I swam for 45 minutes with 2 15 second breaks.
I feel like I have outgrown the pool. It seems like I get to the wall whenever I don't need to.
50m sprint time: 42 seconds
50m 'jog' time: 50 seconds
I am very happy with that.
*******UPDATE***********THE REST OF THIS POST IS GARBAGE**************
*****THERE REALLY ISN"T ANY VALUE TO THE REST OF THIS POST.**********
I started playing with a few things.
-I read that you should be constantly breathing. I tried this. It didn't work for me. As soon as I begin exhaling, my body sinks. I need to keep my air in my lungs until I am about to take a breath, and I let it out and breathe in at the recovery of my stroke. If I let air out, I sink.
I am now toying around with a new swim technique...I am not in any way saying this is a magical method of swimming. I'm not saying it is better than the conventional way...but I am saying that I find the difference between the conventional method and this method "interesting". I am going to play a little bit with it and see what happens. If you want to give it a shot, you can also.
The good part about it is that it has smaller more intentional motions that are natural to the body's movement and does not strain joints. The bad part about it is that it is constant motion like running...and the faster you go, the more motion your body is going to be in. It turns out to be like running for your arms.
In Kung Fu, we learned that when you are in a fight, You need to imagine a Chest-wide pillar in front of you. Any strike that comes toward you has to pass through that pillar. That pillar is the only area to protect. If your hands/feet move outside of that pillar, you are wasting energy because the strike isn't going to hit you anyways. This is the reason for the wooden dummy. It is an inatimate object that strikes at you with any strike an opponent can make through the pillar:
...That is why Kung fu Chi Sao actions are so quick. they are small and necessary and in a simple range of motion. If you watch, you will notice 2 things: 1) Blocking never leaves the pillar. 2) If the opponent's body enters the pillar, that is when the attack occurs.
Here are a couple of Chi Sao demonstration that shows this:
Im not here to discuss the effectiveness as Kung-Fu as a martial art, however there is truth to the pillar concept. Don't use energy that you don't need to.
Big long strokes seem inefficient now. 1/3 of the stroke is useless as you are pushing down into the water, and another 1/3 is useless as you are removing your hand from the water. That is 2/3 or energy that is not really used to the forward momentum.
Up to this point, I have always noticed a slight pause 1/3 through my stroke...Looking at it, this is when I actually start pushing water.
I am now trying to adjust my stroke to look more like a tank-tread...so that majority of the stroke is in the pillar, pushing back, and there is very little push down and removal from the water. This is hard because the whole motion is faster, so I need to re-adapt my breathing pattern to work with it.
...ooops...
Recovery
If you are using correct swim form, your shoulders are rolling with your recovery. When complete the Hand Exit, your shoulders are sideways in the water. When you bring your elbow up out of the water and point it straight up. Your hand is parallel to your chest as you bring it forward.
In conventional strokes, you begin rolling your shoulders back at this point. When your hand hits the water, your fingers are pointed straight down towards the bottom of the pool for the next portion of the stroke.
In this stroke, hold your sideways position for just a little longer so that when your hand hits the water, your thumb is parallel to your chest.
Catch
In the recovery, drop your hand into the water just above your head. Your shoulders should still be sideways so this should feel natural. Your palm should be pointed towards your feet, your thumb next to your head.
pull
This should be obvious...but instead of a "pull" it is a "pull and push". Pull your hand down to your chest and then push it down to your hip. Your thumb is facing your chest, palm facing back.
It is the same motion as climbing out of the pool but with one hand. While you are pushing down, your shoulders should be rotating to the opposite side to accomodate the other hand's recovery. You don't need to change the orientation of your pulling arm.
Hand Exit
When your hand gets down to your waistline/hip, your other arm should be beginning the pull, and your shoulders should begin rotating so that your arm should naturally come out of the water. Lift your shoulder enough that your hand is not in the water, but not any more.
In order to do this method, when your hands are pushing water past your chest, they are pointed sideways so your thumb is towards your chest...
The Method looks identical to when you 'Mantle' your way out of the swimming pool...but it is hand-over-hand instead of at the same time.
I feel like I have outgrown the pool. It seems like I get to the wall whenever I don't need to.
50m sprint time: 42 seconds
50m 'jog' time: 50 seconds
I am very happy with that.
*******UPDATE***********THE REST OF THIS POST IS GARBAGE**************
*****THERE REALLY ISN"T ANY VALUE TO THE REST OF THIS POST.**********
I started playing with a few things.
-I read that you should be constantly breathing. I tried this. It didn't work for me. As soon as I begin exhaling, my body sinks. I need to keep my air in my lungs until I am about to take a breath, and I let it out and breathe in at the recovery of my stroke. If I let air out, I sink.
I am now toying around with a new swim technique...I am not in any way saying this is a magical method of swimming. I'm not saying it is better than the conventional way...but I am saying that I find the difference between the conventional method and this method "interesting". I am going to play a little bit with it and see what happens. If you want to give it a shot, you can also.
The good part about it is that it has smaller more intentional motions that are natural to the body's movement and does not strain joints. The bad part about it is that it is constant motion like running...and the faster you go, the more motion your body is going to be in. It turns out to be like running for your arms.
In Kung Fu, we learned that when you are in a fight, You need to imagine a Chest-wide pillar in front of you. Any strike that comes toward you has to pass through that pillar. That pillar is the only area to protect. If your hands/feet move outside of that pillar, you are wasting energy because the strike isn't going to hit you anyways. This is the reason for the wooden dummy. It is an inatimate object that strikes at you with any strike an opponent can make through the pillar:
...That is why Kung fu Chi Sao actions are so quick. they are small and necessary and in a simple range of motion. If you watch, you will notice 2 things: 1) Blocking never leaves the pillar. 2) If the opponent's body enters the pillar, that is when the attack occurs.
Here are a couple of Chi Sao demonstration that shows this:
Im not here to discuss the effectiveness as Kung-Fu as a martial art, however there is truth to the pillar concept. Don't use energy that you don't need to.
Big long strokes seem inefficient now. 1/3 of the stroke is useless as you are pushing down into the water, and another 1/3 is useless as you are removing your hand from the water. That is 2/3 or energy that is not really used to the forward momentum.
Up to this point, I have always noticed a slight pause 1/3 through my stroke...Looking at it, this is when I actually start pushing water.
I am now trying to adjust my stroke to look more like a tank-tread...so that majority of the stroke is in the pillar, pushing back, and there is very little push down and removal from the water. This is hard because the whole motion is faster, so I need to re-adapt my breathing pattern to work with it.
Recovery
If you are using correct swim form, your shoulders are rolling with your recovery. When complete the Hand Exit, your shoulders are sideways in the water. When you bring your elbow up out of the water and point it straight up. Your hand is parallel to your chest as you bring it forward.
In conventional strokes, you begin rolling your shoulders back at this point. When your hand hits the water, your fingers are pointed straight down towards the bottom of the pool for the next portion of the stroke.
In this stroke, hold your sideways position for just a little longer so that when your hand hits the water, your thumb is parallel to your chest.
Catch
In the recovery, drop your hand into the water just above your head. Your shoulders should still be sideways so this should feel natural. Your palm should be pointed towards your feet, your thumb next to your head.
pull
This should be obvious...but instead of a "pull" it is a "pull and push". Pull your hand down to your chest and then push it down to your hip. Your thumb is facing your chest, palm facing back.
It is the same motion as climbing out of the pool but with one hand. While you are pushing down, your shoulders should be rotating to the opposite side to accomodate the other hand's recovery. You don't need to change the orientation of your pulling arm.
Hand Exit
When your hand gets down to your waistline/hip, your other arm should be beginning the pull, and your shoulders should begin rotating so that your arm should naturally come out of the water. Lift your shoulder enough that your hand is not in the water, but not any more.
In order to do this method, when your hands are pushing water past your chest, they are pointed sideways so your thumb is towards your chest...
The Method looks identical to when you 'Mantle' your way out of the swimming pool...but it is hand-over-hand instead of at the same time.
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