Is swimming good conditioning for, ultimately, "would be" runners in high school or is it merely just good for swimming?
Is swimming good conditioning for, ultimately, "would be" runners in high school or is it merely just good for swimming?
I went through a stage of swimming about an hour of laps twice a week instead of my easy run day when I had access to a 50m pool one winter, as a sort of experiment to shake things up a bit. I didn't lose fitness at all, and was able to run a little more mileage on the other five days because of the reduced overall volume. I remember I did well in races at the time, and enjoyed the improved upper body strength. My shoulders got a little bigger, and although that didn't help my running, I thought it looked and felt good.
What are your running goals? If you want to be as fast as possible volume and specificity are the keys. Run as much as your body can consistently handle without getting injured or breaking down. If you still have time available in the day/week, etc. to work out more, swimming or any other aerobic activity can help, though with diminished/minimal returns. If you can run instead of swim, always run. Otherwise, if you have time do whatever you enjoy and don't expect a whole lot of carryover to running. If you're a non-runner aspiring to be a would-be runner, any type of aerobic activity that you enjoy enough to do consistently is good for establishing a behavior pattern and general aerobic fitness.
For running fitness, doing some swimming is better than not running at all but it is not as good as just doing more running or other more specific x-training e.g. elliptical machine
I am actually asking on behalf of my 5th grader. She has tried all "ball" sports and doesn't like any of them. I don't think she likes team sports in general. But, she loves dance, and, last summer, she picked up swimming just for conditioning. She has run very sparingly and has managed a 25:20ish 5k a little about a mile-high elevation.
But, all she talks about now is swimming. She is very passionate about it, and we are going to let her join a competitive team this winter. I have a feeling she will figure out that she is a very good runner in high school like her old man, but right now she just wants to swim and dance, which is fine w/me.
I just wonder if swimming will give her enough conditioning that, should she decide to switch to long distance running later, she will be ready to go?
Encourage her to do whatever physically active play she enjoys. You being a runner is enough stimulus for her to take it up later if she wants to, she doesn't need to be pushed into anything
No helicoptering here. We've supported whatever she wants to do, and we've tried everything. Swimming may stick, and I'm fine w/that, as long as that is her passion and she's committed to it. I just have a feeling she'll eventually figure out she's a better runner, but, if she ends up being a great swimmer, more power to her.
In 5th grade, Jordan Hasay and Alan Webb were swimmers and they went on to have pretty decent high school running careers.
The only thing I would watch with regular swimming is your ankle strength. Competitive swimmers develop hyper flexible ankle and foot which is great for a strong kick but not so great for stability when running. Easy enough to counteract by doing theraband and bodyweight strength routine-
On your right... wrote:
The only thing I would watch with regular swimming is your ankle strength. Competitive swimmers develop hyper flexible ankle and foot which is great for a strong kick but not so great for stability when running. Easy enough to counteract by doing theraband and bodyweight strength routine-
Thank you. I wonder if dancing offsets this somewhat as they need considerable foot and ankle strength when they go "en pointe?"
My daughter started swimming at age 10 and loves it and is pretty good. At age 12 off no running other than a weekly PE mile she ran 5:30 for an all comers 1600, 15 min after a two hr swim practice. Since then she has started running cross country and has done very well even though she just showed up for meets and doesn't practice with the team. My point is that swimming will make u strong and without the stress of running. I think she will end up being a better runner then swimmer, but there is plenty of time for that.
If you're going to be in the pool and you're trying to cross train, pool running is a better option.
Swimming is better than nothing, but not by much.
V$ wrote:
My daughter started swimming at age 10 and loves it and is pretty good. At age 12 off no running other than a weekly PE mile she ran 5:30 for an all comers 1600, 15 min after a two hr swim practice. Since then she has started running cross country and has done very well even though she just showed up for meets and doesn't practice with the team. My point is that swimming will make u strong and without the stress of running. I think she will end up being a better runner then swimmer, but there is plenty of time for that.
Wow, she is fast. I guess you answered my ?, though you may have a very gifted child. This whole swimming thing is new to me. How much does your daughter swim and how much is too much in your opinion?
Swimming should make her a faster runner, yes. One thing to watch out for is that swimmers who become runners tend to be prone to injury if they aren't careful— they'll have a great aerobic system but won't be used to the pounding that running puts on their bodies.
She currently swims 6 days per week with morning and afternoon workouts twice per week. I think this is a lot, and was worry about moving up to this level, but she seems to have adapted to the work load after a few difficult weeks. When she started, it wasn't near that much and more focus was put on technique. from what I have seen, most USA swimming clubs do a good job at challenging the kids and letting them progress to tougher groups when they are ready. A good coach will push your child, but not more than they are ready for.
I agree with this. My kid has a bigger engine then her body can handle sometimes and has experienced miner problems with calf and ankle issues. We are doing our best to incorporate more running into her training.
V$ wrote:
I agree with this. My kid has a bigger engine then her body can handle sometimes and has experienced miner problems with calf and ankle issues. We are doing our best to incorporate more running into her training.
Yes, which is why I wonder if allowing her to run one day per week and doing seasonal 5ks would mitigate the potential for this problem, but it may be too much w/dance. She does enjoy running 5ks too. Rarely goes to the well. Trying to figure it all out.
Lots of swimming may impair technique but once a month or two it might help flexibility and race pace breathing.
V$ wrote:
She currently swims 6 days per week with morning and afternoon workouts twice per week. I think this is a lot, and was worry about moving up to this level, but she seems to have adapted to the work load after a few difficult weeks. When she started, it wasn't near that much and more focus was put on technique. from what I have seen, most USA swimming clubs do a good job at challenging the kids and letting them progress to tougher groups when they are ready. A good coach will push your child, but not more than they are ready for.
This irritates the hell out of me and other coaches. Parents are happy (seemingly), to get their angels to the pool at all bizarre hours for endless swimming but wont get them to track/XC practice for an hour 3x a week.
If a kid is not a truly elite talent, why do parents do this? If you kid is good, but not Olympic good, they will do just as good swimming half the amount. And if you double the amount they wont be much better, if any. Innate talent and body type issues put a ceiling on improvement at some point.
Some of those kids wasting their life in the pool could be decent runners on 1/3 of the time invested in swimming.
Local burn out wrote:
Is swimming good conditioning for, ultimately, "would be" runners in high school or is it merely just good for swimming?
Swimming will strengthen core musculature which might be good for running.
2+ hrs of swimming can be a great aerobic stimulus.
Hard swimming intervals such as 50m on 0 or 1 or 2 breaths flood the body with a feeling of lactate and exhaustion that is rarely encountered in running, so great for toughening up for events like the 400m,800m, and 1500m.