Do you think that the only way to effectively improve your cardio is to increase your intensity training sessions such as outdoor interval sessions or HIIT sessions at home? Well no ! We are going to prove to you that it is entirely possible to do cardio while swimming and that it is even an excellent way to boost your performance. You want to know more ? Follow us !
Swimming a complete and low impact sport!
Swimming is a complete sport that is suitable for as many people as possible . Indeed, pregnant women, injured athletes, overweight men or women, anyone wanting to get back in shape, everyone can practice it. For what ? The secret lies in the water. It carries your body and accompanies all your movements. Result: your joints are protected and your muscles work with resistance . In fact, you make efforts without realizing it and you strengthen your body , particularly your back, abdominals, arms, legs and buttocks. Your heart rate increases and your blood circulation is stimulated . Swimming even has a positive impact on the mind: it's a truly relaxing activity that makes you feel good . The ideal sport to take care of your health.
Cardio and swimming: a winning duo
Can cardio and swimming be combined? Everything will depend on how you choose to practice this activity. To begin with, only good swimming technique will allow you to progress towards intensive training . This is why it is advisable to start by taking lessons or using a coach or specialist trainer. Once you have learned the basics, you can combine swimming and cardio training . How ? Pay attention to the quality and speed of your movements. They are the ones who will decide the intensity of your effort . Swimming is a demanding discipline and can be tiring. Take it gradually and let your body get used to it. Subsequently, if you practice this activity regularly, you will notice the many benefits it brings in terms of endurance and VMA . Know it, swimming is an excellent ally for those who want to perform in sports such as running, trail running, ultra-trail running and it perfectly complements fitness training.
Example of a program for doing cardio while swimming
Do you want to combine cardio training and swimming, but you don't know how? We invite you to discover an ideal program to get started:
- Start by warming up for 10 minutes by choosing the swim that suits you or possibly by cycling in your pool (the famous aquabiking), or a short jump rope exercise at the edge of the pool before diving.
- Now define a distance and practice 5 minutes of acceleration, especially with crawl kicks. How ? Start slowly and gradually increase your effort. The goal ? Reach your maximum speed!
- Then, for around ten minutes , do exercises that will allow you to improve your swimming technique . On the program: belly sliding exercises, sculling drill or sculling. What is this ? The front glide is an essential technique in breaststroke: the arms are extended, your head is aligned with the rest of the body. It improves the hydrodynamics of your posture and thus reduces water resistance. The sculling drill is a rowing exercise while the sculling is a movement that softens and strengthens the arms. They are used in synchronized swimming.
- To continue, decide to swim, as many times as you can, a distance previously chosen according to your level. Your goal is not to exhaust yourself, but rather to control your speed and movements in order to maintain a continuous rhythm. This way, your cardiovascular system is stimulated, your calories are burned and your muscles are strengthened. That’s cardio!
- Finally, recover by doing a few swims without hurrying.
The Stimium range goes very well for swimmers, and we are proud to support the biggest French swimming clubs in their physical preparation. The most relevant products for swimmers include:
- Stimium Thermoshape , very used in particular in boxing to be in weight, to burn fat because swimmers must remain as fit as possible to have the best possible glide and gain the few seconds which can make it reach a level, thanks to a weight of optimum form.
- Stimium® PreWorkOut Max used in training by swimmers to improve resistance to effort and prepare the body for muscle strengthening loads, which are increasingly numerous.
- Stimium Pwr Creatine and Power Creatine Tabs , for the ability of our creatine to increase the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) while participating in muscle building
- Stimium® Pro-Nrj Caps , before each start of a session or training.
- Stimium BCAA Instant , L-leucine L-isoleucine L-valine L-glutamine to help muscle development and muscle recovery by helping to reduce exercise-related fatigue.
- Stimium® Iso Hwy because it is low in sugar and fat and very high in protein, for better muscle regeneration.
- Stimium Boost Powder for a complete refill in the bottle with carbohydrates and vitamins to take during poolside sessions.
- Stimium Bacopa to make you more "focused" by acting on strengthening concentration, allowing you to manage stress, increasing motivation in order to intensify efforts and increasing the speed of processing information.
-Stimium® Mc3 or Stimium® Mc3 powder to reduce the risk of cramps, and to combat muscle fatigue, after sessions and training.
- Stimium® Rgn3 Reload or Stimium® Rgn3 Clean-Up to restock vitamins and minerals after exercise.
- Stimium GABA , because in addition to its action on increasing cardiac output, Stimium GABA lowers muscle tension, reducing muscle spasms (muscle-relaxing neurotransmitter) while also having an action on improving the quality of sleep.
- Stimium MVM with its 13 vitamins and 12 minerals and Stimium SPIRU and our organic spirulina dosed at 500mg, with highly bioavailable vitamins and minerals
- on the cardio part, do not hesitate to take Stimium GABA and/or Stimium OMG as a treatment to give even more strength to your heart and improve your breathing.
And finally Stimium® Joint Flex in treatment to avoid joint problems, at the time of your biggest training sessions, to prevent any joint or cartilage problems, swimmers being generally quite muscular and fit with heavy joint demands and muscles during training outside the pool.
Doing cardio training while swimming can be interesting for anyone who wants to break the monotony of a program or escape harsh weather conditions, in winter for example. Very quickly, we realize that this way of doing things brings real benefits that we cannot find anywhere else, particularly in terms of muscle relaxation. To go further, we can also test extensive endurance. What is this ? We train by crawling at low intensity!
