I overheard some ladies talking yesterday and instructing their kids not to get in the ocean. Here are two of their reasons: 1) they just had lunch and lady said you'll get cramps, you can't swim for an hour, and 2) your face will turn to scales while food is in your stomach.
Later, a young woman was advising me on my newest problem, leg cramps, and she told me it was impossible for me to get leg cramps because I wasn't sprinting. She said that leg cramping is caused from dehydration and only a person who sprints will get dehydrated; not distance people, so she suggested I see a doctor.
We all know these are pretty ridiculous, have you overheard anyone advising others about "their myths?" The people making these comments were from England.
Parents
Former Member
Try this for floating on your back. My wife showed me this, because I have always had sagging legs floating on my back.
Put your arms straight alongside your ears with the palms up. Then bend the wrists so that the hands are pointing to the sky (ceiling). I have no idea why this works (the physics doesn't seem to fit) but my feet immediately come to the surface and I can float on my back for long periods this way.
Let me know if this works for anyone else.
It generally works for everybody.
In a normal standing position the center of mass for your body (usually in your abdominal/hip area) is different than your center of buoyancy (usually in your chest/lung area). The center of mass is always below the center of buoyancy (think of a hot air balloon).
Your center of mass changes depending on the position of body parts (especially the arms), and the center of buoyancy changes in relation to body position (standing vs. prone). The easiest way to float is to bring the two center points of mass and buoyancy closer together.
By extending your arms straight behind/over/in-front-of your head when floating you are changing the balance point in relation to your center of buoyancy, shifting more mass above the buoyancy point, which helps to pull your legs up. (Yes, the fulcrum thingy.) Flexing your wrists and pointing the fingers to the sky, while bending the knees, further shifts the center of mass. This usually allows the bulk of the body to be kept more horizontal in the water, thus bringing the centers of buoyancy and mass that much closer together.
This is the same principal that is behind “front quadrant swimming”. Which uses the arms to shift the balance point further forward as you move through the water, thus making it easier to maintain a more relaxed, streamlined position while swimming.
Here are two articles by Coach Emmett Hines at the USMS site that i found exceptionally useful:
Swimming in Circles (on "Front Quadrant Swimming")
Of Gravity and Air (or Is Your Head Attached?) (on Mass and Buoyancy)
Try this for floating on your back. My wife showed me this, because I have always had sagging legs floating on my back.
Put your arms straight alongside your ears with the palms up. Then bend the wrists so that the hands are pointing to the sky (ceiling). I have no idea why this works (the physics doesn't seem to fit) but my feet immediately come to the surface and I can float on my back for long periods this way.
Let me know if this works for anyone else.
It generally works for everybody.
In a normal standing position the center of mass for your body (usually in your abdominal/hip area) is different than your center of buoyancy (usually in your chest/lung area). The center of mass is always below the center of buoyancy (think of a hot air balloon).
Your center of mass changes depending on the position of body parts (especially the arms), and the center of buoyancy changes in relation to body position (standing vs. prone). The easiest way to float is to bring the two center points of mass and buoyancy closer together.
By extending your arms straight behind/over/in-front-of your head when floating you are changing the balance point in relation to your center of buoyancy, shifting more mass above the buoyancy point, which helps to pull your legs up. (Yes, the fulcrum thingy.) Flexing your wrists and pointing the fingers to the sky, while bending the knees, further shifts the center of mass. This usually allows the bulk of the body to be kept more horizontal in the water, thus bringing the centers of buoyancy and mass that much closer together.
This is the same principal that is behind “front quadrant swimming”. Which uses the arms to shift the balance point further forward as you move through the water, thus making it easier to maintain a more relaxed, streamlined position while swimming.
Here are two articles by Coach Emmett Hines at the USMS site that i found exceptionally useful:
Swimming in Circles (on "Front Quadrant Swimming")
Of Gravity and Air (or Is Your Head Attached?) (on Mass and Buoyancy)
