Off into the cool water!
Into the water and into pure training pleasure: Swimming is the ideal sport for everyone who wants to train their stamina and muscles at the same time and lose a few kilos at the same time. We will show you the advantages of swimming and give you tips for a clean technique and training in the water with lifeguard training.
Swimming is very healthy
Breaststroke or swimming in general is not only an effective cardiovascular workout, it also trains the heart muscle. Because the water pressure squeezes the blood vessels on the skin’s surface. This forces the blood back into the chest and the heart has to work hard against it. This gradually increases the volume of the heart. The heart rate drops, the body becomes more efficient and stable.
Swimming also ensures that the legs are well supplied with blood and thus strengthens the veins. The water pressure does even more good things: Because breathing in is more strenuous, the respiratory muscles are strengthened. Swimming is particularly easy on the joints and also suitable for people who find it difficult to do other sports: Because we only have to carry 1/7 of our body weight in the water, swimming is ideal for people who are overweight or have joint or back problems.
Swimming is a real all-round sport
During swimming training – regardless of whether it’s breaststroke, crawl or backstroke – you work all muscle groups evenly. This is how you build up muscles all around and you will be rewarded with a tight and defined body. Of course, there are different focal points of the muscle load with the different swimming styles. But they only really have a noticeable effect on competitive athletes.
Swimming not only strengthens the muscles in your legs, but is also a very effective form of fitness and endurance training . Anyone who has swum briskly for half an hour knows that swimming has little to do with “going for a swim” and is really exhausting. Swimming is at least as effective as jogging , but much gentler on the joints.
Swimming makes you slim
you want to get rid of a few pounds and keep your desired weight effortlessly? Then into the water! Swimming is a real slimmer! You burn a lot of calories in the water and the sustained muscle mass in the arms and legs increases the body’s basal metabolic rate over the long term, i.e. the calorie consumption at rest.
It has even been scientifically proven that swimming training is an effective fat burner. The study by the Institute for Prevention and Aftercare (IPN) from Cologne has shown that the energy and fat consumption is just as high when swimming as when cycling. An hour of breaststroke uses about 531 kilocalories (kcal) – the same as cycling. And anyone who manages to crawl in the water for 1 hour even burns up to 900 kilocalories (depending on age, gender and basal metabolic rate).
HAMMER expert tip
If you want to lose weight while swimming, the water temperature should be either below or above 26 degrees. Because at 26 degrees, the heat exchange between body and water is in balance. Only below or above does the body have to expend energy to regulate the body temperature in the water. So you burn extra calories with every movement.
Swimming is cheap
In terms of value for money, jogging can only keep up with swimming. Because you don’t need much to experience the advantages of swimming training: swimming trunks or suit, swimming cap, swimming goggles and a 10-ticket for the next swimming pool. You already have the perfect equipment for your new favorite sport.
Breaststroke or crawl?
The time has come: the jump into the water is done. And how does it go on? Do you prefer breaststroke or front crawl? What’s healthier? What makes you fitter? Which technique and movement is better for the body in the water?
To make it short: Both swimming styles are healthy and make you fit – as long as you do them correctly and avoid mistakes. Crawling burns more calories and is a more intense cardiovascular workout. However, this style is not for everyone because the view is severely restricted, which is uncomfortable in busy pools. For this reason, the actually very healthy backstroke is also difficult to implement. Unless you have a private pool.
Learning to swim properly – that’s how it works
Although most people can, in principle, “swim” in order to do it correctly, it is often necessary to learn to swim “properly” again. Because many have acquired the wrong technique over the years, be it the arm pull, the leg kick or the entire movement when swimming. And this not only affects the speed, but also unnecessarily burdens the body. The right technique in the water is everything. Therefore, below we give you some tips for the stroke styles breaststroke and front crawl, so that your legs, your head, your arms and thus your entire body in the water practice the correct swimming technique.
learn to crawl
When swimming freestyle, you move your arms and legs alternately towards each other. The legs beat up and down with almost straight knees and loose ankles, while after diving in you pull your arms vigorously through the water in front of your head.
IMPORTANT: Place your hands and forearms against the direction of swimming for as long as possible!
The arm, shoulder and chest muscles, as well as the buttocks and front thigh muscles are particularly challenged when crawling. Thanks to the rotation around the longitudinal axis of the body, you also train the mobility and strength of the lateral trunk muscles..
