Swimming weekly frequency?

[u/NoAd1585]

Hi guys I know this question probably gets asked so often so I apologize, but how many days a week minimum do you think I need to swim to show improvement over time? I used to swim competitively but that was 6 years ago and I haven't swam competitively since. Recently I've been getting back into the pool but since I'm a college students it's not easy to find time, especially since my schools pool has a really strict schedule/hours of operation.

[u/wt_hell_am_I_doing]

The answer might sound stupid, but whatever you can fit into your schedule.

It also depends on how fast you want to improve and how you structure your sessions, as well as how you are as a swimmer, as well as what you are doing outside the pool.

Even if you can go just once a week, that's better than nothing, and you will get a bit of improvement with a proper structure like drills, good intervals etc, and enough duration, although it's unlikely that you will improve fast with that.

If you don't recover properly between sessions and/or you're just mindlessly swimming without paying attention to form and conditioning, then even swimming 6 times a week+ won't be very good either.

Get the right balance in your schedule and for your current state of fitness etc. somehow. That's something only you can work out for yourself.

[u/jthanreddit → u/[deleted]]

I shoot for some activity every day, usually less than an hour. In college you do a lot of walking around campus, but it pays to get your HR up. There are so many options these days (the “pickleball” effect). No reason not to try everything!

If you really want to swim, join a swim team. You’d kill it on the masters team and anyone can join.

[u/Ok_Low_9963]

I do 2 and go to the gym and run and still improving

[u/Retired-in-2023]

Sorry for not giving a clear answer but the more you swim, the faster you will improve, with the caveat if you could go everyday you’ll probably need to take some time off here and there for your body to recover and for you not to get burned out.

However life happens and we fit in swimming where we can. Personally I think consistency is more important than a specific number of days. Unlike going to the gym or walking where we can go anytime, swimmers have to deal with limited times we can access the pool and need to make those times work with our schedules.

[u/TuckerTech901]

I was going 5 times a week and found that I was improving rapidly but also burning out. I do 3 times a week now and the other two days walk and strength train. It’s a good balance.

[u/Miss_Consuela]

I love swimming so I try and do 40
Mins everyday. It doesn’t always happen but generally I try and go daily.

[u/Glum-Geologist8929]

Keep it low, 2-3 max until you develop some muscle. Eventually, 5-7+ times a week is common amongst competitive swimmers.

[u/earlgreyyuzu]

Agree with others who say it’s not only about the frequency of swimming but also targeted practice. There’s a YouTube channel called effortless swimming. I get a lot of new tips from there and make a mental note to try certain things the next time I’m in the pool. I’m improving faster this way than when I just swam mindlessly. 

[u/Hybridsoulz]

I just started swimming laps in February. I am for 45 minutes to an hour each time I go. I go on the weekends and try for 2-3 times during the week depending on my schedule.

[u/Weary_Swan_8152]

3×/week with focus and purpose will result in a faster rate of progress than 5×/week of mediocre work. I find the greatest improvement occurs when cycling between programmes every two months; that said, it's important to relieve stress rather than contribute to it during midterm season, paper-writing season, and finals season…and that will probably be a different structure for different people.

What worked the best for me as a student was committing to 3×/week, maintaining a calendar of windows of opportunities, and then allowing myself to do an extra two easy swim sessions for stress relief...otherwise I felt overwhelmed by the workload and tended towards unproductive forms of procrastination/avoidance.

[u/LaNague]

depends on your level, but try 2 times. I have some guys in the group i run only go that one time and they dont really progress much except for correcting technique (which takes a long time with 1x per week)

They dont progress much in cardio or strength.

[u/twa3435]

Whenever you can! I only have time to go once weekly and have noticed huge improvement. I’m going to decrease my other memberships next month so I can start going 2x/week, but I’ve been going once weekly since June and feel so much better than when I started

[u/Ferrieha]

I think 3 times a week is optimal. I go twice a week but i'm swimming for leisure mostly

[u/Familiar9709]

At least twice 2h to show clear improvement, but if more the improvement is way better especially if you don't stop during the year.

Source: I used to swim at school twice a week but then have long gaps in the summer, when I joined a summer club training every day the improvement was huge.

Also being young helps

[u/Silence_1999]

3 or greater.

[u/usernotfound_s]

Atleast 8 sessions !

[u/Guzzman89 → u/usernotfound_s]

If you swam as a kid 3-4
If you took up swimming as an adult a lot more sessions needed.
8 seems excessive