I wanted to get your advice on learning how to swim given my situation. I'm a 39 yr. old male who didn't learn how to properly swim as a kid. I took some classes a few years ago and can swim (freestyle) a few meters with not the best technique. Fast-forward to the present, I had a neck injury a few months ago and turns out I have a bulging disk c4-c5 and Dr doesn't want me jogging/running, so I asked if I could take on swimming he said yes but with a swimmers snorkel. One of the problems with swimming for me is that my hips/legs start to sink.
Do you think I can learn proper stroke technique if I used a pull buoy and a swimmers snorkel? Would you not suggest this setup? Would this setup teach me how to keep my hips/legs up? I know I should be learning proper breathing technique but at the moment I shouldn't be rotating my neck. My objective is to get into the water and get a good cardio workout and at the same time if I could start learning proper stroke technique that would be great.
Find a friend that will let you try it... If you like the snorkel, buy one and get better.
And, if you find you don't like snorkels (I hate 'em), don't despair. You can still work on your head position and stroke symmetry by just breathing less. I know breath-holding is generally used as a hypoxic training technique. I routinely do 25s on a 45s interval. The goal isn't hypoxic training or speed (I'm generally only swimming about 22 seconds per 25), but trying to perfect my stroke. I generally take a couple breaths per 25. Again, I'm not aiming for hypoxic training. The occasional breath minimizes that allows me to work on putting my stroke back together after a breath (or not work on not having it fall apart after a breath in the first place).
Find a friend that will let you try it... If you like the snorkel, buy one and get better.
And, if you find you don't like snorkels (I hate 'em), don't despair. You can still work on your head position and stroke symmetry by just breathing less. I know breath-holding is generally used as a hypoxic training technique. I routinely do 25s on a 45s interval. The goal isn't hypoxic training or speed (I'm generally only swimming about 22 seconds per 25), but trying to perfect my stroke. I generally take a couple breaths per 25. Again, I'm not aiming for hypoxic training. The occasional breath minimizes that allows me to work on putting my stroke back together after a breath (or not work on not having it fall apart after a breath in the first place).
