How to Improve Swimming Stamina

I badly need to know how to improve my swimming stamina. I haven't been swimming for a long time, and the pool local to me is a 50m pool. Right now, I am focusing on the crawl as I want to tone up and get fit..

..However, my stamina in the water is shockingly bad! It has come as a major surprise to me just how bad it is as I play Wide receiver for the local football team, which involves a lot of sprint starting and running. I also rock climb a lot, so I use a variety of muscle groups regularly. I understand that swimming adopts a vastly greater number of muscles, but it's disheartening to think that at 27, I thought I was a lot fitter than I actually am.

What advice do you have to increase stamina in the water to stop my arms (particularly my shoulders/deltoids), and how can I better regulate my breathing?

I start off fine trickle breathing and tilting my head to opposing sides every 3rd arm recovery, but by the 25m mark I find myself out of breath and having to switch to explosive breathing at which point, my technique falls apart, and my speed and energy bombs.

Please help!

Firstly well done on taking the plunge to get fit and tone up, and however you feel, do not compare your swimming fitness to your performance and abilities in other sports. You are quite right; swimming uses not only more muscles but impacts the cardiovascular system at the same time, so it is a double whammy!

Increased Pool Time Equals Increased Stamina

It is your ‘swimming fitness’ needs to improve, not your general fitness. A competent long-distance swimmer will find playing Wide Receiver very tough.

The short answer to your question is practice, practice, practice. Like any fitness routine, the more you do it, the fitter you get, and swimming is no different.

Front crawl is the toughest (except for butterfly stroke) and therefore will have the best effect on your stamina and muscle tone, but there is no point swimming one length and then calling it a day.

Here are a few things to consider to help make your swimming easier and increase your overall swimming distance.

Slow Down And Feel Your Way

Firstly swim slower. Feel your way through the water rather than fight it. Concentrate on maintaining a streamlined and efficient body position instead of covering a certain distance.

Trickle breathing and inhaling every three arm pulls is correct, and it is completely normal to have to switch to breathing every stroke after a time. That time depends on your energy and stamina levels.

The best long-distance swimmers in the world breathe every stroke from the start because that is the easiest breathing pattern for long distances.

Fine Tune All Parts Of Your Front Crawl

Body Position

Legs

Arms

Breathing

Timing

I presume you can swim breaststroke? Most people swim breaststroke because it is easy and less energy-consuming. Combine some breaststroke lengths into your swimming routine, for example, swim one length of front crawl followed by two lengths of breaststroke. This will keep you swimming and your cardiovascular system constantly working as you use the breaststroke lengths to recover before you swim front crawl again.

Gradually over time, you can decrease the number of breaststroke lengths and increase the amount of front crawl as your stamina and muscular endurance increase.

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Swimming To Get Back Into Shape

I would like to get back into swimming to get back into shape. 25 years ago I swam for fitness (~1 mile a day). I am female, over 50, and relatively healthy overall; however, I am now very out of shape and have some health problems - overweight, and arthritis from a knee injury. What swimming program do you recommend to get back into shape (with physician approval, of course)?

Swimming is the perfect way of getting back into shape and one of the safest for someone with arthritis.

Swimming is a zero-impact form of exercise, in other words, there is little or no impact going through the joints in your body. This makes it comfortable on your knees while giving them the movement and exercise they need.

Competitive swimmers will argue that some swimming strokes place great impacts on the hips, knees, and sometimes lower spine. That could be true for those that have to exert such power with each kick, but we are not training for the Olympics so we do not need to swim such long distances at such speeds.

The best swimming stroke for you to swim will depend on the nature of your knee injury and arthritis that has developed.

Front crawl and backstroke usually place the least pressure on the joints but can also be the most tiring strokes. Breaststroke is usually the easiest from an energy and fitness point of view but can sometimes irritate some conditions. The best thing is to try them all out gently and see for yourself.

As for losing weight, you must swim out of your comfort zone. Swimming is easy to take it easy and like any form of exercise, you will only burn significant calories if you work hard.

As you have not swum for a while and are out of shape, it is best to put the hard work into your swimming in small amounts. In other words, swim at a comfortable pace for a few lengths and then put in a slightly faster length that gets you out of breath and raises your heart rate.

Then go back to your original pace for a couple of lengths and then repeat the fast one again.

As you swim more and more over the coming weeks you will find your stamina will improve as your body burns more calories and your body shape changes. It is important to change your routine by swimming faster lengths or longer distances.

You could even vary the strokes you swim as this will keep challenging your body.

The key to remember is to swim out of your comfort zone and then you will get the results you want.

It goes without saying you must consult your physician first and get their consent before commencing your exercise program.

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