https://community.usms.org/swimming/f/general/4852/need-advice-on-swimming-related-to-fitnessHi everyone, i really need some advice and this board seems to be filled with knowledgable people. First off im a 23yo, male that is currently in my 6th week of police academy here in maryland. I want to give some background before i go into the questionsen-USTelligent Community 12https://community.usms.org/thread/58563?ContentTypeID=1Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:58:17 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:59fe8ac6-19a0-4ebd-8f3e-04be66e02572dorothyrdeIf they have deep water, I know injured runners who aquajog to keep in shape for running. That might be one way to use the pool. you don&#39;t mention if you have ever had swimming lessons or know how to swim. I learned as an adult and trying to do it on my own would not have worked, so if you have never learned, you need to find lessons.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/58533?ContentTypeID=1Mon, 12 Feb 2007 02:10:08 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:0415dfcf-889e-4c5f-804d-034997dea0c3FindingMyInnerFishIf you don&#39;t want to spend the $ on an individual coach, you might find it worth checking out if the gym has adult swim classes. These are grouped by ability so you won&#39;t likely be put into a group too advanced or too basic for you. Or once you&#39;ve been swimming a while, maybe look into joining a masters&#39; group (so you can get feedback from the coach(es) and sometimes other swimmers. As a runner, I can tell you for sure that swimming has helped my running! More endurance, faster running workouts (tho I&#39;m still a pretty slow swimmer... oh well!).<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/58450?ContentTypeID=1Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:08:03 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:eb008f82-64ec-43ce-9d7f-629a701a639cFormer MemberWelcome to the board Cross 18. I think you&#39;re right about swimming helping your overall fitness as well as giving your knees a break. I also have bad knees. I remember a few years back when I was around 280 pounds and skinney bird legs, that jogging (and even walking) was just way too hard on my knees and my feet in general. So I got back into swimming instead to lose weight and bring up my fitness level....I use to swim competitevelyback in high school and college (which was about 18 years prior to this) and I had done a little masters swimming about 5 years prior....So luckily my body still remembered the basic feeling and it didn&#39;t take me long to get back into shape and lose over 80 pounds in a year. I think you should start slowly (depending on your swimming background) and over a period of 2 to 3 months you should start to notice some substantial improvements in your swimming. I realize that your fitness test is in April but I still think you can benefit from swimming between now and then. As far as equipment goes....You might want to consider a pull buoy to help keep your back end more bouyant. Also you might want to consider purchasing some videos and maybe a book or two on basic swimming technique and drills....I reccomend TI (total immersion) and/or Smooth swimming as two good sources of information about beggining swimming and developing good techniques...It would really be great if you could get a professional coach or trainer to help you as well....but I realize that that could be a little pricey. I wish you all the best on your swimmming endeavors (and keep us posted on your progress). Newmastersswimmer<div style="clear:both;"></div>