Fitness Swimming, Second Edition by Emmett Hines
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Book Reviews of Fitness Swimming, Second Edition
Book Review: The BEST freestyle book made even Better in 2nd edition
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best comprehensive freestyle book available, and I think I've read them all. I used the 1st edition about 6 years ago to rebuild my stroke, went through at least 2 copies of it and gave away about 4 others. The 2nd edition is not just a new cover: everything has been updated. Even if you have the 1st edition you should get this because it covers new developments in freestyle stroke mechanics. There are two elements that make this book exceptional. First is the instructional part, which puts hydrodynamics in practical terms, understandable to everyone and well-illustrated. It follows (maybe even leads) the current theories of efficient freestyle. It starts at a basic level, with balance drills etc, moving all the way through full-stroke integration, and then to power and speed. Second is the series of detailed workouts. It's the only book I know of that lays out a realistic workout progression for adult swimmers of any level. By realistic, I mean spending 50 to 75 mins a session, with a good combination of technique, endurance, and speed work. It's also realistic about the range of speed for most fitness swimmers -- so it's especially helpful for adult swimmers who want to learn or refine their freestyle and get a sense of accomplishment. You can start at the beginning and virtually coach your way through to the end. It's like doing Masters swimming with an expert, only self-coached. And Coach Hines has a distinctive sense of humor that makes an instructional book fun to read. A great accomplishment.Book Review: Your Personal Swim Coach
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this book. It's like having a personal swimming coach in my gear bag. I'm a novice lap swimmer who wants to improve my skills in order to use swimming as my primary means of exercise, so I have found Part II ("Swimming the Right Way") to be extremely helpful. The emphasis on posture and balance in Chapter 4 has been particularly enlightening for me.
I am looking forward to starting the various workouts. The workouts are categorized into 6 levels, ranging from "Basic Skills Workouts" to "High-Intensity Workouts."
There are 60 workouts, 10 for each level:
Level 1: Basic Skills Workouts
Level 2: Skill Development Workouts
Level 3: Full-Stroke Swimming Workouts
Level 4: Lactate Threshold Workouts
Level 5: Speed Workouts
Level 6: High-Intensity Workouts
Part IV of the book is entitled "Training Over the Long Haul." Chapter 14 puts it all together in terms of scheduling your workouts with recommendations for swimming programs (for example: Level 1, workout 1 on Sunday; Level 1, workout 2 on Tuesday; etc.). These sample programs/schedules are presented in an easy-to-read chart form that you can jot down in your training notebook and adjust to fit your week.
Coach Hines writes in a conversational style, and the book contains many helpful illustrations. I have no doubt that incorporating this book into your swimming program will reap huge benefits for a swimmer at any skill level.
Book Review: Next Best Thing to Studying with Emmett in Person
Summary: 5 Stars
I grew up swimming competitively. I was introduced to Emmett in my early thirties and began attending his master classes a few years ago. Emmett is a fabulous communicator, and the concepts that he teaches completely revolutionized my swimming. I am now able to swim longer, faster, and with much less energy than ever before. Just recently, I placed second in my age group in a 2.4 mile swim in Austin, TX, and it was Emmett's training that took me the entire way.
I was at first skeptical that a book format of these concepts would be possible or as good as swimming with him personally, but this book completely blew that notion out of the water (so to speak). As I read the text and studied the diagrams, I was completely impressed with his abilities to communicate via the written word. It is an easy read, and the ideas are explained clearly and woven together beautifully. Studying this book, applying the concepts, and following the workouts will take you from complete novice highly skilled and efficient swimmer. I keep a copy of it on my nightstand, and it will probably remain there for many years to come. This book is a must read for anyone who thinks he might be interested in learning to swim or improving their already advanced swimming skills.
Book Review: Outstanding!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased Fitness Swimming 3 months ago and it has already made a HUGE difference in my swimming (e.g.improved technique and application in the water) I began swimming last year and took one-on-one lessons. As is often the case, good intentions (from both the instructor who had not read Fitness Swimming and learner) do not translate into good results. I took another series of lessons from another instructor last fall and continued to build poor habits. Fitness Swimming got me back on the right track, established 'good' habits, and my swimming has improved dramatically. In addition to one the most thoughtful, organized and well written books which I have ever read - and I read a lot - this book is truly outstanding. I rarely right reviews on this site; however, I am confident that you will not be disappointed in your purchase of this wonderful book.Book Review: Great book for new swimmers and experienced swimmers.
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed reading this book and wanted to take the time to reivew it. I am an experienced swimmer, swimming for many years, coaching age group and master's teams over the years. I have also taught swimming at many levels. I tried to look at this book from the eyes of a beginner and found it very helpful. The book covered such topics as how to pick out a suit and goggles all the way to pool etiquette. How glad I am that Emmett covered that! As an experienced swimmer I found the workout information invaluable. The workouts are very good and I found the workout schedule or cycle very apppicable to my level of swimming. The more competitive swim cycle or season information helped me map out a plan for the coming year. So I can confidently recommend this book to the beginning swimmer and the more competitive swimmer.
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