“Be formless, shapeless, like water”
-Bruce Lee
Water is essential to life as the powerful driving force of nature and a magical portal to inner peace. Dive into water for a fun and effective way to transform your body and your relationship to exercise for all ages and fitness levels. It’s a great whole-body workout that promotes heart health, maximizes lung capacity, and tones each and every one of your muscles from head to toe while promoting restful sleep for optimal recovery and relieving stiff and achy joints. Gliding through the water weightlessly, combining breath with movement, integrates the body-mind-spirit and opens us up to our full potential. The peaceful, meditative experience of floating and submerging cultivates a sense of calm, comfort and well-being.
Although swimming is one of the most popular sports across the globe, it is one of the least researched in the realm of injury prevention science. Most published studies have focused on injuries to the shoulder (the most common), followed by the spine, knee and ankle. Stroke flaws may be corrected with instruction in body alignment and pull patterns. To avoid swimmer’s shoulder, avoid rotating your arm inward or crossing the midline of the body. Breathe on both sides to avoid excessive strain on the spine which may results in deleterious asymmetries. Roll your body as one unit instead of twisting or craning your neck. Alternate swimming strokes to prevent overuse (crawl, breaststroke, backstroke (my fave) or go for gusto with a butterfly.
Core stability is critical for efficient swimming to keep the body in a streamlined position to reduce drag resistance, which is fundamental to optimal technique for speed. Strengthening the core musculature is an integral part of swim training programs. A stable foundation generates more strength and optimizes power through the limbs for quicker starts, greater propulsion, and efficient flip turns for better sports results. A well-trained core can help prevent technical flaws and stroke inefficiencies, which may boost your chance for the podium (if that’s your dream) or just keep you swimming along injury-free for serenity and longevity.