Morning Swim
Start Your Day Early In The Pool
An early morning swim can be just what you need.
Imagine you wake up on a hot summer day. The sun is gazing through the window and you can hear the birds twitter outside. Then picture yourself hopping out of bed, taking a few strolls out the door and into the pool. Ooh so sweet!
Now that would sure be a great way to get anyone to wake up! But even if you don't have a nearby pool or lake, it's still a viable option for you.
The great with swimming if you really love it is that it can be enough to motivate you to get out of bed really early in the morning. The feeling of being free in the water is unbeatable.
Let's go through to clarify when swimming can be a good alternative, why it's so good and how to get the most out of a morning swim.
Why Is Swimming In The Morning So Good?
Swimming in the morning can actually be great for a number of reasons:
- As a great workout
- As rehabilitation after an injury
- It gives you a sense of freedom
- As just another awesome way of waking up
The most obvious benefit of a morning swim is that you truly get a good workout. Most of your muscles are involved which makes it ideal after a long sleep. It really gets you moving and it does it in a smooth and easy way with very low risk of injury.
Most people also feel a sense of freedom when in the water, and that is a very strong feeling you might want to carry with you throughout your day.
As I said, it can be really good as morning exercise. Just remember to eat something first, otherwise you're gonna start burning your body's storage and in worst case your muscles. So I would recommend having a banana and some cereal before swimming. Then afterwards you probably want to have a bigger breakfast to fill your body with some calories and protein after working out.
I'm not saying you have to make swimming an everyday habit but use it as an alternative together with other ways to start your day. Perhaps swimming Monday and Thursday would work. You don't want to take to big breaks between your sessions though. The longer you wait between swimming, the harder it becomes the next time to get all those specific swimming muscles back to shape again...
How To Get The Most Out Of Your Swimming
It would really recommend you to take a chance to develop your swimming skills each morning. That makes it all much more fun when you get to see the progress. Also, remember to start slowly by warming up for a while first.
Regarding if you should swim long/short, fast/slow, crawl/breast - now that's all up to you. Why not give some tips in the comments below to let everyone else know what works for you.
Since I am a fan of more intense workouts, I tend to do sprint type exercises in the pool. For example:
- Swim 100 meters in high tempo
- Rest 2 minutes
- Swim 50 meters in high tempo
- Rest 1 minute
- Swim 25 meters in high tempo
- Rest 3 minutes
- Repeat from the top, at least 5 times
The above is quite a heavy workout and I know most people like to go for longer uninterrupted swims. That's no problem, simply do what is best for you and you will soon reap the benefits. Myself, I just don't have the stamina for longer swims :-)
So, go for a morning swim once in a while. I'm sure there's at least a public swimming pool you can access nearby. It's just such a great feeling in the morning and then you can carry this energy with you throughout your day.
Good luck and swim safe!
Early Riser > Morning Exercise > Morning Swim
Thanks for reading! By Matthew M. McEwan
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