Swimming for MMA?
I am pretty diversed when it comes to my workouts, however Im not the most knowledgable person when it comes to laying out a workout in the pool.
Our team recently got the opportunity to use a pool once a week and I want to make the most out of it. Anyone got any good swimming routines?
-Adam Mays "Courage is endurance for one moment more" "If size mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle." 
FREESTYLE AMERICAN SHOOT TEAM Thanks to eagles for the sig!
usually when i use the pool, i use it for cardio. so lot of laps, kinda like H.I.I.T stuff. u can mix it up, i usually just do freestyle. to and back is one rep, 5 reps for a set. and start with 2 sets and work up.then u can also go to 4 or 5 ft area, just so the water is above your chest, and grab on to the edge and do kneeing drills.
you can also do some shadowboxing, hooks are fun in the pool :D
oh! oh! practice greco with your training partners, sooooooo fun! work on gaining position, like double underhooks, armdrag, and all those fun stuff. then when u get it, try to dump them in the water :wink:
Noted...Thanks.
-Adam Mays "Courage is endurance for one moment more" "If size mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle." FREESTYLE AMERICAN SHOOT TEAM Thanks to eagles for the sig!
you could pummle with a partner, lots of splashing but whatever
practice your flying armbars/triangles
swim underwater for a lap, get your breath, repeat
swimming although i NEVER swim is wonderful for working your sore muscles and adding variety to your workout.
bas and forest both have said they love the pool
"To know, yet to think that one does not know is the best... Not to know, yet to think one knows will put one in difficulty."- LAO TZU
I know Frank Shamrock does alot of swimming. Says it is easier on the body.
I don't swim as much as I used to. But here is what I like to so.
-warm up
-one lap50m(one length)strenuous butterfly
-go back with breast stroke or an easy freestyle(relaxed stroke)
Alternate off and on for 6 or 7 laps. Take a breather for a min or two and repeat. You'll definately be toasted after 20 minutes.
----for big pool (ie: olympic)----
take 2 35 lb dumbbells or kettlebells (if you have them) go to the deep end of the pool where your head wont stick out.
place weights on one side of the pool.
pick one weight up and sprint under water to the other side (width wise) trying not to surface.
swim (on top of water or under if you have the stuff for it) down the length of the pool to shallow end, then swim back to the start in the deep end.
pick next weight and do again.
---for small pools---
place weights in deep end, sprint to shallow end, swim back to start and repeat.
this is a pretty hard workout, so set your own goal after a trial run.
i swim a corkscrew style right arm freestyle turning with the stroke so my left arm goes in the water like back stroke turning with the stroke continue so right arm is again back in freestyle so you end up spiralling through the water.
i also swim one lap using only one arm then swim back using the other and do the same for legs
triangles just floating and twisting legs into triangle position and roll one way do a sit up as in bring your knees up to your chin then spin back the other way into trianlge position doing reps of about 30
the best for last
laying with my legs on the edge of the pool and get someone to hold them with my bum against the wall i come up and touch my toes then arch backwards down and touch the bottom of the pool then up touch toes doing about 40-50 reps of that one this one rocks enjoy doing it
lunges and squats jumping up out of the water running, kicking, punching everything is good in the pool the harder you do it the more resistance there is so you get the perfect work out you get faster, stronger i try and do at least 2 workouts in the pool every week
Swimming laps burns between 700 and 900 calories an hour* so it must be good for something.
BTW Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu burns 900 calories an hour*
*Based on a 190lb man
Here is a cool link to a calorie burning calculator.
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calories_burned.asp
You input your weight, time of exercise, and type of exercise and it calculates how many calories your burning.
Michael Phelps said in an interview, when asked about his diet- I eat anything I want, I burn so much that it doesnt matter. I would hate to see what he does for practice in a pool. On the other hand I bet a few hours of rolling would make him appreciate what we do as well.
Thanks for the workouts guys.
-Adam Mays "Courage is endurance for one moment more" "If size mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle." FREESTYLE AMERICAN SHOOT TEAM Thanks to eagles for the sig!
After reviewing the ideas that you guys have so helpfully submitted, I used some of them to make a workout of my own for a trial run.
Rountine #1
pummel- 3 min.
knees- 3 min.
high jumps- 3 min.
5 freestyle laps, end each lap with pushups/squats, outside the pool of course-50,30,25,15,10
Routine #2
pummel-3 min.
knees- 3 min.
shadowbox- 3 min.
5 underwater laps
5 freestyle laps
3 min. nonstop swimming for max laps
-Adam Mays "Courage is endurance for one moment more" "If size mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle." FREESTYLE AMERICAN SHOOT TEAM Thanks to eagles for the sig!
One problem i had in the pool is my breath rate vs heart rate. I would hold my breath and swim for a while under water. My heart rate would not get up there. And i would be out of breath quick.
Later when i relaxed i could get a great work out in. Laps got easier and breathing in general became a lot easier. Carried over to rolling. I could get into a good rythem and breath.
I would do a regular ol front stroke. But really emphazied swaying my body left and right. Worked my abs a bit better and could really stretch out on every stroke.
When my arms got tired. I broke out a kick board. Always did it to end my work outs.
I swam a ton when i was in high school, around the time I started BJJ, and I noticed something.
You know how everyone always says muscles are sore they never knew they had? Swimming helps work those small muscles and tendons since there is resistance throughout your entire range of movement. Just plain swimming laps will help condition muscles often used in BJJ.
It won't make you Arnold or anything but it definitely helps.
I am also training for swimming workouts today. My coach just customizing swimming routines got form the net. try exploring and searching different workouts and customized it by yourself. good luck!
i only used it for relaxing and as a light workout. But i think it can give you and advantage of being out of breath. 
swim hard and wrestle in the small pool sounds as a cool workout.
I would add some only leg only arm swimming too.
As far as I know Wladimir Klitschko changed his program from running to swimming a few years back to preserve his joints and tendons so you might wanna look up his routine, I'm pretty sure it's a good one. The ones I found you had to be registered on the boxing forum, I didn't have time to do that, but you might want to check it out.
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usually when i use the pool, i use it for cardio. so lot of laps, kinda like H.I.I.T stuff. u can mix it up, i usually just do freestyle. to and back is one rep, 5 reps for a set. and start with 2 sets and work up.
then u can also go to 4 or 5 ft area, just so the water is above your chest, and grab on to the edge and do kneeing drills.
you can also do some shadowboxing, hooks are fun in the pool :D
oh! oh! practice greco with your training partners, sooooooo fun! work on gaining position, like double underhooks, armdrag, and all those fun stuff. then when u get it, try to dump them in the water :wink:
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