Do I need to check with a doctor before starting classes?
A medical board is a must, without a certificate they will still not be allowed into the pool. Something should be examined in more detail – for example, the back. If a person has formed, if his growth has stopped, you must definitely go to the doctor to check the spine. This is a very important moment for swimming. In an adult, the bones are ripe, there is nothing to fix there – you can only strengthen them with lifeguard recertification.
It is not necessary for a child to check the spine, although it sounds a little strange. At an early age, back diseases are not so critical and can be cured over time.
It is also important to check if there is an allergy to bleach or alkali. Maybe you yourself don’t know about it, but there will be an unpleasant surprise in the pool.
What is the best time to go to the pool?
If our goal is to keep the body in good shape, then three to four times a week is enough, and let the training itself last an hour and a half.
It is advisable to swim in the morning – it is much more useful. The body wakes up, the muscles are relaxed – it swims much easier, and the effect will be higher. It is clear that many do not have the opportunity to go to the pool in the morning. So, we are going in the evening – this is not a tragedy, just more different little things can interfere with you.
How to eat before training?
Ideal option: fruit 40 minutes before you enter the pool building. There, 10 minutes will be spent on changing clothes, another 10 minutes will take a warm-up on dry land. Turns out it’s been an hour. When you jump into the water, those fruit carbs will just start helping you. Of course, you should not eat heavy food before class.
You can eat porridge – these are “long” carbohydrates, but they are not suitable for any workout. There will be a lot of energy, but you won’t be able to swim intensively on porridge – only measuredly, calmly, without acceleration.
Do I need to master all styles at the same time?
For starters, the rabbit is enough. Then it will not be so difficult to master the back – the method is identical, you just need to roll over. Be careful with the dolphin. I myself am considered a “dolphinist”, but in training it takes 10% of all my work. This is a very energy-intensive and technical style – it drives the heart a lot, so you need to be physically ready for it.
How to breathe correctly with a rabbit?
Every three strokes, exhale to the right and to the left – this is for technique and for the spine, so as not to burden the same side. The mistake of many beginners is that they breathe on one side, on the one where they are more comfortable. Over the years, this leads to injuries – one arm works more, the shoulder is loaded by hand – and the joint begins to wear out. The coach may not notice this, so you need to take care of yourself.
If you breathe in different directions after three strokes, the shoulders will unload and the spine will work correctly. Twisting will go in different directions, and not in one.
What is the biggest mistake newbies make on the water?
Wrong calculation of forces.
Where does the right training start? You need to swim for 20-30 minutes so that the pulse does not rise above 120 beats per minute. Then the heart will work out, the system will start. After 30 minutes, fat begins to be burned in this rhythm – now the pulse can be raised, but up to a maximum of 140 beats per minute, the amateur no longer needs it.
What are newbies doing? Beginners are always in a hurry to swim to the other side. I did not measure their pulse, but even by breathing it is clear that there is up to 180 per minute – this is a lot. Professionals compete on such a pulse. Muscles do not even get tired, they acidify. A “milk” appears – and that’s it, the desire to swim disappears. The body itself rejects the load.
How should you swim in class?
The main thing is not to swim continuously for an hour. It is necessary to work in segments through a pause. Here everything is individual, everyone has their own capabilities, but the principle is the same: they made a segment – they rested, lowered the pulse. And so a few segments per workout.
Always focus on the heart, not the muscles. All recovery comes from the heart. Muscles can be rested and light, and at the same time the heart is pounding just from a bad dream – which means you don’t have to torture yourself. If you overloaded it, do not wait for recovery at night, in the morning there will be a headache and, possibly, also pressure.
How to breathe properly in water?
The correct position of the head in the water is when the athlete lies on his stomach, and the gaze does not go straight, but at an angle of 45 degrees to the bottom. Let’s just say straight and down. The movement of the head to take in air should occur during the end of the stroke, the breath should be taken under the arm. So that there is not just a turn of the head to the side, but also with a slight turn back.
Of course, you need to exhale into the water – this has a very strong effect on recovery. Between working segments, you need to make the first two or three exhalations into the water especially powerful, and then exhale more calmly.
