change routine needed?

Steyr

So i swim 6/7 days competitively against 2 other guys ( 25m ) pool and its all freestlye/frontcrawl for 40mins every day sometimes with float between legs for upper body strength and recently been finding it very tiring to kick etc even though i am stretching etc and doing cool downs after every session despite the fact i havent been lapped yet :pac:


Im wondering would it be good to change my routine and alternate every so often as im wondering is my body telling me a change would do me the world of good?


Thanks


Dave.

Clseeper

Not totally sure of what you're asking but anyway....

Getting tired while kicking has very little to do with stretching & cool downs.
There could be a number of reasons you are feeling more tired in the legs.

- You could be kicking deeper than you used to. This is a good thing as you will gain more power out of your kick but is also harder to do.
- You could be relying more on your legs. Have you tried slowing down your stroke or changing something? Are you sets getting harder? If your arms are getting tired then you will naturally use your legs more.

As a point, you should try and do some kick work as it is quite important (depending on your stroke) .

Hope this goes some way to helping you.

Edit:
After rereading the question, do you mean tired after the session?

This could be just that you are using them more than normal. No matter how much prep work you do, if you push your muscles a good bit outside their cmfort zone you will get soreness/pain/fatigue as they repair. DOMS or Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness is the part where you can't move the next day after a really good session. Just add some kick sets into your training should help with this.

AngryHippie

I'd suggest that you mix it up a bit alright,
FC on its own while a thoroughly satisfying and fast way to swim, is not going to balance muscle tone and development, I'd suggest putting in some back crawl, the leg kick is the same, but you can keep your oxygen levels much higher and avoid pushing yourself into the Anaerobic zone as you can breathe as often and deeply as you like. It also utilises different muslce group in the upper body, and if your legs are giving you grief, it is easier to find out why from BC, as the kick is the same, but you can actually have a look down there and see what your legs are doing while maintaining movement.

As for leg strength and endurance, I try and use fins at least once a week, in a short anaerobic set, I find that the extra power gained from this leaves fatigue in my legs as a minor problem (only after 3.5km +) But fins take a little getting used to, (beware of calf, and Hammy cramp) and few pools allow them in open sessions.

For your upper body work, instead of using a pullbouy (or float stuck between legs) try crossing your feet and swimming, or a parachute. If neither of those works then a few minutes swimming FC head up will test the arms a little.