Swimming isn’t really up my alley, but since I’ve been running again (even though only two or three times a week), and since I’ve been doing a lot of sprints and jumping in the interval class I’ve been taking, I think the pool is where my body needs to be.
I’ve been meaning to get there for weeks, but just didn’t get up and go until last week. And man, I should have gotten there sooner. It felt so good. I swam 15 laps (there and back—I’m such a bad swimmer I don’t even know swim lingo and whether or not if you swam a lap people will assume you went there and back). I kicked on a paddle board for 10 laps and then I ran back and forth and did some jumping jacks.
When I was playing field hockey in college, our coach made us have pool sessions. We hated them because the other teams got a break when we had to swim, but our team had the fewest injuries all season. It’s a small anecdotal study, but I have believed in the benefits of swimming and water on joints ever since. You really don’t have to swim. You have to move your body in the water—swim, walk, run, jump, stretch, anything really.
And why is swimming so good? When you move in the water, it creates more resistance than air, so you can get a really good muscle and cardio workout, but the buoyancy of the water takes pressure off the joints. The water is really an ideal place for a workout. I’m glad I found my way back there and I hope I stick with it at least once a week (maybe even twice).
