Hi All, I’m Scott. Co-founder of SimpleWeight. When I embarked on the SimpleWeight creation with my brother, I had a few goals.
- Lose weight.
- Become more physically fit
- Learn new skills in technology, business, and marketing skills.
I definitely accomplished 2 & 3. It took a long time to accomplish 1, and I’m still not there yet. I have been weighing myself daily since about 2000. In 2011, I switched to a Withings scale which auto-tracks my measurements. I love it and highly recommend it.
Anyway, Here’s my progress from 2011 to 2024 to date:
Looking at the chart, starting in 2011, My weight slowly climbs up to a peak around June 2015. Then slowly declines. It was at this time that I started doing 5 to 6 days of weights, walking, or swimming workouts.
Then, about 450 days ago, my weight started to decline even further. It was around this time that I really ramped up my swimming intensities. More importantly, around 400 days ago, I really started to measure my food calorie consumption. That’s right for over 400+ days I have done my best to track everything I have ingested other than water. That’s another blog post.
THE POINT: For me, as an authentic person, It’s challenging to write articles about weight management when I could not even manage my own weight. Well, My weight has been steady for about 7 months. My waist size sits right below the Japanese men’s maximum allowed. (I just use that as a reference point. I’ll save that for another blog post too). You can see why I had a long layoff of writing. Now, after experimenting to find what works for me, I am a bit more confident to write about my journey. For now, I am going to keep it easy for me. I’m blogging my swim workouts. If you stay patient, I’ll reveal my “secrets” of weight loss and weight management.
Swimming has been my primary exercise for multiple years now. Obviously, I did triathlons previously. So, I swam before. Yet, when winter would come, I’d take off exercise. Now, no more. I exercise 6 days a week at a minimum. Right now, I do weights 6 days a week targeting two muscle groups each day. I also swim 3000+ yards each day for 5 days a week. As much as the weather allows, I mix in some daily walks.
Today’s swim workout
So, Today’s workout is what I call my swim recovery workout. I’m trying to swim slow, but still fit my 3000 yards in 60 minutes.
Dryland Pre-swim Drills
- Warmup with a 60 seconds of jogging in place.
- 4 sets of the following:
- Biceps with weights 12 reps
- Triceps: dips 12 reps
- Followed by Core Workout:
- Upper Abs: 15 crunches
- Lower Abs: 12 knee ups
- Side Abs: 12 side crunches (each side)
- Back: 15 Reverse crunches on an exercise ball.
- Final: 60 second plank
- 1 minute of stretching.
At the pool Pre-Warmup
Stand up straight: Put arms out straight, Swing arms around in slow circles. Starting with a tiny slow circle diameter, increasing until the arm swing circle slowly for larger and larger diameters. Go forward for a bit, then go backward for a bit.
At the same time, Warmup legs by stepping side to side. Then after arm swings, Lift knees to chest.
Pool Warmup
Goal: Swim moderately easy, limber up the body.
- 150 Swim no flip turns
- 150 Swim with flip turns
- 100 Backstroke
- 100 Breast stroke
Main Sets
Today’s goal: Slow and steady focus on long strides and minimizing breaths. If I can not breathe every three strokes, I’m going to fast. Heart rate goal is between 115 to 130 bpm.
- 100 Kickboard freestyle kick
- 400 IM Kickboard
- 100 Dolphin Kick
- 100 Backstroke kick
- 100 Breast Kick
- 100 Freestyle Kick
Note: for my kick set, I rest the minimum between sets. I’m only waiting until my Apple Watch catches up with the yardage. maybe 3 to 5 seconds.
- 500 Pull Buoy with Paddles
Do the following sets twice no rest in between:- 150 Freestyle
- 100 Backstroke
- 500 Freestyle
Do the following sets twice with no rest in between:- 150 Freestyle
- 100 Backstroke
- 500 Flipper Set
Do the following twice. Resting only enough between sets to allow the Apple Watch to catch yardage. ~3 to 5 seconds.- 150 free style kick
- 100 backstroke kick
Cool-Down
Goal: Slow Stretching out the muscles.
- 250 Pull Buoy with Paddles. Try to breathe every 5 or every 7.
- 250 Freestyle. Breathe every 3 strokes.
During cool down, I will stretch my arms and legs in the pool. I’ll stand very wide legged. Do some Yoga-esque warrior poses. Arms Straight to sides. Arms straight up. I’ll interlock my fingers and stretch to the ceiling. a little mountain pose here. Then, bring my knee to chest. Then some calf and achilles stretches using the pool wall. Finally, some hip stretches.
There you have it today’s swim work out. Until next time.