The benefits of swimming: Where to start classes in the swimming pool?
First, it is worth mentioning the benefits of these classes, moreover it is also a pleasant class to attend. Every sport event should fill you up with positive emotions, even if you may feel uncomfortable at first, it won’t last long, this is a usual feeling for a “newbie”.
Let’s go through the list:
Strengthening the cardiovascular system.
Taking swimming classes on a regular basis will strengthen your heart, will increase endurance of your body and prevent the development of vascular heart diseases. You train your respiratory system as well. If you go to the gym and do weight training, cardio trainings will be exactly what you need. Swimming also helps to normalize blood pressure and improve your blood circulation. Exercises in water contribute to lowering blood pressure, and improving heart beat will significantly help to cope with frequent headaches.
Fighting extra weight and growing muscles.
As a matter of fact, just like jogging, aerobics and other type of sports, swimming is perfect for burning down extra fat. In order to achieve such a result, it is recommended to take daily 30-minute swimming lessons. You will see how metabolism acceleration takes effect. There is some data which proves that swimming will burn more calories than running or cycling. During swimming the entire body works, especially back muscles, shoulders, flexors and extensors of forearms and thighs. So, attending a swimming pool will help you keep in good shape. In order to achieve this goal, many would recommend swimming breaststroke. Because water resistance is greater than air resistance, training in water is more intense.
It is safe for health.
Swimming is considered the safest type of sports in terms of traumas, that’s why everyone can do swimming, even if you have issues with your backbone, ligaments or joints. People who are not allowed to do intense weight training are advised to do swimming. Moreover, when the body is immersed in water you let your back, joints and intervertebral discs rest, the right position of the body in water during the classes will favorably affect your backbone. By the way, in order to straighten posture, doctors recommend swimming as one of the methods.
Relieving emotional stress and body relaxation
As during any physical activity, endorphins are released into blood during swimming as well, helping to deal with stress and nervousness. Flowing the body around with water gives a massage effect, which helps to relax and brings pleasurable sensations.
Let’s start attending the swimming pool
So, now we know about the benefits of swimming. If you have decided to start attending a swimming pool, actually, the first step you need to take is to choose an outdoor or indoor pool. The standard length of a pool is twenty five meters. Before your first visit to the pool, you need a medical certificate provided by your doctor, or by the doctor at the pool medical center, if they have one.
You need to take with you flip-flops and shower supplies, as you’ll have to take a shower before and after classes in the pool. Having flip-flops with you will make your feet feel comfortable and will protect you from getting toenail fungus. Also, you need swimming goggles and a swimming cap, especially if you have long hair. And, of course, you’ll need swimming trunks or a swimming suit, depending on your gender.
Some advice for newbies
The basic styles of swimming are the breaststroke, front and back crawl, butterfly. We won’t be examining other swimming techniques. You can examine them on your own, if you’ve never practiced it before, but as usual, questions occur while practicing. This is the reason why you should take your first class with a coach, as he'll tell you what you need and point out what you’re doing wrong. Here we’ll talk only about the basic recommendations.
You need to learn proper breathing. Perhaps, this is the most common issue that beginner swimmers deal with. Breathing wrong will make you spend more energy and strength causing dramatic increase of your heart rate. Many people inhale much more oxygen in one breath than they actually need. You need to learn to keep your breath and cyclic motions in the same pace. So you must inhale above water (were you thinking there’s another way?). Mind that exhaling should be twice as long as inhaling. Obviously, you'll have to practice a lot and be perseverant in order to learn it.
You must always keep your body in horizontal position, otherwise you’ll make obstacles for yourself while moving in water and your speed will decrease significantly. If your body is wrong positioned while swimming, you might feel like swimming demands too much energy. Actually, your physical strength during such exercises isn’t a major priority. Your efficiency in water depends on the right body position and appropriate technique of performing movements. You must “slide” on water without making too much effort.
Just as before any other kind of physical activity, before getting to swim, you need to stretch out, prepare your body for the upcoming exercise. There are special gymnastic exercises aimed at warming up the muscles and joints that are more active during the swimming process. For instance, remember leg movement while breaststroke swimming. A good warm-up exercise, simulating this push are squats with the inclination of the feet inward with a wide setting of the legs.
During the actual exercise, start swimming at a slow pace, then accelerate. After you finish you exercise, do the cool down, slowing down your pace. This will help you to catch breath and restore pulse rate.
As any other kind of sports, swimming also requires constant change of pace. This will have the maximum effect on your cardiovascular system and will improve your physical condition. So, if you feel tired, it is recommended to slow down your pace and after you rest, switch to a faster pace.
If you want to learn to swim properly, you must do swimming exercises separately for arms, legs and for left/right sides. In such a way, you will quicker realize how you should move properly. You're probably aware of the fact, that it is much harder to make your body move as one than move parts of the body separately. Therefore, it is advised to concentrate on small parts. Swimming pools usually have foam boards that can be very helpful. Try to hold such board between your legs, and swim using only your arms. Also do it vice versa: don’t use your arms, just legs. Moreover, such exercises will allow for more intensive training of individual muscle groups than in normal swimming.
Shortly before the training, have a bite. Of course, if you eat a whole lot of soup, it will make your stomach too heavy. So, if you haven’t eaten anything 3 hours before going to swim, you should eat something light: it can be some fruit or cereal. Starting any kind of training on an empty stomach is a big mistake, because you won’t have enough energy in order “to do your best” and achieve maximum efficiency during the class.
Well, now you can start practicing. May you have a useful and pleasant time while swimming in the pool, but do not swim behind the buoy.
Please be reminded that the open-water swimming competition Sea Mile 2018 will be held on July 15, 2018 on Lake Valea Morilor, Chisinau.
Participants will have to choose one of 3 distances prepared by the organizers of the competition: Sea Mile (1852 m), Double Sea Mile (3704 m), Triple Sea Mile (5555 m).
The children’s competitions KIDS AQUATHLON will be organized as part of Sea Mile 2018 and will consist of swimming 200 meters and running 1,5 kilometers.
The Sea Mile competition is going to be held for the sixth time.