At Sneppies, we believe it is important to get the most from every swim. That is why we have put together a list of tips to help you get a little more from each session. These tips are suitable for both competitive and recreational swimmers.
- Make sure you are fit and free from injury!
- Stretching
- Follow a good diet
- Ask for feedback
- Focus on what is not going well too
- Follow a training plan
Make sure you are fit and free from injury!
This may sound obvious, but many swimmers find it difficult in practice. If you have an injury, wait until you are fully fit before gradually returning to training. Prevention is better than cure, so always make sure you do a warm-up and cool-down before and after swimming (and any other sport).
Stretching
Spending 5 to 10 minutes each day working on your flexibility offers plenty of benefits both in and out of the pool. Apart from making your muscles more flexible and your joints easier to move, it also improves your circulation. This helps your body provide the muscles with nutrients more effectively and recover faster.
Daily stretching can also help reduce stress. This, in turn, can make it easier to improve your posture. Research also shows that stretching can help you sleep more easily and get better-quality sleep.
Follow a good diet
Fuel those muscles! Your body uses energy during exercise, and this needs to be replenished. That is why it is important to follow a healthy and varied diet. This diet should take into account how many calories you use and what you want to achieve. If you want to make progress in swimming (or any other sport), providing your muscles with enough nutrients is even more important than the exercise itself.
Ask for feedback
If you want to improve at something, you almost always need feedback. Other people can often spot things that could be improved more quickly and easily. So ask your coach or a fellow swimmer to watch you while you swim. You will soon identify small areas for improvement that can make swimming much easier.
Focus on what is not going well too
Almost everyone knows the feeling: there is one part of your technique that is not quite right, or one stroke you keep getting wrong. That is perfectly normal and part of the process. Still, it is important to identify these small mistakes so you can focus on them and improve.
Focus on what is not going well too
Almost everyone knows the feeling: there is one part of your technique that is not quite right, or one stroke you keep getting wrong. That is perfectly normal and part of the process. Still, it is important to identify these small mistakes so you can focus on them and improve.