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| All GREEN - My favorite color :) |
Trainer Abby Kramer suggested three mandatory gear items and all from kiefer.com "a good discount swim website":
- Goggles: Speedo - Vanquisher "GET THESE. THE BEST." - Abby, and yes she was right. The googles (female version - does it really matter?) fit snuggly on my face, and they do not let any water in the googles. They work so well that I have to take the googles off between laps so my eyes can breathe! She also recommended getting tinted goggles so when I swim outside in the sun I can have some RAY PROTECTION!
- Bungee Strap: "A must!" - Abby. They replace the straps that come with the googles, and was Abby right, way easier to adjust and way more comfortable!
- Jammers: What? Brief looking speedos, "So you don't look like an idiot."- Abby. Thanks Abby!
First time in the Pool: Swimming is hard... This is coming from a collegiate gymnast and professional Polish Folk Dancer of 16 years...
MAD RESPECT! I swear I was drowning most of the 45 minute "swim". But Trainer Abby was optimistic. She saw me freestyle swim and was confident she can fix me!
The rules of THE LAP SWIM: First, if you have to share a lane with someone, try to get their attention and see if you can jump in; typically people are cool about it. Second, you swim in a counter-clock wise oval in the lane you are in. There are black tiles at the bottom of the pool that you can see with your googles on (Side Note: I am never swimming with out googles again!) and you stay to one side of the black line. This prevents any underwater collisions. ;)
Abby says there are two types of swimmers: Kickers and Pullers. After seeing me swim, Abby said I was a puller and needed to learn three things before I can swim free style again:
- How to Breathe
- How to Kick
- How to Stroke (Pull with your arms)
Each one is important and must be mastered separately prior to moving on to integrating them. This will lead to the most efficient swimming possible.
BREATHING: Opposite from how I breathe while running, Abby had me inhale through my mouth and exhale through my nose. She said it is very important to be able to turn your head underwater and be able to inhale on both sides of you body. So when you are stroking with you left arm, you breath to the left, and when stroking with your right arm you breathe to the right. Abby stated that a lot of people only breath on one side and that leads to inefficiency and muscle imbalances. See my Corrective Exercise Blog on how to correct muscle imbalances that may be leading to pain and inefficiency!
Abby had me stick my face underwater and with my arms outstretched and touching the wall, she had me exhale through my nose AS I HUMMED (humming aloud my to focus on breathing and not freak out that my face was underwater) and as I ran out of air, I would turn my head to one side, keeping one ear under water, and inhale through my mouth. It took a couple minutes but I was ready to do while kicking...
KICKING: The dreaded kick board. Any swimmer that is an arm puller, HATES THE KICK BOARD, and I would learn to hate it too... On land, my legs do quite well, but in water, as soon as I rely on my legs alone, I SINK! Abby said this was due to me using my knees to kick the water as opposed to using my hips and feet. There is a lot of technique that goes into kicking, but all you need to know is to grab a kick board (every pool has one) and just try to keep your legs at the level of the water as you kick and breath. This is as far as I got in my first session in the pool. But two more time in the pool and I started stroking with the kick board.
STROKING WITH THE KICK BOARD: An important progression because it not only teaches you the correct technique of stroking, but it allows you to breathe as you would in the real free style swim. The next progression would be to swim just pulling but that will be a later blog when I learn it!
"Motion is Life!" - Konrad Grzeszkowiak, D.C.
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