Balance

Based at CORE Fitness in Timonium, Maryland for Personal Training, I incorporate balance and functional training moves when I train my clients. This can be as simple as standing on one foot while doing an exercise. But the effects are greater as it causes you to engage your core muscles while also providing an increase in the complexity of the exercise through requiring more concentration on balance. You may want to use a lighter weight than usual when doing this type of training. One example of where you can try this is to do a standing shoulder press standing on one foot. (This exercise is also called military press or overhead press.) Once your weights are in starting position at the shoulder height, lift one foot so that you are balanced on one foot for half your reps and then switch feet finishing the set balanced on the other foot.

Benefit from an Inconsistent Practice Schedule!

If you are like I am you probably have lapses in the consistency of your workouts. Unfortunately (maybe?) over the past 15 years or so, I have gotten into really good shape through a few solid months of consistent swimming only to be followed by a period of weeks out of the water.

Instead of getting down about loosing fitness when I get back on schedule, I like to turn things around and use my lack of fitness to push myself to be as efficient as possible. To me, as a coach and a swimmer, technique is so important but it seems to be ignored by so many swimmers and coaches. Heavy effort and slugging it through the water seems to be all too common at practices. Personally, I have a tough time standing on deck and not saying anything to a swimmer I am coaching if I think there is something they could be doing to improve their technique.

Swimmers need to educate themselves on proper technique. A fine place to start when you think about technique is to look at the movements or patterns of movements that you repeat during the stroke cycle. Ask yourself “am I creating drag from a particular way I am executing a movement?” For example, is my hand entry (where the hand enters the water) in the freestyle stroke entering clean or is my hand crashing into the water creating waves, turbulence and drag? Then ask yourself, “can I refine or alter this movement to create less drag?

There are plenty of areas of concentration in all the swimming strokes where you can exercise a little self-analysis with the goal of correcting flaws and thus becoming more efficient. It is quite possible that as you shift your focus to be aware of the way you are moving, instead of your level of exertion, that the result will be faster swimming. So next time you get in the water, especially if it is after being out for a while, focus your attention on the actual movements of the stroke pattern and how you can adjust or fine tune them to create less drag. Finally, see it also as an exercise in positive thinking as you will be focusing on what you want to make happen. This is way more productive than dwelling on how out of shape you think you are.