Swimming is a great way to keep your body fit and healthy, helping to heal breathing issues as well as keeping your joints comfortable. It also helps to improve your endurance and flexibility, and it’s a low-impact exercise that can be done by people of all fitness levels.
When you’re first learning to swim, it’s important to make sure that your body is flat and parallel to the water’s surface. This is because it allows you to move faster through the water, reducing drag and improving your speed.
You should also focus on swimming with a strong stroke tempo. This means that your arms are extended on the first few strokes and then drawn back to a tight, straight line as you complete each one.
If you are a beginner or want to improve your technique, consider doing catch-up drills. This is an easy drill that you can do to help you stay tall and build a smooth stroke tempo, which will allow you to swim with more efficiency and speed.
Another common mistake that swimmers make is dropping their elbow too low during the pull phase of their freestyle stroke. This puts your arm in a poor biomechanical position that prevents you from using the powerful muscles on your back, which can lead to a lack of power.
Instead, raise your elbow high during the pulling phase to a height that’s about 90 deg. This will massively increase your stroke speed and will improve your overall performance, according to the experts at Swimmer’s Edge.
Try training on land – If you are a beginner or need to get some practice before heading into the water, it can be a good idea to train on dry land, mimicking how you would move on the water. This is especially helpful if you find it difficult to get used to the feeling of being underwater, says a spokesman for Swimmer’s Edge.
There are many resources to help you learn how to swim, both online and offline. However, you should always choose one style that you feel comfortable with and focus on it.
The best thing about swimming is that you don’t have to be a professional athlete or have lots of time to devote to it. You can do it for a couple of hours each week and still reap the benefits, according to Slabaugh.
Swimming is a fantastic exercise because it’s an aerobic activity that burns a lot of calories and gets your heart pumping. It can even improve your stamina and boost your overall health, according to a study in the Journal of Cardiology.
When you’re first starting out, it can be hard to know how much water you need to drink, but as your swimming progresses and you become more familiar with your body, this will become a normal part of the routine. If you’re a beginner, a good rule of thumb is to drink at least half your body weight in water each day.