Pain During Exercise

 

We know that you LOVE swimming and possibly even water aerobics, but we also know that’s not the only type of training you might be interested in. Whether it’s running or lifting weights that you enjoy, you will probably feel pain at some point. What you must pay attention to is whether it’s a good pain or a bad pain that you are experiencing. Here’s how –

Good pain can be associated with that feeling of hurting to sit down or stand up, walk up or down stairs, etc. If you are feeling these types of pains after a strenuous leg workout, it’s fine! You should be feeling soreness in the places that you targeted during your last workout. If you have a tough workout and you are still suffering soreness after a couple days, you are probably experiencing DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). If this is too much for you, feel free to take a couple days off until you are recovered.

Bad pain is typically felt in sharp bursts and is localized to one part of the body. If you are in the middle of an exercise and you feel a sudden sharp pain, it’s time to stop. This can be a sign that you are doing an exercise improperly and your joints are taking a beating! If you keep experiencing pain in a certain area, it may be a good idea to stop and get it looked at. If you keep working it and things aren’t getting better, listen to your body and take a break.

To avoid pain, you should do a warm-up and cool-down prior to and after exercise. The warmup will help you prepare your body for your workout and the muscles you will be using. Also by including stretching, you will increase your flexibility as well.  It’s very important to listen to your body and know the differences in the pain you are feeling. Once you understand your body better, you will be able to respond accordingly.

More Confidence

When you’re swimming beside someone in the pool, it’s easy to lack self-confidence. You may find yourself comparing each and every thing they do, to what you do. They may be faster, they may be able to hold their breath longer, etc. Unfortunately, this causes you to get inside your own head. In order to perform your best, you need to have confidence. Here are some tips to up your self-confidence in the pool! 

1.       Focus on you. If you have time to be focusing on what someone else is doing, you aren’t swimming your hardest. You need to put forth 100% effort and focus on your stroke and your breathing. Once you eliminate distractions, you will be in charge of your success.

2.       Improve every day. There may be some things that you know you need to improve on. You may always have trouble at a certain set or you can’t get your form perfect, but it’s okay! If you know where you lack, you can always improve. Don’t try to fix everything at once, it will take time. Focus on one thing at a time before you move onto the next.

3.       Think Positive. Allow the pool to be your escape. Free your mind from daily troubles and daily tasks. If you are trying to solve world problems while you’re swimming, you may not be doing the best you can. Be sure to think positive thoughts if you must think about anything.

4.       Remember Victories. Remember that time you beat your personal record? Remember how awesome that felt? It’s important to keep those memories close to you to remember what you are capable of doing. You are stronger than you think!

5.       Be Inspired, Be Inspiring. Do you have an idol you aspire to be? It is always good to push yourself to become better. By pushing yourself, completing every workout, never turning down a challenge – you may be inspiring someone else too! Never give up on your goals and dreams! What you set your mind to, you can accomplish!

Lap Swimming Etiquette

Don’t you love swimming peacefully in your own lap? That is until someone joins you at least! Unfortunately, there are usually not enough lanes for each individual to have their own. This means that everyone needs to be on the same page so swimming can remain fluidly without injury or disturbance. Here are some tips when joining a lane!

1.       Entering a Lane

Be aware of the speed of the individuals already in the pool. Some may be swimming faster, some may be swimming slower. Carefully choose which speed is most like yours. Before entering the pool, make sure the swimmer is aware you are entering their lane. You can either do this by sitting along the side with your feet in the water or standing near the edge likely to be seen when they are turning. 

2.       Passing

There may come a point where you will need to pass another individual when sharing a lane. Don’t worry about it! Before attempting to pass, simply tap the other person’s feet. Don’t grab or pull. When you are driving a car, you use your turn signals; while swimming, you use a friendly tap. If your feet are tapped, do not slow down as it may cause a collision. If you are the one looking to pass, this is typically done so on the left. Always remember to keep swimming at your own pace, and if someone passes you – don’t sweat it!

3.       Spacing

If you are the slower swimmer, try pushing off the wall close behind the faster swimmer. This will extend the time it will take before the other swimmer needs to pass again. As for faster swimmers, you should push up right before the slower swimmer approaches the wall. Again, this will extend the time it will take before passing again. 

With these tips in mind, you have no reason to fret! You have the basics down, now you just need to get out there and swim! You never know, you may be pushed by sharing a lane with a faster swimmer!

Are you tough?

Do you have what it takes to be a swimmer? This doesn’t just mean having speed and strength to win the match; this also means to be mentally strong. In tough situation, our mind gives up before our body does. As swimmers, it’s important to have the right mindset and the ability to control your mind.

Stay calm! You can’t get worked up if someone passes you in the lane, or you mess up on your breathing. It happens! If you lose control of your mind, it will just set you back even further. Both good and bad things can yield change, so just keep doing your best.

Learn and Fix! In addition to remaining calm in certain circumstances, it’s important to be aware of skills you need to work on. With no change, there won’t be better performance. Just remember to assess the situation to determine what is wrong and do your best to come up with a resolution.

Focus on yourself. Each and every day most people compare themselves to others. Someone may be swimming faster or someone might have better form. It’s easy to get beat up about this, but you are only demeaning yourself. You are strong, you are capable! Don’t focus on others and focus on yourself and your progress. 

Next time you’re hopping into the pool with others, stay positive. You will be happier and it will yield far better results than if you were to belittle yourself.  Again, your mind controls your body and your performance and only YOU control your mind.

Types of Drag

 

Whether it’s perfecting your form or choosing your suit, swimmers always look to decrease the drag. Drag is viewed as swimmers' worst enemy and can be detrimental to your success. Swimmers choose suits and caps that are tight to the body to increase hydrodynamics. Here is a little more information on the different types of drag that swimmers experience:

Form Drag

Form Drag is resistance that is caused by an object’s shape and profile as it moves. This can be different for everyone due to their size. Individuals who are larger tend to feel more resistance because they take up a larger area of space. You can also feel the difference if you don’t have your arms and legs together, covering more space. You won’t go as fast and will come to a stop much quicker.

Wave Drag

This type of drag is caused by turbulence. This turbulence can be felt from other swimmers that are swimming next to you. At a much larger scale, boats in a lake or beach cause a lot of turbulence causing waves to roll into shore. If you try swimming against this, you will find it very difficult. Did you know that the ropes in pools weren’t just used to mark lanes? They are specially designed to reduce drag and turbulence from other lanes. 

Frictional Drag

Frictional drag results from constant rubbing against water molecules by the swimmer’s body. This type of drag affects swimmers the least due to the formfitting swimwear, which helps reduce this friction. Many swimmers even take it a step further and shave their body hair. 

Now that you know the different types of drag, you can do your best to decrease it. Always choose a formfitting suit that covers majority of your body such as the TYR alliance Polyester Splice Maxback. Also be sure to stock up on Swim Caps to cover your hair. Lastly, focus on your form and try keeping movements as close to your body as possible! Happy swimming!