Alternative Fitness. Swimran

Today, in our regular column, we are going to talk about a hobby that is not the most common among Muscovites, and which is gaining in popularity year after year. We are talking about swimran. Based on two fairly simple parts of this word, it is clear that this discipline consists of swimming and running. Therefore, going to the training, I brought my gym uniform and swimsuit. What awaits me further and what swimrun is preparing me for, we will deal with my trainer Maria Stanilovskaya, master trainer of water programs of World Class Pavlovo.

14:00. Met with the trainer, it turned out that I won’t need a swimsuit. Today at the training we will do swimran-test in the conditions of the room. That is, we will try to imitate all the conditions that amateur athletes face on real tracks.

Question for the coach: what is a swimrun?

– It’s functional training, a pretty strong swimming base. It’s also a very strong running base, which allows you not just to run on smooth flat asphalt and ground, but allows you to overcome different heights, sometimes rocks, maybe high and not so high climbs. Swimran gives you the opportunity to develop the skill of quick adaptation to different conditions, which, of course, will not be developed by running exclusively on flat surfaces.

Question for the coach: who can be recommended to do swimrun?

– It can be suitable for adventurous people, because it is more like we went hiking and got so much into the process that when we saw a lake we decided not to go around it, but to shorten the distance and swim across it. If the swimrun is not an indoor workout, it is always an adventure, and if the distance is long, it is an adventure with a partner, a partner with whom you tackle it together. You can talk, you can discuss something.

14:05. We start the workout with a little warm-up to warm up our muscles.

14:15. Then we go directly to the simulator, which imitates swimming movements. The coach tells us that not only swimruns and triathlons are done on this machine, but many swimmers also do dry land training from time to time in order to “pump up” certain muscle groups. The moves I’m doing now are aimed at getting my arms and chest area as strong as possible.

14:25. I perform one approach on the exercise machine, after which I have two minutes to get to the treadmill two floors above.

14:27. The trainer gives me a set up – run for 10 minutes at an easy pace. Swimran starts themselves take place in very picturesque locations, such as along the sea coast. Therefore, choosing a special simulation mode on the simulator, I choose to run along the coast of Miami. In computer graphics, of course, it is not as impressive and does not exactly convey all the sensations of a real start, but nevertheless it is very distracting from constantly watching the time and thinking: “Oh my God, how much is left”.

Question for the coach: do all of your workouts take place InDoor?

– We live in a climate where it’s not always possible to train outside of the gym. With summer coming, of course, everything becomes easier. For example, you go to the countryside and you don’t roast kebabs there, you explore the area: you run somewhere, then swim a little, then walk up a hill, then swim a little more. It’s very refreshing and energizing and happy.

14:37. Immediately after the run we go to the gym again to repeat the approach on the swimming machine. But in order to somehow diversify our program and to show all the possibilities for training in InDoor mode, the trainer offers me to perform exercises with a rubber band. Rubber bands of different lengths and structures simulate different degrees of tension, thus making your task harder or easier. I’m going to have a medium level of difficulty today, as this is my first workout of this style.

14:42. The first exercises with a rubber band are easy, so next I continue by standing on a special hemisphere and trying to keep my balance. Now not only arm muscles are in play, but also cor, stabilizers and legs. Yes, a challenging workout is in store for me today!

14:47. After doing a couple of approaches downstairs, we’re off to the treadmill again. But now the task is many times harder, even though the trainer is making the speed much slower than my first approach. Surely many of you have seen that in addition to the speed on the treadmill, you can also adjust the angle of the treadmill? So, try to adjust the incline to the critical mark of 12 and try to run at your own pace, then you will definitely feel my condition at that moment!

Question for the coach: is it just me, or is Swimran very different from triathlon in terms of ideas and content?

– Yes, indeed, a big difference from triathlon. In a triathlon you do one distance, for example swimming, a couple of minutes after you change clothes in the transit zone and get on your bike, you forget that you ever swam, and when you start running, a couple of minutes later you forget that you rode your bike. And here, of course, it’s a different story with the swimrun, it’s more natural somehow. You jogged, you swam, you jogged some more, you swam some more.

14:52. In the uphill position, I’ve got about five more minutes to go, or rather, run. I can’t help but think that it’s much more exciting and interesting in the real start mode than it is on the track in the gym.

14:57. Passing of circular complexes is finished. The coach says with a smile that sometimes such circular repetitions – water-run, water-run, water-run – can be 7 or even 10 times during the training. Depending on what start the athlete is preparing for.

Question for the coach: where do races usually take place?

– Most of the distances are held in cool currents – in Norway, in Iceland. Now, however, a lot of distances have been opened in Spain, but the sea is usually still cool there during the start. And when you are running under the sun and it has already warmed you up so much, you really want to get into the water and refresh yourself.

15:00. But don’t think that preparation for the swimrun is only laps on the swimming machine and treadmill. During the preparation process, athletes don’t skip water training, and if conditions allow, open water training and even classic functional training.

15:08. At the end we do a light warm-up and our coach shows us different variants of exercises, which can be included in your training for the start, and for general physical development you can’t think of anything better.

Question to the coach: are the swimming and running stages equal in kilometers?

– Another striking difference between a swimrun and a triathlon is this. In a triathlon, you’re fighting against time on the course. In a swimrun it’s not like that, you’re constantly adapting to the conditions. The running distance can be a little shorter than the swimming leg, and vice versa.

To summarize. The workout itself was very dynamic. And although I am not a fan of circuit training, the process itself is very addictive. Especially when the coach is standing next to me and tells me in colors that real swimruns take place in real mountains and in the open sea. In terms of physical fatigue, I would give this particular workout a 3.5 out of 5. So I would recommend it to everyone: beginners, those who like to set a strange goal for themselves every year, and the office worker who lacks a lot of activity in his life.