11/22/2024
Swimming…
Swimming has been the hardest of the 3 activities to do well, but it is the one I feel the best after doing. I’ve swam about once a week since the beginning of the year, but it took about 3 months to even breath correctly; and i am still learning and improving each time. I highly recommend watching YouTube videos on form and sticking with this difficult but rewarding form of exercise.
Swimming has many benefits including the obvious of great, low impact cardio. It is also mainly upper body, which is different than most other cardio, and like biking after leg day can be a great way to keep the muscles mobile after lifting in the gym. Finally it is great for the shoulders and surprisingly improving stiffness in your neck as it takes both through significant active range of motion. The more limber your lats, the faster you’ll be, so check out the old video on rolling your lats if that isn’t part of your routine.
If you are planing on a Tri, definitely train in the ocean as well as pool, as they are very different beasts. Also, a swimming wetsuit was very helpful and I felt like I was floating wearing the xterra wetsuit race day!
Any tips on my form?