Editor’s special project. Where to start swimming training?

Swimming is the perfect solution for those who want to keep their bodies toned. One of the most difficult stages of any triathlon race, whether IRONMAN or sprint, is the open water start. It is ideal if you live by the sea and can swim a couple of kilometers along the shore every day, however, most triathletes prepare for the start in the pool, sometimes going to team training camps.

It is best to prepare for competitions under the careful control of a coach, but you can also study individually, having outlined a preliminary plan. For independent training, you should carefully study swimming techniques and possible mistakes. In this way, your training will be both more pleasant and more effective. Our expert, master of sports in swimming and coach of World Class Pavlovo fitness club Andrei Kurnosov, will help us to understand how to avoid the main mistakes of beginners and what land exercises to introduce into your triathlon training.

Recommended frequency of training: twice a week for 45-50 minutes + warm-up on dry land.

Mistakes that are often encountered by beginners

– Very often mistakes are made when warming up. A person feels that he has a lot of strength, so immediately tries to make some jerks in the pool in the warm-up part of the class. Always start with calm swimming, get used to the water. And in the main part you can make jerks.

– Another very common mistake is incorrect breathing. Beginners have a stereotype that you need to hold your breath, take a big breath to get a lot of air. In fact, in water you should breathe as on land – absolutely calm and relaxed. Without any breath-holding, without any abrupt release of air. Breathe the same way you breathe on land.

Additional equipment

The necessary equipment that you need at the initial stage is known to everyone. You need to buy the most important things:

– goggles;
– a cap;
– bathing accessories.

Now all pools have the opportunity to provide for training boards for swimming, and this is enough at the stage of setting the technique. If you are trying to work more professionally, set up for competitions or sharpen your technique, you can add paddles, fins. I recommend including work with long fins, paddles or a board to perform exercises in the water. I think you can stop there for now.

However, if you decide to work on your technique before starting in open water, you can’t do without a wetsuit. There are two options in this case: rent or buy a hydric. When choosing models, I recommend you to pay attention to the fact that the wetsuit for triathlon differs from the wetsuit for divers, surfers, etc., in that it is thinner and more elastic. My choice: TYR Cat wetsuit . This model uses R.O.M. (Freedom of Movement) technology, which will provide you with absolute comfort and allow you (even if not immediately) to swim long distances without straining your shoulders.

Do I need to follow a nutritional regimen in order to train more effectively?

Athletes, swimmers of the highest category, have complex nutritional regimes. For beginners, everything is much simpler. It is mandatory to eat an hour before swimming, because you will need energy during training. Swimming is one of the most energy-consuming sports. But it is not necessary to eat densely, a light snack is enough. For example, a piece of meat and a salad. After training, I also advise you to have a snack. For example, immediately eat a banana to replenish your strength.

Training plan

It is very difficult to learn to swim by yourself. After all, the aquatic environment is not quite familiar to man, because most of his life he is on land. A professional will teach you to feel confident in the water. Therefore, to begin with, I recommend you to work with a trainer, take a few classes to understand what exercises to do and develop together with him training plans for the coming months. If you are already more or less confident in your swimming technique, if you think that you are able to stay on the water without any difficulties, take one session with a coach to help you work on your “weak points” and choose corrective exercises.

Then you can already practice on your own. Many people, for example, work out once a week with a trainer, and the rest of the days to perfect the same exercises either on their own, or on video lessons, or according to the plan of the trainer. Here it is important what your goals are. If you aspire to competitions, then, of course, you need a coach who will constantly monitor your technique and results. You need someone who will demand, because not everyone can put themselves out in training to the full.

Exercise builder for making a training plan

Make your own training plan, add to it a warm-up complex for 10-15 minutes, in case you don’t have a special rowing machine or TRX loops in your gym, you can do a similar complex with a regular rubber band. Or as a warm-up run on a track (10-15 minutes) at a free pace. You can put together your own functional warm-up from the exercises below.

Push-ups

Exercises with a resistance band on a rowing machine

In addition, add special exercises to your workout to help you improve your buoyancy and achieve your ideal body position in the water. Consult your trainer and feel free to use additional equipment in your water workouts.

Exercises in the water. Improving buoyancy

Board. You will need a board as additional equipment for this exercise. For beginners it will help to save energy and accustom to the correct position of the body in the water, will give the opportunity to work out the movements of the legs in peace. Experienced swimmers with the help of such a complex will be able to strengthen the legs, to refine the technique. Also classes with a board help to develop rhythmicity, strengthen the muscles of the legs and abs.

“Arrow” with a crawl. To develop and improve the work of the legs, very suitable exercises in which leg kicks are performed in the body position “arrow”. Place one hand on the other, placing the thumb of the upper hand under the palm of the lower. Then, keeping your hands in the same position, try to stretch your whole body as much as possible. Alternate your arms in a crawl style and bring them back to the arrow position.

Remember, the main goal of triathlon training is to work on technique and increase endurance. As the open water swimming we will face in competition is a very specific discipline.

How to get inspired?

Competitions.

Andrey Kurnosov, swimming coach at World Class Pavlovo fitness club: “In addition to my main coaching activity, I continue to compete only in the Masters category, i.e. among veterans. For me it is a development. I train and experience all the methods of the training process. Accordingly, for me competitions are an exam. If I improve my results at competitions, it means that those methods are effective and necessary. That is why I can recommend certain exercises to my students. This way, we gain time. We don’t do a lot of unnecessary things, which I observe in other coaches who give exercises not tested on themselves. Now I flew back from the Russian Masters Championship, where, in my opinion, I performed well and improved my results. I got four gold and one silver medal. Everything went well.

A sport of high achievements.

Andrey Kurnosov, swimming coach of World Class Pavlovo fitness club: “I definitely observe the life and activity of top category athletes, Olympic participants and world champions. I have to observe their training process, the results of competitions. This, you could say, is educational material. I watch not only championships, but also videos on Instagram and Facebook. It gives me a lot.