Are You Out of Shape for Swimming?Written by Kevin Koskella
Have you taken a break from swimming? Do you feel out of shape and feel need to get back in shape quickly? Here are some tips to help you get back to feeling best you can in water:1. Don't try to do too much too soon. Start out with long, slow swims. If you can't do long swims, start with short, slow swims and little by little build up your endurance. 2. Don't jump in "fast lane". If you are doing masters, don't be tempted to "pick up where you left off." Swallow your pride and start out a lane or two slower than when you last worked out. 3. Don't use fins for speed. Fins are great for technique work and drills, but worst thing you can do is to throw on a pair of fins to "keep up." 4. Swim often. Even if you only have 20-30 minutes a day, get in water as much as possible rather than doing fewer workouts and staying in longer. In other words, it would be better to swim 4 days a week, 30 minutes each time than to swim 2 days at 1 hour per session.
| | Learning to Swim Freestyle on your SideWritten by Kevin Koskella
When we learned to swim freestyle as children, most of us swim flat in water, with little or no hip rotation as our arms are doing majority of work. Many triathletes and open water swimmers have found it necessary to change their stroke and swim more on their sides in order to conserve energy, swim faster, and get through potential rough water conditions with greater ease.Rotating from side to side as you swim is a method that has been around for over 30 years. When Mark Spitz was gaining national recognition in early 70’s, many critics said his only problem is that he does this side-to-side action as he swims! Little did they realize just how revolutionary that stroke was. Science has now backed up this style of swimming, and great swim coaches like Howard Furby and Ernie Maglischo have popularized swimming on your side with many successful swimmers over years. Good swimming is about using core of your body- hips, stomach, lower back, and chest. Top swimmers rotate core of body from one side to other, while keeping head fixed. When you rotate in this way, you move through water more like a fish, or a boat, reaching further forward on each stroke, and maximizing your efficiency.
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