Swimming and Arthritis

Today is World Arthritis Day which raises awareness of the condition and ensures that those with arthritis are aware of the help and support available to them.

Exercise greatly increases not only strength and flexibility, but also reduces joint point. This can be very beneficial to those suffering with arthritis. Typical exercises cause pain on the joints that are very unpleasant. But there are still exercises you can do – swimming and water aerobics!

Those with arthritis often experience pain, stiffness, and swelling which can cause extreme discomfort. Typical exercise such as walking or running can be too jolting on the joints. The benefit of using water aerobic activity is that when your under water, it ‘unweights’ your joints. When you are in the water roughly 90% of your body weight is supported by the water. Water aerobics is a great way to tone and strengthen your muscles. What makes it great is that it’s low impact so anyone can do it! 

Why You Should Be Doing More Kicking

You’ve been working on all of your strokes and your breathing technique, but there is still one thing you need to incorporate – your kicking! A fast, strong kick is the most overlooked skill to improve your speed. Here are 3 reasons why your kick could be the kicker! Get it?

Better alignment

If you have a strong kick, your hips will remain high and in line. The second your kick falters, your hips begin to dip. In return, this leaves most of the work on your shoulders. Having a strong kick, aligns your body keeping it flat while minimizing any extra drag.

Feel the difference

With improving your strokes, you can physically feel the difference in your motion. Unfortunately with your kick, it’s a little harder. Your kicking is happening behind you, whereas your pulls are happening in front of you. Perfect your kick and your shoulders will begin to take on less amount of work.

Fluidity

You can have the best stroke around but if your kick isn’t good, you will be suffering. Once your kick weakens, your hips begin to drop, your body alignment is off, and then you have added drag. Whoa! That is definitely not something you want to happen in a meet. 

Choosing the Right Fin

Have you heard that swimmers can improve their kick strength and speed by swimming with fins? Who wouldn’t want that? That could be the difference between winning and losing a race. With so many colors, styles, and shapes on the market, it may be a bit overwhelming.

Short Bladed

If you are looking for something to help with kick strength, this may be the fin for you. Because of its short blades, it may feel like you’re not wearing a fin at all! If you are just starting out, this is the perfect fin for you as it doesn’t affect kick speed!

Medium – Long Bladed

The Medium to Long Bladed fins offer even more kick strength; however, since they are longer it can affect your kick speed. These fins also allow you to feel each kick, emphasizing your motion. These fins are a great choice when working on dolphin kicks and butterfly.

Monofin

With mono meaning one, these fins are single bladed! If you are focusing on your butterfly stroke, this will help your form. Not only will you perfect your form, but you will also get a great full body workout (legs, core, and back). With using a monofin, you can gain improved ankle flexibility which result in a better flutter kick.

 

There is an official sport called Fin Swimming!

Benefits of Kickboards

When you were a child, you probably remember using a kickboard in the pool because it was fun. You used it to float on and/or tried holding it underneath the water with your feet like a surfboard. What you may not have realized was that kickboards serve a purpose for swimmers. Kickboards are typically used as floatation devices to isolate desired movements.

Improve Kick

Many athletes use a kickboard to improve the speed and strength of their kick. By holding the kickboard with your hands, you will just need to focus on your leg movements. Swimming is a full body workout and you can’t perfect your form when everything is working at once. Using a kickboard for buoyancy, your arms, shoulders, and chest are resting which allows you to concentrate on your kick.

Improve Arm Strokes

By placing a kickboard between your thighs, you can focus on improving your arm strokes. The buoyancy of the kickboard will keep your lower body afloat, while you use your arms to keep your upper body floating. Similar to using it to improve your kick, the board allows some of your body to rest so you can focus on a targeted area. Although your arms will be doing all of the work, try to keep your momentum up. Try not to splash much water, entering your hands one at a time at an angle. 

Breathing Technique

Start by stretching your arms out straight over your head, hold the kickboard so it’s resting on your forearms.  By grabbing the kickboard at the bottom, it allows you to put your face into the water, turning it to the left or right whenever you need to breathe. This also helps with floating ability.

If you are having some trouble with your form or your breathing, pick up a kickboard! This inexpensive item could give you a competitive advantage against your rivals. They come in many different styles, shapes, and colors to suit your needs.

Training while you're Sick

It’s that time of year where, at any given time, you know someone who is sick. Whether it’s coughing, sneezing, runny nose, etc. someone is showing symptoms. No matter what you do to try to not get sick, it happens. Here you are, it’s when training is most important and you are dragging from a cold that you can’t kick. But wait – should you really be training if you’re sick?

We know you’d much rather be laying on your couch watching reruns of your favorite TV show, but studies have shown that exercise makes you feel better even when you feel under the weather. The head of athletic training at Ball State, Thomas Weidner, did a study which showed that moderate exercise helped participants feel better, although symptoms did not decrease. Weidner uses an ‘above-the-neck’ approach to determine if exercise is safe to do. If your symptoms include a runny nose, sneezing, or a sore throat, some exercise might boost illness-fighting white blood cells and aid in recovery. Be sure to use your personal judgment, but you never know – it may make you feel better!

Get more out of your Workout

 

Are you consistently working out and training? With the days becoming shorter and our to-do lists getting longer, it may be hard to find the time to get your sweat on. Just because everyday life gets hectic, do not put your health on the back burner. Check out these tips to get more out of your workout!

1.       HIIT. High Intensity Interval Training is a GREAT way to get the most out of your time. It can be applied to many different activities including running and swimming and gives you better results in less time.

2.       Switching it up. If you continuously do the same exercises every day, your body is going to get used to it. Switch it up by learning new exercises or trying something COMPLETELY new. This will leave your body guessing what’s to come next. If needed, incorporate some seasonal activities into your routine.

3.       Food intake. The foods you choose to eat are imperative to your success in the gym. Be sure to fuel up with the proper foods to keep you energized and alert.

4.       At-Home Exercises. If you are having trouble finding time to make it to the gym, try incorporating body weight exercises around the house. Even if you happen to make it to the gym, burn more calories by doing squats while you’re cooking dinner or sit-ups while you watch TV.

5.       Stay Consistent. Everyone has their off days, where you may not push yourself hard enough or you don’t have the right equipment. It’s okay, it happens. What matters is that you stay consistent and do not give up. Even if you do a little, it’s still better than doing nothing.

Product Spotlight: StretchCordz

StrechCordz resistance bands for swim training improve stamina, power, stroke and Individual Medley times for international Olympians and novice swimmers. Both In-water and dryland equipment are used for full swimmer pull, tricep extensions, rowing, overhead raises, chest flys, proper hip rotation, stroke efficiency and more. Check out the exercises below to jump start your training!

Review your Swimming

Did you know that NBA players are constantly watching their basketball games afterwards? They watch to see what they need to improve on and how to make their plays more successful. Swimmers should incorporate this into their training as well instead of just at the end of the year. By reviewing your swimming throughout the season, you can achieve more success and reduce errors.

Often times, practices can be boring and swimmers lose interest. During practice, you may not have a sense of direction or desire. If you begin replaying your competitions regularly, you can relive your passion and let it drive you. If you are constantly watching your meets you can get a grasp on your performances and get greater consistency. This serves as a great reminder of what your goals are and where you are currently. 

Another great benefit from reviewing your swimming is that is a record of your progress. Have you heard the quote, “Day to day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different?” Progress is such an important thing to track and it’s great to look back to see how far you’ve come. When you realize how far you have come, you can visualize how far you can go! You’ll be on track in no time to reach your goals.

 

Try incorporating swim fins or some pull buoys or weights to advance your training! If you are looking for more of an aerobic workout, grab some barbell floats, resistance hand bars, or wrist/ankle weights!