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Swim Your Way to Fitness


by Adam Anderson

Are you spending hours after hours in the gym trying to get fit, why not try swimming as an alternative. Swimming is a great alternative to your regular exercise, and it will help your conditioning. In this article I will give you a few great tips and a suggestion on a weekly schedule.

Okay, so now you're ready, you are at the pool. But before you go in, here is a few reminders. Do not eat a big meal before any type of exercising, that includes swimming. Instead, try eating a power bar or a protein shake. If you eat to much before exercising your blood will rush from your muscles into your stomach, and that is not a good thing. Take a few minutes to stretch and get mentally prepared for your exercise.

The difference between swimming and weight training is with weight training, you can only work different muscles so much before they get sore. With swimming, you can exercise every day of the week. In the beginning we recommend you go swimming four to six times a week. If you don't have the time, one or two times a week is also fine. You have to find a way so that it works with your schedule.

Monday, start with long distance swimming. Swim for 30 minutes and see how far you get. Make a note of it. The goal here is to swim further in the specified time every week. When starting out, find a good rhythm for you. You do not want to get burn out in your first week.

Wednesday, go for a high intensity workout. On Wednesdays, you should be focusing on interval training with more focus on speed and time. The idea is to swim as fast as you can for one minute, then slower for two minutes and then go faster again for one minute. Then repeat. Try to swim for at least 30 minutes. Increase the intensity of the workouts as the weeks progress.

Friday, this is medley day. On Fridays, you should try to swim "medley". This is when you swim using different techniques.

Saturday, this may not be the most fun day. Select the technique you feel needs the most improvement and work on that.

Try this program for six weeks. May find that you want to change to schedule a little bit, that's fine. Again, make sure the schedule works for you. Also, make sure you eat right and stick to schedule.

Good luck, I wish you all the best!To learn more about different exercising techniques or get more ideas on how to exercise, visit: http://www.freehealthinfonow.com

Article Source: EzineArticles.com