| 1. Burnout: One of the main issues swimmers come up | | | | progress over time towards that goal is crucial to the |
| against whilst training is burn-out, or over-training. | | | | success of your program and maintaining motivation. |
| Depending on your condition it can be deceptively | | | | 3. Pushing through the pain barrier: Whilst often touted |
| easy to push yourself too hard and burn yourself out. | | | | as the mark of success for top athletes, forcing |
| Over-training before a big swim-meet is a notorious | | | | yourself to train whilst injured or sick is a very, very |
| problem and is the biggest cause of upset results. The | | | | bad idea! There is a big difference between pushing |
| best way to avoid burn-out is to set yourself a strict | | | | yourself anaerobically and pushing yourself when your |
| training schedule and leave yourself at least 3 days | | | | body is already working overtime to combat a virus or |
| (preferably a week) before any competition as a | | | | injury. You should be listening to your body and |
| wind-down to give your body a chance to restock on | | | | working with it, not against it. |
| energy and repair any muscle damage. Just like | | | | 4. Getting stuck in a routine: If you find yourself |
| revising for an exam, preparation is the key! Don't fool | | | | swimming the same routine week in week out with no |
| yourself into thinking you can be ready for a | | | | discernible improvement (or progress towards your |
| competitive swim with just a few days training | | | | goal) then you are really just treading water! Mix up |
| before-hand. | | | | your swim routines by varying distance, speed, stroke |
| 2. Swimming without a goal: Without a definitive goal | | | | and drills. This will ensure you are getting a full body |
| you will quickly lose interest in swimming. Your goal | | | | workout and improving both your aerobic and |
| could be anything from improved average or peak lap | | | | anaerobic fitness, whilst making your swim sessions all |
| times - to weight loss, socialising or race conditioning. | | | | the more interesting. |
| Keeping a specific goal in mind and tracking your | | | | |
