Learning to swim after 40
mcc2377
Posts: 7
Just got back from my second lesson. I am taking private lessons at our local college rec center. I am discouraged. I took lessons as an adult about 5 years and 50 lbs. ago but never practiced. Now I am so out of shape and breath I feel like giving up. I played volleyball in high school and college. If I play now at a picnic, I have muscle memory and it all comes back without my even thinking. But never learning to swim, everything is new; the technique, breathing...I'm afraid I'll never swim as well as I would like. My only goal is to be able to swim laps continuously for 30 minutes. Does anyone have any experience, strength or hope?
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Replies
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Just got back from my second lesson. I am taking private lessons at our local college rec center. I am discouraged. I took lessons as an adult about 5 years and 50 lbs. ago but never practiced. Now I am so out of shape and breath I feel like giving up. I played volleyball in high school and college. If I play now at a picnic, I have muscle memory and it all comes back without my even thinking. But never learning to swim, everything is new; the technique, breathing...I'm afraid I'll never swim as well as I would like. My only goal is to be able to swim laps continuously for 30 minutes. Does anyone have any experience, strength or hope?0
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i can swim ok, not good at the proper breathing or anything, but i can do laps and thread water in the deep end
when i started back swimming i was 218 lbs and so unfit, and felt so discouraged, but it does get easier, stick with it :flowerforyou:
i hate exercising, but i love to swim, was great for toning my thighs! lol :drinker:0 -
thanks for the encouragement. How often do you swim and for how long?0
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You CAN do it. I am a swimmer, and I used to give lessons through parks and rec - so I (hope) I know what I'm talking about :laugh:
Swimming is not always intuitive, and you might get slower before you get faster/better - and that's ok!
Give yourself 6 months to become conditioned to the water, and you will see that your muscles start to adapt to the new movements you are making.
Size has very little to do with swimming ability (speed, maybe, but not ability.) I swim every morning and there are women of all sizes in the pool, swimming 50-100 laps.
Don't give up - enjoy the water, push yourself to do a little more than you did the previous day and it will slowly unfold and before you know it, you'll be racking up yardage like nobody's business1 -
Awesome-- learning ANYTHING after 40 is grand-- keep up the good work!!!!!0
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Yes.
I'm 55, and fat as a hog.
I started swimming maybe a couple of months ago, and I was a complete idiot. But I stayed with it.
I know generally how to swim from when I was a kid, but I was never particularly good at it even then.
In any case, I made one decision -- I was going to swim the crawl ONLY, and aim for distance, no matter how slow it had to be.
When you swim the crawl you can breath once every three strokes, or every stroke. For out of breath 55 year old blimps such as myself, one breath each stroke is best, because you get more air. I breathe only on my right side, although I know you can breath on both sides if you know what you're doing.
In any case, I started swimming one lap, taking a breather, swimming another lap, etc. About 3 weeks ago I managed to swim 4 laps, then one minute rest, then another 4 laps. Little by little I worked my way up to 1/4 mile, then a 1/2 mile, and then a mile, 4 laps at a time. This is 44 laps in the pool at my gym.
But last night I had a breakthrough. I swam 1/4 mile (11 laps) without stopping at all. Then, believe it or not, I rested a minute, and swam 33 laps, or 3/4 mile, without stopping at all. I just suddenly hit a point where I could essentially go on forever. The breathing was finally catching up with the exertion for the first time. Granted, I was not breaking any speed records, but to sustain that effort without stopping was huge for me.
So, bottom line, stay with it, don't give up, push a little harder each time, don't race, try to get a rhythm going, and at some point it will just get easier for no reason at all. My next goal will be a full mile without stopping, I can't wait to try it!
--Ron0 -
Swimming the perfect exercise. No strain on the joints, muscles aren't as sore and works muscles that other exercises don't..(Read all at once) Walking works the legs, weights work arms/back/chest, swimming does this all at once.
I have coached a summer league swim team for about 25 years. I work with the 8 and unders and they are just starting out. You build up your endurance by using a kick board, and also work on your breathing with it. The better you get with it the easier it will be working in laps. Remember slow and easy wins here, if you have to stop between laps that's okay ,the idea is to keep going. Freestyle( on top of the water) takes alot of coordination with breathing and moving the limbs. Breast stroke(like a frog) is alittle easier to start with and best of all you can breathe. Keep water at the wall, you sweat when you swim too!
Good Luck ... I hope this helps. If I can help in any other way, just ask.0 -
I can relate! I'm 41 and TERRIFIED of the water. Absolutely terrified! I planned on taking swim lessons this summer but honestly, I don't know where the summer went. I want to at least be able to go down the slides at an amusement park or water park. We went in February to The Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, MO and I went down a slide that everyone to include the workers said that it wasn't likely that my boat would turn over. Well guess what??? It turned over and yes, I fell in and came up choking, spitting and sputtering. And terrified. I want to be able to get into at least 3 foot of water and not be shaking and scared to death. Good job on taking the swim lessons! I still hope to take them myself. Maybe that would be a good winter time thing to do and then when summer comes, I'll be ready for the water. Keep up the good work!!!0
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