How often should you swim?
How often should you swim? And for how long?
Ask one hundred people and I suspect you'd get one hundred different replies. I haven't done it so I can't be certain but it seems probable. For sure there is never going to be one definitive answer which fits everyone. Nevertheless, it's an issue which does have its merits and is worth at least a little consideration.
The merits are well documented. It provides a low-impact full-body workout increasing one's cardio-vascular performance and flexibility. As such it is a sport which remains open to us throughout our lives. Credible claims are made for beneficial effects on mental well-being and, through the release of endorphins, a post-exercise “high” particularly from those swimming in cold water.
So why don't we swim all the time to the point where we might expect to develop fins and gills?
Of course, real-life concerns are a great part of that with competing demands on our time coming from family and work etc. but, all things being equal, is there an optimum amount of time in the water we should be aiming for each week?
The first factor to consider is your motivation for swimming. Are you training for an event? Is this your main (perhaps only) form of exercise? Are you trying to improve your stroke (if not, why not?!). Do you swim with others or alone? i.e. is there a social as well as a physical aspect to your swimming?) And last, but by no means least, how good are you?
We'll leave those with a steely eye and grim set to their mouth focussed on the completion of some impressive endurance goal to one side for the moment. Whatever regime they are adhering to currently, it is unlikely to remain at such intensity after the event.
I think for the average sportsman or woman the best approach is usually, little and often. To be most effective, swim sessions don't need to be marathons. Twenty minutes in the water is OK, forty minutes swimming is absolutely fine, an hour around the maximum. If you can fit in two swims a week that's great; three is even better. All swimmers need to acclimatise to working in a different medium and a different orientation than normal. This process becomes quicker and easier the more you do it enabling you to find that “feel” for the water and to work with it not against it.
It largely depends on what you're doing as well. Twenty minutes of solid work on an aspect of your stroke which needs improvement will be far more beneficial than forty minutes of heads-up breaststroke having a natter about the telly. Albeit that the former will not help you keep up with the latest developments on Love Island – or whatever mind-numbing reality show is currently being shown and hyped in the newspapers.
Variety, though, is the spice of life, so don't be afraid to mix things up a bit. A couple of serious sessions honing a specific cue (probably alone) can be interspersed with some purely social dips with friends. For some sessions you could concentrate on speed work; others on endurance skills. Consider swimming with different strokes and, if possible, try to swim in a variety of locations, both in a pool and open water. The aim should be to avoid “burnout” where swimming becomes a chore and not a pleasure.
But, throughout, note the effects on your body. After a swim do you feel relaxed – or invigorated – or are you stiff and aching? Remember pain, any kind of pain, is a warning from your body that something isn't right and therefore something needs to be changed. If you are swimming on a regular and frequent basis but with poor technique, you will be doing more harm than good. And the more you do it the more likely it is that those bad habits will become the norm causing discomfort now and goodness knows what problems in the future. A good rule of thumb is, if you're not doing it well, don't do it at all. Far better to drop down to shorter, perhaps less frequent sessions focussed on improvement rather than speed or endurance and to get the fundamentals right before returning to a more intense program.
In summary, then I would say there are two main considerations to take into account when deciding how much you should swim. First assess if you are likely to be doing damage to your body rather than benefitting it and second, make sure you are enjoying it. Virtually everything else falls out of those two things.
(By the way, in case you've missed it and been wondering what's going on in Love Island, Candice isn't talking to Darren since she caught him snogging Shaz. DJ has been doing press-ups by the pool but has impressed no one, Shantell has been sporting a very skimpy bikini but so far the camera angles have been all wrong and Roger and Shirley popped over from the villa next door to ask them if they could keep the noise down. Probably. Don't know really. I haven't watched it. Don't intend to, but they all seem to be along those lines. Meanwhile, I'm off to the pool)