Swimming for Fitness – How to Improve Your Performance in the Water

Swimming is a great way to improve your stamina and get fit without putting too much pressure on your joints and muscles. Heading to the pool on a regular basis and learning proper techniques can increase your stamina while strengthening your core, arms and legs. Whether you want to swim for fitness or would love to become a professional swimmer, here are the best tips to improve your performance.

Swim Often

Practice makes perfect, and this rings true when it comes to swimming. You will need to swim often if you are to learn techniques and improve your form. Swimming often will build your body muscle and improve your endurance and cardio so that you can swim for longer, too. Losing your stamina and swim technique can be all too easy, so aim to swim 2-3 times a week, with each session lasting around 45 minutes.

Learn Good Techniques

It all starts with learning proper swimming techniques and form. Without these foundations, you will struggle to progress and improve, as good form and technique is what will propel you forward and make you a better swimmer.

For example, if you swim on your stomach and not on your side, then you will struggle to glide through the water. Take the time to learn the proper way to swim. This means learning the proper hand placement, head position, and how to rotate your body and kick. Although the water will be keeping you afloat, you will need to learn how to balance.

Wear Proper Swimwear

Wearing high quality swimwear can help improve performance and comfort levels, making you more confident in your swimming abilities. What’s more, competitive swimmers will benefit from swimwear made from drag reducing materials as well as materials that are chlorine-resistant for added longevity. You will want to invest in high quality and FINA approved swimwear from a trusted swimwear specialist store. Mailsports for example have a range of professional, FINA approved men’s competition swimwear that will help professional and competitive swimmers confidently make a new personal best. They have men’s competition swimwear from many leading brands such as Speedo and Arena.

Learn to Bi-Lateral Breathe

Swimmers will naturally have a stronger and weaker side of their body, but did you also know that swimmers will have a weaker side when it comes to breathing? Learning to breathe on your weaker side may cause you anxiety to begin with, yet it is extremely beneficial if you want to progress and improve your swimming skills. If you decide to swim in a triathlon or in open waters (not in a pool), you may have to battle against waves that are hitting you on your strong side, forcing you to breathe on your weaker side.

Swimming is good for your joints and makes for fun exercise, but the best way to improve your swimming performance is to practice often and ensure that you have learned good and proper techniques. Not only will it make swimming easier, but you will have the skill to improve and become a seasoned swimmer before you know it.