Not sure if this has been asked here... For me, the first reason is that I don't want to be drowned in case of accident :cool: . The last reason is that I'm proud to tell people I swim :D . In between there are a lot of other reasons.
What about you? :confused:
Parents
Former Member
I've been swimming all of my life, competitively and not competitively. I'm not swimming competitively anymore. The swimming has become cross-training for other things. It's the best cross-training for three other things that I do.
(1) mountaineering. Long-haul 1000-2000 yd sets are wonderful for putting the pedal to the floor and sustaining it, nonstop for a good 12+ minutes. The training that swimming does for the breathing turns into nice, efficient slogging at high altitudes with thin air. It also enables good climbing skirts past avalanche areas where stopping becomes a danger.
(2) backcountry skiing. If you love swimming, you'll love this too. It feels about the same to me. It's a total body workout.
(3) biathlons. The long swimming sets make you really familiar with your heart rates and breathing rates. Controlling and timing your breathing and heart beats are an edge for holding a target rifle and squeezing off shots. Call me a masochist, but I love to get my heart and lungs pounding to an extreme at the instant of trying to do something steady with dexterity. I really enjoy the challenge of combining two extremes. In high school, it used to be water polo and then youth symphony practice.
Oh yah. If I don't jack up my heart rate, I feel sleepy all the time, so much that I have a hard time staying awake.
I've been swimming all of my life, competitively and not competitively. I'm not swimming competitively anymore. The swimming has become cross-training for other things. It's the best cross-training for three other things that I do.
(1) mountaineering. Long-haul 1000-2000 yd sets are wonderful for putting the pedal to the floor and sustaining it, nonstop for a good 12+ minutes. The training that swimming does for the breathing turns into nice, efficient slogging at high altitudes with thin air. It also enables good climbing skirts past avalanche areas where stopping becomes a danger.
(2) backcountry skiing. If you love swimming, you'll love this too. It feels about the same to me. It's a total body workout.
(3) biathlons. The long swimming sets make you really familiar with your heart rates and breathing rates. Controlling and timing your breathing and heart beats are an edge for holding a target rifle and squeezing off shots. Call me a masochist, but I love to get my heart and lungs pounding to an extreme at the instant of trying to do something steady with dexterity. I really enjoy the challenge of combining two extremes. In high school, it used to be water polo and then youth symphony practice.
Oh yah. If I don't jack up my heart rate, I feel sleepy all the time, so much that I have a hard time staying awake.
