Swimming. these mistakes you are surely making

It is a favorite sport for sensitive buttocks, suitable for all ages. swimming has many reasons to be enticing. This explains why it is practiced in most cases independently, without the supervision of a trainer. Known to relieve pain and relax, the effects of swimming on the body and health can vary greatly depending on how we do it. Lucille Woodward, sports coach, former health journalist and founder of the sports coaching website Wellso, discusses common mistakes to avoid in order to glide better in the water.

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Do not take any courses

Often taught at school or in childhood, swimming can easily become a “reflex” practice like walking, but it is no longer maintained over the years. In this regard, signing up for a few swim lessons as an adult to improve your technique is a very good investment, confirms coach Lucille Woodward. “It only takes about ten lessons to make your practice much more effective and to get a better long-term benefit from each session,” he says. Training sessions led by a trainer can also help to “increase motivation”. “This gives us a long-term goal,” explains Lucille Woodward. For example, you can do 30 minutes of lessons followed by 15 minutes of independent practice.

Struggle against horizontality

When you start out, swimming requires establishing some habits that are not very intuitive at first glance. “Swimming, submersion, all these positions where the body lies completely horizontally, on or under water, are absolutely not natural positions for us earthlings,” says the coach. As a result, swimmers often find it difficult to relax and fully commit to the horizontal position. “In order to glide through the water in a front crawl or breaststroke position as well as possible, the gaze must be directed towards the bottom of the pool. Don’t worry about getting your hair wet either. “The ideal way to know if you’re in the right position is to feel the water above your neck,” he says.

Maintain a cruising pace

Another common mistake made by Lucille Woodward. swimmers’ tendency to maintain a “comfortable” and regular pace during their session. In fact, practice is effective only if we put some physical effort into it. “Let’s keep in mind that when we swim, we are carried by the water. In order to maintain the benefits of this sport on our cardiovascular health and muscle building, it is recommended to speed up the swimming pace and try to push yourself during each session,” advises the pool regular.

A moderate and relaxing pace should not be avoided in our sessions, he adds. “Ideally, the session should contain variations in rhythm, the trainer sums up. You might, for example, start with four or five gentle stretches followed by a faster sequence, or vary the rhythm with each stretch.

Breathing time out of the water during swimming movements should also remain reasonable. “Many people put their heads above water for too long. Again, this gesture slows us down and prevents proper movement formation. In practice, inspiration should be done as quickly as possible so that our posture does not change,” advises the coach.

Bend your knees

Foot position is also crucial to successful swimming movements, especially crawling. “For comfort and to avoid exertion, we tend to bend our knees when we kick our feet,” notes Lucille Woodward. “However, effective movement requires full tension in the legs. They need to forcefully penetrate the water to create as much resistance as possible and propel us better. So this movement should come from the hips, not the knees. Finally, according to the trainer, as a significant bonus, if this gesture is done correctly, it gives the legs a wrinkled look.

Skip the hydration and nutrition

The simple fact of being in a fairly cool pool of water requires a lot of energy from the body to warm up the whole body, and in particular the muscles, which contract more. To manage this phenomenon, the former health journalist insists on the importance of hydrating after each of her swimming sessions. “One should not ignore the feeling of hunger at the end of the session either. After making such a full physical effort, I don’t deprive myself of a good meal when I get out of the water,” he testifies.

lack of attendance

Given this counterintuitive aquatic practice and the technical organization it requires (heavy equipment, after-shower and hair-drying), some may be tempted to focus their efforts on one long weekly (monthly or even quarterly) rather than several shorter ones. Wrong, according to an athletic trainer who extols the benefits of regular practice. “It helps his body get used to the sensations of swimming, so that the feelings of sliding and horizontality in the water become natural,” he assures. Without this pattern, we are faced with a phenomenon coaches are all too familiar with. it only takes a week for us to lose our skating skills.”

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Ignore extra physical activity

As beneficial as it is, swimming should not be considered the ultimate physical activity for the body. “Being carried away by the water, the practice of swimming doesn’t really help strengthen the resistance of our bone density,” notes Lucille Woodward. That’s why it makes sense to supplement it with sports like running, hiking or muscle building with weights.”