Calling out swimmers...

[tse]

I've recently joined a swim team, but like lifting and running too - just wondered how you fit in your weights routines, or how you organise what you eat and when?

I swim 3 times a week at the moment, for an hour per session, and it's always non-stop hard swimming. Also over the past few sessions I've developed really bad headaches - not sure whether it's goggles, swimming hat or dehydration, as I don't drink THAT much before/ during swimming.

If anyone's got any tips to do with training/ diet it'd be great to hear them!

[bigdan]

Originally Posted by tse

I've recently joined a swim team, but like lifting and running too - just wondered how you fit in your weights routines, or how you organise what you eat and when?

I swim 3 times a week at the moment, for an hour per session, and it's always non-stop hard swimming. Also over the past few sessions I've developed really bad headaches - not sure whether it's goggles, swimming hat or dehydration, as I don't drink THAT much before/ during swimming.

If anyone's got any tips to do with training/ diet it'd be great to hear them!

Well first of all I would recommend bringing a water bottle or 2 to practice with you. You don't want to get dehydrated by swimming for an hour.

I used to swim constantly in highschool and jr. high. A good 15 hours a week... I was not able to accomplish much in the gym. 3 hours a week you will probably be alright... I used to work out before practice and be all sore and I'd work out after practice and be all tired. I really am not that helpful... maybe some people who still swim can comment for you.

[mas43]

google Weight training and Swimming by Wayne McCauley, some good info

[if3ii]

The headaches could be goggles. I would get water in my eye corners (if that makes sense) due to them being loose and as a result tightened them down. I had some bad headaches after that until I got some better non walmart goggles.

I don't know what your goals are, but I'm currently prepping for my first tri season. I alternate swimming and lifting m/w/f and t/th/s, 3 days a week each, in the evenings before dinner. I run/cycle in the mornings same schedule before breakfast. I do a long ride on sun which you could substitute for a run or a day off. I haven't had any issues other than the fact that it's time consuming, I don't know what kind of free time you have available.

I would check the nutrition forum for diet. I carb load during lunch and eat a very clean dinner, seems to work for me. Maybe try an EAA supplement as well once you rule out dehydration.

Good read mas43, thanks for the info.

[MadeUnderground]

Originally Posted by tse

I've recently joined a swim team, but like lifting and running too - just wondered how you fit in your weights routines, or how you organise what you eat and when?

I swim 3 times a week at the moment, for an hour per session, and it's always non-stop hard swimming. Also over the past few sessions I've developed really bad headaches - not sure whether it's goggles, swimming hat or dehydration, as I don't drink THAT much before/ during swimming.

If anyone's got any tips to do with training/ diet it'd be great to hear them!

It could be the goggles or the chemicals from the pool.

I swam for 7 years for a USA team and I hardly ever drank water between, before or after practice because I used to get serious cramps from that, so I doubt its from that.

Since you just started you're probably just not used to the chemicals. There are a **** load of chemicals in the water.

On the days that you swim, I would not run, but you could lift weights if you wanted.

We used to have a day we called "dry land" and we would lift weights before swimming. Granted we never lifted heavy, but it was mainly different body weight lifts, (push-ups etc).

Then some days we would just run, but we never swam much on the days we run.

Let's say you swim Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'd lift early on in the morning (this is assuming you swim at night) or any time before you swim.
Or, if you don't want your swim practices to suffer, lift on days you don't swim.

The running I would reserve on off days (from swimming and weight lifting) or right after weight lifting.

As for the meals. I don't really think that matters much. But then again when I was swimming I was extremely young and ate anything and everything because I swam 2+ hours every day.

Just eat well because you'll need the nutrients doing all that exercising.

I used to experiment with whether I could swim better eating before or after practice, and what I found is if I'm going to eat before, eat about 1:30-2 hours before practice, but no more.
Even then I would eat lightly or I'd get cramps during practice.

The best thing I think is eating light before, then eating like a King (or in your case, a Queen) afterwards.

Definitely make sure that that pre-swimming meal has a good amount of protein in it. Then the post work out has a good amount of carbs in it.

Gl.

[tse]

Originally Posted by if3ii

The headaches could be goggles. I would get water in my eye corners (if that makes sense) due to them being loose and as a result tightened them down. I had some bad headaches after that until I got some better non walmart goggles.

I don't know what your goals are, but I'm currently prepping for my first tri season. I alternate swimming and lifting m/w/f and t/th/s, 3 days a week each, in the evenings before dinner. I run/cycle in the mornings same schedule before breakfast. I do a long ride on sun which you could substitute for a run or a day off. I haven't had any issues other than the fact that it's time consuming, I don't know what kind of free time you have available.

I would check the nutrition forum for diet. I carb load during lunch and eat a very clean dinner, seems to work for me. Maybe try an EAA supplement as well once you rule out dehydration.

Good read mas43, thanks for the info.

Well luckily the headaches have gone so I'm guessing MadeUnderground was right, it was just that I wasn't used to the chemicals. So which days do you run/ cycle in the morning? And for what kind of duration? This week I've upped my training and it's SO hard, I do have a lot of free time on my hands as I only study 15 hours a week, but the gym/ pool is open monday-friday only so my training is pretty rammed during the week.

I'll definitely check on the nutrition forums for diet as I have NO idea what I'm doing, plus have totally lost my appetite since training harder, which is strange, but I'm guessing could cause me to run out of energy later on.

Originally Posted by MadeUnderground

It could be the goggles or the chemicals from the pool.

I swam for 7 years for a USA team and I hardly ever drank water between, before or after practice because I used to get serious cramps from that, so I doubt its from that.

Since you just started you're probably just not used to the chemicals. There are a **** load of chemicals in the water.

On the days that you swim, I would not run, but you could lift weights if you wanted.

We used to have a day we called "dry land" and we would lift weights before swimming. Granted we never lifted heavy, but it was mainly different body weight lifts, (push-ups etc).

Then some days we would just run, but we never swam much on the days we run.

Let's say you swim Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'd lift early on in the morning (this is assuming you swim at night) or any time before you swim.
Or, if you don't want your swim practices to suffer, lift on days you don't swim.

The running I would reserve on off days (from swimming and weight lifting) or right after weight lifting.

As for the meals. I don't really think that matters much. But then again when I was swimming I was extremely young and ate anything and everything because I swam 2+ hours every day.

Just eat well because you'll need the nutrients doing all that exercising.

I used to experiment with whether I could swim better eating before or after practice, and what I found is if I'm going to eat before, eat about 1:30-2 hours before practice, but no more.
Even then I would eat lightly or I'd get cramps during practice.

The best thing I think is eating light before, then eating like a King (or in your case, a Queen) afterwards.

Definitely make sure that that pre-swimming meal has a good amount of protein in it. Then the post work out has a good amount of carbs in it.

Gl.

You were definitely right about the chemical thing. I'm totally stuck with nutrition though because, as I said before, my appetite has seemed to go completely. I do sleep a hell of a lot though, feel like I need 8 hours at the moment. Thanks for the pre and post-swimming meal info though, I'll definitely do protein before and carbs after (well, emphasis on)

It's interesting you swam at such a high level though. I'm slowly increasing my training but it's hard to know how much to add each week. Right now I'm doing:

Monday - Swimming 12-1400
Tuesday - Gym Chest + Triceps, PM run 3-6 miles
Wednesday - Swimming 12-1400, Gym Back + Biceps
Thursday - Swimming 1300-1400, PM Run 3-6 miles
Friday - Climbing 10-12, Gym Legs + Shoulders
Saturday - Run 8-10 Miles
Sunday - Run 2 Miles + Stretch

I took into account what you said but some days it wasn't possible to separate weights and swimming. Plus it's annoying I can only run at the weekend! Any advice/ criticism would be much appreciated. It's great to have advice from people who seem to know what they're talking about too, so thanks and reps.

[tyrsnbdr]

Originally Posted by tse

Plus it's annoying I can only run at the weekend! Any advice/ criticism would be much appreciated. It's great to have advice from people who seem to know what they're talking about too, so thanks and reps.

I found out that when I swam a lot, I didn't need to train running. The swimming significantly increased my anarobic threshold, fixed my breathing and toughened me up overall, greatly improving my run times.

[tse]

Originally Posted by tyrsnbdr

I found out that when I swam a lot, I didn't need to train running. The swimming significantly increased my anarobic threshold, fixed my breathing and toughened me up overall, greatly improving my run times.

This is so true - it's funny you should mention it because I'm 5 weeks into my training and ran my first 16km the other day, and it was a lot easier than on other previous failed attempts.