It's gonna take a long time to see big results here, swimming isn't a short term plan, and the older you are, the longer it's takes to build back your youthful self, and build muscles! At my peak, I was an Olympic grade swimmer, I was right with the competition, only I didn't compete with them, I did something else! It took me 6 years just to get good enough to be considered 2nd best to the U.S. team! For 20 years, and several years after, I was at the very top of that "sport," not now! Point is, unless you have the time and levels of commitment to make swimming a serious consideration, your better off doing other things to "Work Out" and build strength and stamina! Im not saying it's not a good thing, swimming does give you other advantages, like the ability to survive at ultra high altitudes, or to be able to operate with very shallow breathing under stress, and it certainly gives you tremendous stamina, but your going to have to commit the time and effort to achieve this, and your going to have to stick to it long term to be able to enjoy the benefits of it!
Pfft, Bring yourself down here and try that swimming crap! You'll set world records when a Gator or Gar or Bull shark gets behind you! Added bonus, Moccasin chasing you in the water!
I learned to swim in grade school and grew up with a pool in my parent's backyard. At 18, I started running and working with weights, but mostly I ran. Swimming was something that I did whenever I had an injury, or during the winter. Swimming is great exercise, it increases flexibility, builds muscle and stamina, burns a lot of calories, you can't overheat, and it's difficult (but not impossible) to hurt yourself. I had to stop swimming at the public indoor pool during COVID, but I need to start back.
Swimming is a wonderful low impact, total body workout. I used to be a competitive swimmer and was a USA swim coach for years and I trained Iron Man triathletes...I also taught all ages and levels from infant and I think my most advanced in age student was 84. Until I went back to school and became monstrously sedentary while studying computers... I wasn't a computer person so that made the whole experience awaken my anxiety. I think that consistency is key and it is very important to do a nice slow warm up. In high school, it was easy to rip through a warm up rather swiftly, but the older I get, the more I realize that a slow warm up with long stretched out strokes really helps prevent injury. I'm not sure exactly where you are in your swimming journey, but when people want to get into shape I recommend throwing on fins and kicking with a kickboard for several sets of 50 yards. Maybe start with 4-6 x 50's. Then build up from there. Your legs are your largest muscles and this helps you build endurance. Good technique is important for injury prevention and I like to count arm strokes to get a base line then try to get less from there. I could go on and on about swimming...
I wish that I had joined the local swim team. I could have spent my summers with scantly clad teenage girls, who were tanned, fit and wet!
Very nice! I miss having a swimmer's body, but I don't miss the swimmer's appetite... Sometimes it still haunts me. LOL What were your events? Lifeguarding and competitive swimming both had super early hours for me. I was always the pool opener.
100 and 400 freestyle. High school workouts were at 6AM. After high school I swam on a team representing the swim and tennis club my parents belonged to in Sacramento. Stopped when I started working after college and became more interested in fishing.
The best of both worlds! I was 100 Breaststroke, 200 Fly, 400 I.M. I needed the power of the short axis strokes because I'm short. I tore my rotator cuff in high school and fell in love with teaching. It's cool that you're a fisherman. I learned fly fishing when I was in outdoor school in Wyoming, but haven't done it since then. My partner and I tried fishing here off the cliffs, but we are such rookies compared to the locals and natives. The other night we saw that the fishermen who bring drones were actually dropping their glowing lures from the drones. I thought that was pretty cool!
I played ice hockey from 11 to 18 then ref'd. From 7th grade through high school we had practices 3 to 4 days per week at 4:30 AM and it was killer. I was at least awake by the time that I got to school!
