Get The Most Out of Swimming

I only learnt to swim three years ago, and I am 71 years young. I swim twice a week, but I never seem as fast as everybody else. How can I get the most out of swimming?

It all depends on what you want to get out of your swimming.

Comparing your speed to other swimmers and realising you are slower does not necessarily mean you are not getting the most out of it.

Most of us swim regularly to keep fit, lose weight, or combine both. The best measure of how well you have done or how much you have achieved from your swim is to judge how you feel when you finish and get out of the pool.

If you feel tired and breathless after swimming for 20 to 30 minutes, then you have probably done a sufficient workout and achieved more than enough. If when you leave the pool, you feel as fresh as when you started, then you have probably achieved little.

Having said that, at 71 years young, sometimes a gentle and easy plod up and down the pool is just what you need!

If speed is what you want out of your swimming (and London 2012 is your goal!), then some adjustments to your technique might be required.

The most common mistake made with breaststroke is not gliding with each stroke cycle. The breaststroke sequence is ‘pull, breathe, kick, glide’, and a good glide comes from having a powerful kick. The arms stretch forward after the kick and momentarily wait for a second before pulling again.

Most people continuously pull with their arms without pausing to glide. This results in a slower and less efficient swimming stroke. A powerful kick and a long glide results in a length of the pool swum using fewer strokes.

It is important to remember that a powerful breaststroke leg kick will place pressure on the hips and lower back, especially if the body is not used to it.

The most important point to get from all this is that you should not compare your swimming, especially swimming speed, to others. We all have varying levels of fitness, buoyancy and swimming ability. As long as you feel a difference from the exercise benefits of swimming, you will probably get the most out of it.

If you would like to help with your breaststroke technique my best-selling book How To Swim Breaststroke contains over 20 separate swimming exercises to help all parts of breaststroke, including the leg kick and the timing. You can download it, print out the parts you need and take them to your pool to try out. Click the link below for more information.

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HOW TO SWIM BREASTSTROKE EBOOK:  everything you need to master breaststroke swimming stroke. 22 easy drills that focus on each part of breaststroke technique. From body position to breathing and timing. Decades of teaching experience all packaged into 1 easy file. Download to your device and master breaststroke TODAY! (click here for an INSTANT preview).

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How Can My Friend Swim So Effortlessly?

I have a friend who had not been in the water for ten years. He was badly out-of-shape and as unfit as he could be, yet, despite all this, after 10 years of no exercise, he was effortlessly able to swim 1000 meters, on the first day back in the pool. How can this be?

Mark's answer:

"Thanks for getting in touch. This must've been frustrating to watch - I hope he's still your friend!

There are a few explanations for this, and without knowing more details, it's tricky to say which one fits best. It may be a combination of each of them.

1. Swimming is easy to 'take it easy' if you swim within your comfort zone. Even if you have been away from exercise for a long time, if swimming is something that you never had a problem with, then it is likely to always be that way. How often do you see people sauntering up and down the pool, swimming a lazy breaststroke with all the time in the world? My gran is in her 90s, and she's not been near a pool in 30 years. She could swim 1000m breaststroke in her own way. It might take her 4 hours, but she'd do it pretty effortlessly! You get my point?

2. Body fat massively aids buoyancy. Lean and muscular people have to work hard to remain near the water's surface as they swim as well as pull and kick themselves along. People with a higher body fat percentage may not move as efficiently through the water, but they float naturally, saving energy.

3. Your friend leads an active and healthy lifestyle - maybe? Although he has not done any specific exercise for ten years, he could be quite healthy on the inside, which will stand him in good stead for his return to the pool.

4. It could be that he's being economical with the facts he's giving you about his lack of exercise and, therefore, his fitness. Not meaning to call him a liar, but... I'll let you be the judge.

Joking aside, if you take a natural swimmer with a little extra body fat and they swim a very leisurely breaststroke without any pressure of time, 1000m probably won't be much of a problem.

That said, if your friend swam 1000m freestyle in around 30 minutes and got out of the pool with as much energy as he entered it, then take your hat off, salute him and buy him a beer!

An interesting test would be to go out for a jog or a bike ride with your friend and see how it compares. (Check with his doctor first if he really is that out of shape).

Hope this helps
Mark"

How To Swim Breaststroke

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