A simple question with a complicated answer
How much do you currently swim each week? Do you think it’s the right amount, too much, or too little?
The answer will depend on a range of factors, starting with: why do you swim?
Once you consider this, you realise how complicated this question could be. You probably have multiple reasons to swim, ranging from enjoyment to escaping the daily grind, your mental well-being or preparing for a major challenge.
It also helps to understand what you want from swimming itself. Do you view swimming as something like walking, that you just do, or as a skill you want to practise and develop? Both are legitimate. The first points towards a casual as-and-when approach to swimming, while the second calls for more planning and organisation.
False assumptions
As someone who works with swimmers on all stages of their journeys, it’s easy to make assumptions. Everyone wants to get better at swimming, right? Meaning, they want to swim further or faster, or both.
But that’s not always the case. Some swimmers want reassurance that what they are already doing is OK. Others want to explore how swimming is impacting them physically and mentally, and lean into the health and well-being benefits rather than chase performance improvements.
Old rule of thumb
Among masters swimmers, a general guideline is that you can maintain current performance with one to two well-designed sessions per week. To improve (i.e. to get faster or develop your racing skills), you likely need three or more.
But remember, this is based on coaching norms rather than hard evidence, and there are lots of caveats.
If you are new to swimming or coming back after a long break, you will make good progress with one to two sessions a week. But after you’ve been swimming a while, you may find you need extra sessions to improve your fitness. And, as you get older, you may have to swim more just to stay in place.
But there’s a flipside too. If you swim a lot, you may not allow yourself sufficient time to recuperate and recover. Excessive volume can harm you. With age, especially, some thoughtful adjustments might be essential. You may, for example, see better results by substituting some swimming for more strength work, rather than swimming more.
Performance or Pleasure
Training to optimise performance is different to swimming to enrich your life, as we’ve explored previously. And this needs to be factored into the equation for how much you swim.
I’ve spoken with swimmers who say two or three swims a week is plenty. Any more feels like a chore. Others are constrained by work and other commitments. If this is the case, you may want to swim more but it will put strain on your work or relationships, and you have to decide how to deal with this – accept the constraint or push back and deal with the consequences. There’s no simple advice here.
Your health and injury status may also impact your swimming choices.
And, of course, sprinters need a different approach to marathon swimmers. The former benefit from frequent but short high-intensity sessions, supplemented with a comprehensive land-based strength-building programme. Marathon swimmers thrive on endless laps of the pool, working on technical efficiency and strength endurance.
And if you’re a Renaissance Swimmer, enjoying both sprints and longer swims, then you’ll probably end up somewhere in the middle.
A multi-dimensional grid
There’s a chance you have fallen into the right amount of swimming for you almost by instinct. You’ve probably balanced the pros and cons of more or less swimming subconsciously. But it’s worth reviewing how you got there, and if your current choices are still serving you.
Some people swim less than they would like, and other people load themselves up with more than their bodies can handle. Or they may train at intensities that are incompatible with their goals.
When reviewing, here are the key points to consider:
Signs that you might benefit from swimming more often
- You want to build endurance for long swims
- You love being in the water, almost regardless of how long you swim
- You have been swimming for a while and have hit a performance plateau (if improving performance is important)
- You’re getting older and want to push back against age-related decline (but be aware there are limits)
Signs you might benefit from swimming less, or staying where you are
- You’re new to swimming and need to build your capacity gently
- You’re prone to overuse injuries
- You have an illness or long-term condition that limits how much swimming you can do
- You are time-poor and swimming adds to your stress rather than relieving it.
- You are content with the amount of swimming you do and more would feel like a struggle
- You already swim a lot and are not allowing sufficient time for recovery (and note this may change with age)
What next?
Once you’ve worked out how often you can or want to swim, the next step is to decide what you want each swim to achieve (which is something we go into in the Renaissance Swimmer System). There’s no single ‘correct’ amount of swimming: only the amount that supports your goals, fits your life, and keeps you healthy and happy.
It’s also worth noting that “more” may not always be the solution. Changes to the intensity and quality of your sessions may help you improve faster than simply adding volume.
If you’d like help planning your sessions or reflecting on your swimming journey, Renaissance Swimmer can guide you. Explore our ‘Reflections’ for more insights or try the short ‘Foundations for Better Swimming’ course for practical next steps.
