The first day I went to the swimming pool a few weeks ago, the plan was to swim 10-50 yard lengths. In the pool that I go to that means 20 laps since it is a 25 yard pool. Well, I got confused in the midst of my swimming and only swam 5-50s, or 10 laps. 250 yards. When I got out of the pool, my legs were jelly and I thought I was going to DIE I was so tired out. So I went home, picked up my book, Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier, and reread it. I had used it a few years back when I was swimming on a regular basis in the bathtub that the fitness center I went to called a pool, but apparently I had forgotten EVERYTHING. Because I was dead tired after a mere 10 laps in the pool. Not to mention that swimming in a regular sized pool is much different that swimming in a tiny pool.
The book itself is full of author testimony (boring) and kind of reads like an infomercial in others (annoying) but with that aside, there is some very valuable information.
I have gleaned 3 main concepts from the book:
1. Swimming downhill: If you push your head/chest slightly down when swimming, it will cause your hips to rise, reducing the drag your legs create.
2. Lengthen your stroke: Reach for the wall with each stroke, turning your body to the side to make the reach even longer.
3. Turning your body: When turning your body, roll head, torso, and hips all together, with a little snap in your hips.
There is quite a bit more to it than that, and there are some drills in the book to help break each skill down into easy to learn pieces. In 5 swim sessions, I have gone from 250 yards and exhaustion, to 500, 750, then 800 yards with no shaky legs when I climbed from the pool. Between this book and the workouts from swimplan.com I have been getting in some pretty good swimming time.
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