Swimming- Gotta Love It

Hello again.  My goal is to write one post a week, and I think it has now been nine days.  Oops.  I've certainly thought about it. One thing I'm trying to do is locate other blogs that interest me, and put links to those on my home page.  So far I've found three, but that's only because of time constraints.  I'm anxious to take a full day and do nothing but search blogs.  Well, that's other than taking time for the usual dog walk, and workout, of course.

Today's post is about swimming.  Do you love it as much as I do? It's such a great activity for all ages, plus it's good for you, and easy on the joints!  I think swimming instruction should be mandatory for all elementary school kids, don't you?  It's such a life skill.  I so very much enjoy trying to teach my two grandchildren (one is three, and one is 19 months) how to swim.

Anyway, I have just a few things I wanted to share with you about swimming:

*We already know that it helps to wear a swim cap, to protect the hair from the chemicals, but it's also good idea to wet the hair first, and then to put on some conditioner.  A leave-in conditioner works well for this. 

*Most of us know that it takes 72 lengths (36 laps) of a regulation pool to add up to one mile. Well, that's hard to keep track of, don't you think?  My sister has a film canister with pennies, and uses the pennies to help her keep track of laps, placing them back into the canister, one lap at a time.  I've also seen people use beads, on a knotted cord, moving them across the cord after each lap. What works for me is to count the laps in my head, but I break it up into four sections, nine laps each.

*If you'd like to improve your stroke, ask a lifeguard or coach to watch you swim, and give you a critique.  Or, you could have someone take a video of you swimming a lap or two, and analyze it yourself.

*Here's a wonderful article, titled "Ten Elements of a Perfect Freestyle Stroke," written by Alex Kostich, at Active.com.  He is a three-time Pan-American Games gold medalist and does a great job breaking down the parts of the stroke, discussing head position, arm movement, body rotation, breathing, the kick, etc.  I've always wondered why so many people are now using bilateral breathing, and tip #9 gives excellent reasoning for giving it a try.  I hope you find the article helpful:
http://www.active.com/swimming/Articles/10-Elements-of-a-Perfect-Freestyle-Stroke-Part-1.htm

I hope you find this information helpful and motivating, and that you are enjoying working on improving your health, with whatever activites you choose.

Mary R.