An hour?!?! Goodness, @del… you really were an Olympic level swimmer if that’s how you recommend starting out.
(Takes a moment to stand in awe)
No expert here… I swim just enough to ensure I won’t drown in open water tri’s. For me, that’s about 1,000 yds over 20 minutes two to three times a week. I just freestyle (crawl) it.
Now the competitive swimmers leave boards up with their daily exercise. Going from memory, it’s like:
– 400 yds. easy warmup
– 300 yds. legs
– 4×500 fast freestyle
– 2×500 breaststroke
– 500 yds cool down
(I’m sure I butchered that list horribly. Do not use that as a guide. Just an example of what @del was getting at probably.)
I’ve heard it said that the average, run-of-the-mill swimmer can traverse 100 yds in 2 minutes (don’t laugh @del!). So I try to meet/beat that. Not very well, I’m afraid.
If I were to get real serious about my swim, I’d likely invest in some real training.
But as part of a basic cardio regimen, what I do works for me well enough.