Learn how to choose the right swimming style to work all muscle groups and not get tired. In order for the positive effects of swimming to be noticeable, it is necessary to visit the pool three times a week. In addition, you need to follow the technique and alternate the swimming styles you use in the pool. On the net you can find a lot of information about this, but we will try to tell you about all the most important so as not to overload you with unnecessary knowledge.
What types of swimming are there?
People decide to start going to the pool for a variety of reasons. It is for this reason that there are various types of swimming, which we will now briefly talk about. For some, swimming is just a way to recover, while others may dream of climbing the Olympic podium. Here are the types of swimming that can be distinguished:
- Sports - various kinds of water sports, in which it is necessary to overcome a certain distance in the shortest possible period of time.
- Applied - here it is necessary to understand the ability to overcome various water obstacles, say, the salvation of a drowning person.
- Synchronous - performance of various technically complex elements in water.
- Play - various sports and recreational activities in the water, for example, water polo.
- Wellness - a set of medical and preventive procedures to improve a person's tone.
- Underwater - diving deep into natural reservoirs.
- Diving is a sport in which athletes perform difficult diving.
All these types of swimming can improve health and for this it is necessary to adhere to a certain program of classes, which depends on the tasks you set.
Contraindications to swimming
Although this sport is rightfully considered the safest, some contraindications still exist:
- Genetic diseases of the heart muscle.
- Serious stages of syphilis and tuberculosis.
- Problems with the work of internal organs, in which there is a high risk of bleeding.
- Severe disorders of the intestinal tract.
- Damage to the elements of the articular-ligamentous apparatus.
- The presence of viral and infectious diseases.
- Certain diseases of the skin.
- Serious liver and kidney problems.
- Epilepsy.
- Convulsive tendency.
You probably noticed that this list mainly contains diseases of a chronic nature, as well as diseases accompanied by severe inflammatory processes and serious disorders in the work of internal organs. In other words, if a person has been diagnosed with a serious illness, then he cannot be engaged in swimming.
Swimming history
Below we will talk about those swimming styles in the pool that are most often used, and now a brief historical excursion. Man learned to swim at the dawn of his history, as evidenced by the evidence found by archaeologists. Swimming was first used as one of the sports on the territory of Ancient Greece.
If we talk about the first swimming competition, historians managed to find documents according to which it was held in Venice in 1515. It is quite obvious that swimming has its own history in our state. The Slavs always swam well and actively used this skill for military purposes.
Even under Peter the Great, all servicemen had to undergo swimming training. Such a well-known Russian commander as Suvorov also paid great attention to this. In 1835, the first swimming school was established in St. Petersburg, and in 1891 the first swimming pool was built. For the first time, swimmers established a sports organization in 1869, and this event took place in England. By the end of the 19th century, similar organizations were created in many states, including Russia. At the same time, they began to build swimming pools. The first artificial reservoir was created in 143 (Vienna). Swimming also appeared in the Olympic Games as a competitive sport in the late 19th century. Namely in 1894.
Pool Swimming Styles: Features
Today, swimmers use four styles of pool swimming, which differ significantly from a technical point of view. It should be said that swimming technique must be understood as a system of movements, thanks to which a person's motor abilities can be transformed into high results.
The swimming technique assumes the presence of a certain shape, character, interaction of movements, as well as the ability of a person to use all the forces acting on the body to move forward. Swimming technique has been constantly improved and continues to evolve. Already in ancient Egypt, archaeologists have found drawings depicting swimmers using styles similar to the modern breaststroke and crawl. Let's take a look at the technicalities of all pool swimming styles.
Freestyle (crawl)
In sports, the concept of "freestyle" means the ability of an athlete to choose to use a particular swimming style. Today, this is the crawl, but it was not always so. Until the early twentieth century, athletes were more likely to use breaststroke, side swimming, and trejen style. But already in the twenties, almost all swimmers switched to using the crawl as the fastest swimming style in the pool. People have used the crawl since time immemorial, but the breaststroke was the most popular among athletes in the 19th century. This particular style has been the most popular for several centuries.
European athletes began to return to the use of the crawl again after the competition in the capital of England, which took place in 1844. Then the English swimmers were easily bypassed by the American Indians who used the crawl. Note that the modern crawl did not appear immediately and its prototype was the tended style. The main difference between these pool swimming styles was the movement of the legs, which moved in a horizontal plane. The modern crawl appeared in the late twenties thanks to the efforts of American athletes and completely replaced other styles.
During crawl swimming, the athlete makes wide alternating stroking movements with his arms, and his legs simultaneously move in a vertical plane. The face at the time of swimming is mainly in the water. Only periodically, the head turns to the side so that the athlete takes a breath.
Backstroke
At first, European athletes used the so-called inverted breaststroke. This continued until 1912, when the American athlete Hebner used an inverted crawl. Backstroke involves alternating arm strokes and simultaneous vertical leg work. Since the athlete is on his back, the face is located above the water most of the time. This is not the fastest swimming style in the pool, however, higher speeds can be developed compared to breaststroke.
Breaststroke
The breaststroke swimming technique consists in performing simultaneous symmetrical movements of the arms and legs in a horizontal plane. Breaststroke is the slowest of all swimming styles. At the same time, this is the least energy-consuming way of swimming, which allows you to swim a long distance.
Butterfly
This swimming style involves simultaneous symmetrical movements of the right and left halves of the body. Making a powerful stroke with both hands, the athlete's chest rises above the water. Simultaneously with this, wave-like symmetrical movements of the legs are performed. The speed of movement of the butterfly is second only to the crawl. Also note that this is the most energy-consuming style of pool swimming.
Swimming in the pool and losing weight
With regular swimming, you can quickly get rid of excess weight. But this is not the only advantage of this sport, as you have the opportunity to tighten all the muscles of the body, which will make the figure even more attractive. It should also be remembered that water can take the load off the spinal column, which is also extremely beneficial for health. However, to lose weight, it is necessary to follow certain rules and simply floundering in water for a dozen or a little more minutes will be clearly not enough.
At that moment, when a person is simply trying to keep his body on the water. About 300 calories are burned in an hour. But this is more characteristic of swimming in natural deep waters. But sea water, due to its higher density, is able to independently keep the body afloat, which is completely useless from the point of view of losing weight.
Let's find out how you should swim to lose fat. First and foremost, you should achieve a heart rate of 130 to 160 beats per minute. Only in this case, lipolysis processes are activated, and you can get rid of 600 calories in 60 minutes.
This is an average value, and the exact figure for energy expenditure will depend on several factors, such as swimming style in the pool, speed and body weight. The more muscle mass you have. The more actively energy is spent. You should also alternate between different styles while maintaining the correct heart rate.
You can, say, swim in different styles for five minutes, and the total duration of the lesson should be at least half an hour. Note that each swimming style assumes the maximum work of certain muscles. This is another argument in favor of changing styles, which will allow you to perfectly tighten all the muscles in your body.
A detailed breakdown of each swimming style in the following story:
