Product Description

This new edition will provide easy-to-follow, progressive workouts for swimmers of varying fitness levels. The workouts and training programmes will be supported by valuable advice on stroke techniques. Concise yet thorough, this book will offer structure and variety to readers' workouts, while the techniques covered lead to faster, more efficient swimming. Respected swimming coach Emmett Hines shows the reader how to achieve maximum results from every workout, whether trying to enhance their overall fitness or training for an upcoming triathlon. The focus of the book is putting an end to monotonous workouts and instead swimming varied, meaningful laps that will quickly get the reader into shape.This completely updated edition includes, all-new progressive workouts, updated chapters on getting equipped, assessing fitness, freestyle technique, stretching, warm-ups and cool-downs. There is also new coverage of freestyle flip turns and more technique instruction and tips throughout. Readers can use this book to put together their own complete training programme and this will improve both swim conditioning and technique.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94753 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 232 pages

From the Author
60 Workouts to Build Skills and Conditioning!
Fitness Swimming is a technique oriented book that details a series of drills to help the reader build a very efficient freestyle stroke from scratch. The core of the book is 60 graduated workouts that incorporate drilling and swimming in a cohesive and comprehensive manner to improve your conditioning for swimming highly effective freestyle. The whole emphasis is on teaching you how to AVOID resistance rather than just helping you get better at OVERCOMING resistance - i.e. work SMARTER, not HARDER. Lots of photos and illustrations as well as a variety of progress tracking charts.

About the Author
Emmett Hines is director and head coach of H2Ouston Swims, has been coaching adult swimming for more than 25 years. In 1993 he was selected as United States Masters Swimming's Coach of the Year. In 1995 he became a senior coach for Total Immersion Swim Camps, conducting clinics across the country. In 2002, Hines received the Masters Aquatic Coaches Association (MACA) Lifetime Achievement Award. He is one of only 13 coaches to hold the ASCA Level 5 Masters Certification. In addition to authoring the first edition of Fitness Swimming, Hines has had more than 150 articles published in swimming and triathlon publications, including frequent articles in SWIM magazine and a monthly column for Runner Triathlete News. He is often a featured speaker at the ASCA World Clinic and at the Pacific Swimming Coaches Clinic, two of the largest swim coaching clinics in the world.

Customer Reviews

Meet a great "virtual" coach and improve daily with him!
At age 35 I am back to swiming after 20 years of absence... meanwhile training and technique issues seem to come from a different universe. Wishing to realize my childhood-dreams of participating in a "big meet" like European or World Masters Championships this book helped me tremendeously to learn how to swim more intelligently. Hines helps you to precisely judge your ability level first(test swims). Then you learn everything you need to know about swimming freestyle efficiently in theory and practically (drills are gradually built into swimming). Just to give you an example : in a few months I managed to lower my stroke counts from 16/25m to 9/25m swimming slow; I sprinted the 50m free in 31.5sec. taking 40 strokes and now I swim the same distance in 26.12sec. taking 34 strokes. As you conquer each of the six coloured zones Hines provides you with specific focus points, mental images and suggests games like SGolf (counting strokes, adding your time and eventually your heart rate to determine your score)to make each workout different and challenging. Entering yellow to red zones you learn how to build a solid aerobic base before you get to more stressful lactate endurance and lactate tolerance work always continuing to improve you technique at the same time. To me this seems to be the perfect mixture if you want to compete or just explore your personal limits.You will find detailed sample plans for the whole season explaining what you need to do when in order to perform at your best - I am looking forward to the Nationals!

Only one excellent chapter - but makes the book worthwhile
Published over a decade ago (with pictures to prove it), half of this book consists of detailed workouts that are impractical to take to the poolside. With some chapters stating the obvious (equipment - you need a swimsuit...) I was beginning to loose my patience with the content, and the authors so discribed 'down to earth humour'. However, the Chapter 'Swimming the Right Way' makes this book cheap at twice the price. I followed the drills studiously, and it improved the way the way I swim tremedously.

My rating of 4 stars is based on 5 for that chapter, and 1 for the remainder.

Don't just get your feet wet, but dive right into this book!
There's an old saying about paradigms--"If you continue to do what you've always done, you'll continue to get what you've always got." I have been a "triathlete" for the past ten years. Well, at least that's what I told people. Trouble was, I couldn't swim the length of a 25-yard pool. However, every year I was determined to learn how to swim and finally become a "real triathlete." And every year I continued to give up after struggling to do it on my own. Finally, two months ago I was fortunate enough to attend a "Total Immersion" workshop which was coached by Emmett Hines. I couldn't believe it when the first thing he said he wanted me to do was swim the length of the pool, let alone the fact that he was going to videotape it. I skipped the warm-up laps everyone else was doing just so I could have enough energy to swim the entire twenty-five yards! Well, when my turn came, I took a big deep breath and swam to the other side...barely. Next came the fun (ha-ha) part--evaluating the video. The way Emmett was talking about the others, who were mostly experienced swimmers, I hoped he forgot to turn the camera on for my turn. But then this swimmer came on the monitor who made me start laughing...yeah, it was me. It took me 21 strokes to swim the length of the pool. Although I prayed that Emmett would just give me a book to read and I would learn to swim by the end of weekend, I found out we were actually going to have to swim in the pool! We began in the classroom, where Emmett instructed us on proper "fishlike-swimming" before we returned to the pool to practice the techniques. I found out after I bought "Fitness Swimming" the next day that everything Emmett taught came right from his book. Less than 24 hours from the first day's videotaping session, Emmett videotaped us again. Although we hadn't spent much time actually swimming, Emmett just said to concentrate on the drills we had practiced the day before. The results...12 strokes! And I wasn't even tired! However, as we sat in the classroom for the last time, I had just one question for our instructor, "How was I going to keep improving when I returned to Sicily (the workshop was in Dallas) and what was I supposed to do next?" It was at this point that Emmett brought out a little box containing copies of "Fitness Swimming." Needless to say I bought the book immediately and have read it and re-read it so many times the past two months that I need another copy. The book is very well organized and easily readable. In fact, in my library of several hundred fitness-related books, I can say without a doubt this book is by far the best in every category! One last thing, did I mention that by following Emmett's schedule in his book, I swam 1,500 meters this morning! So shift your paradigm, buy this book!!!