your weaker skills to make you better overall. Evaluate the different swimming strokes and perhaps test yourself with timed laps in each of the strokes. Where do you feel competitive? When do you feel like you are lagging behind? This kind of self-evaluation will allow you to make better choices about how you pursue your swim training.
Don't get discouraged if you feel like you need work across the board, either. In any case, you should choose to focus on the strokes which you enjoy the most. Remember, you're going to be spending a lot of time in the pool ? so it helps to enjoy the kind of swimming you choose.
What to expect in the overall training regimen
Believe it or not, but most Olympic training doesn't happen solo. Because Olympians participate in groups or teams, that means they often train together as well. Unfortunately, you aren't likely to have the opportunity to organize an entire group of team-mates to practice with you. Similarly, you may not have the time to dedicate to a full-scale Olympic training schedule. You may require up to ten sessions in the pool a week! Since work and other responsibilities may keep you from swimming twice daily, it's important to know that you can still succeed in training hard. Now you have to decide, though: are you aiming for speed or endurance over distance?
Olympic training usually focuses in solely on one of these choices, since the swimmers often don't compete in both events demanding speed and those requiring a significant amount of endurance. Training for speed often involves quick, short drills of 100 meters at a time where you vary the amount of time and effort you spend swimming as hard as you can. Over time, this kind of exercise can make you faster. In the realm of endurance, training often involves other types of exercise in addition to long laps in the pool.
Practice at the Olympic level simply requires lots of repetition involving these basic, simple drills. There are many guides on the Internet and elsewhere which can help you break down your sessions into specific swimming drills.
Developing endurance to last through those long races
Of course, not all your time will be spent in the pool. Whether you aim for speed or distance, you're going to need to improve the endurance and power in your muscles. At the same time, you'll also want to target your core muscles for improvement. These muscles play a significant role when you're in the water, helping both to flex your body through the strokes while also helping you maintain your straightforward progress.
Various kinds of training on land can assist you in these areas, but Olympians most often turn to weight training to help improve their ability to endure in the water. Additional aerobic exercises can also contribute to boosting cardiopulmonary fitness so that you can do more laps before you're tired. If your goal is to develop your core the same way an Olympian does, use a medicine ball and hand weights.
There are many ways you can approach training your core muscles this way, including crunches and different kinds of push-ups. The more you develop these muscles, the better you'll feel in the pool. Spend one or two days a week training with weights and engaging in other endurance exercises, including swim drills. After you finish with weights, you can dive in the pool and work on improving your breath control.
It can take time for gains in endurance to become apparent.Be patient. Using an Olympian's training schedule doesn't mean you have to push yourself like you're about to compete for the gold tomorrow. Find the balance that yields the best results for you without being too taxing.
Don't forget about a swimmer's diet ? it's important, too
Finally, it's time to think about one aspect of Olympic training you might not often hear about: the diet. It's true ? the foods you use to fuel your body, and when you choose to refuel, will have a significant impact on the overall effectiveness of your training. If you aren't taking in enough calories frequently enough, you'll quickly find that your workouts take everything out of you. Consider the diet of Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps, for example. This diet is hefty on both protein and carbohydrates ? fuels your body desperately needs when you're both working on your muscles and doing hard training every day. While you don't need to skyrocket your daily caloric intake to such an extreme level, rethinking the way you eat while you're swimming more heavily is important. You can't skate by on a bare minimum of nutrients.
Olympians know that as you place heavier demands on your body, you must replenish what you deplete. There are many healthy diets for swimmers that maintain this intake of carbs and proteins without relying on highly processed foods. Eat more vegetables, make rice your best friend, and stock up on lean chicken breasts. Do some research on your own to uncover the best way to structure your swimming diet. One thing's for certain, though: if you want to train like an Olympian, you'll need to eat like one too.
Pull on your goggles and dive in
No matter what stroke you choose to focus on ? or if you decide to practice them all ? it takes hard work and dedication to train like an Olympic swimmer. However, understanding what goes into such a training regime makes it much easier to devise a similar one for yourself. Just because you aren't trying to break the world record for the 500-meter breaststroke doesn't mean you can't push yourself harder and farther. Consider all of the elements we've outlined above and then set to work devising your schedule. Remember, Olympians didn't reach the world stage without a whole lot of one thing: practice!
