Photo by Mali Maeder from Pexels
My first triathlon for the season is happening this weekend, and I'm a little pumped. I've been working hard and even though I still don't think I'm in peak shape, I think I'm close, so looking forward to what I can do this year as a result.
Triathlon was not my original sport though. I was a runner, and to tell you the truth, I hated swimming. I actually grew up surfing at the beach on my school holidays, but jumping into a chlorine filled pool was the worst thing I could ever think of doing. Things kinda changed as I got older though. I started getting into the pool to give an injured knee and hip a break and after a short while found the constant laps up and down the pool soothing, meditative and as I improved, started to love it.
It's definitely helped my running too. So for this weeks "Fast Friday" I want to go through 5 benefits a runner will get if they include swimming as part of their cross training.
It Will Help Build Endurance. Even when your sprinting in the pool, your heart rate will rarely get out of aerobic training zones. So the majority of the time you're swimming in the pool, you're training your aerobic base.
It Gives Your Legs A Break. Even if you're planning to be kicking a lot while you're swimming, you legs will be thanking you for the break from the constant pounding on the pavement. It will also stretch out the body, including your spine.
Improves Recovery. Being submerged in water has a similar effect to using compression gear. The hydro static effect of water will pump blood around your body to help you recover.
Helps Improve Core Strength. Remember all the times you said you would do your core exercises and didn’t, well swimming is one of the best core workouts you can do.
Swimming Can Help You Run Faster. A study published in the "European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology" found that runners who included regular swim sessions into their training, improved their run times over 3.2km by an average of 13 seconds.
About the Author
Hey I'm Vince, an Aussie living in New Zealand, trying my best to make the most of the time I have. I work as a Software Engineer but love to run and all aspects of it, including geeking out on the latest science to help get the most out of my body.
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