Why I Swim to Crosstrain
cross-training, running, swimming, no impact, injuries
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Besides the fact that I love it and it feeds my chlorine addiction ; ) there are many benefits to swimming for crosstraining purposes, especially to those of us who run.
Some runners may find swimming to be an excellent activity for cross training. Swimming is a low impact aerobic activity which can be a welcomed reprieve from the repetitive pounding often associated with running. Whether you to cross train by swimming or running in a pool, you're likely to gain a host of worthwhile benefits by giving your body this opportunity to rest and rejuvenate your muscles.
First consider how using swimming as a cross training activity can be beneficial for runners. Running is obviously a very difficult exercise for your body to handle. It is not only very taxing on the muscles but it is also a high impact activity which means the joints are subject to pounding on a regular basis. Running every day is not good for you because his body needs at least one day of rest a week and ideally most runners require as much as 2-3 days of rest each week. Using swimming as a cross training activity allows you to have a break from running without taking a day completely off from exercise. However, the body will be utilizing different muscles and the joints will not be subjected to high impact pounding. As a result swimming is a very effective form of both cross training and rest for runners.
There are a couple of different methods you can use for cross training in a pool. The most obvious way is by swimming. The majority of the common swimming strokes require a great deal of effort by the upper body but only minimal effort by the lower body. This is quite different from running in which the focus of the effort is on the legs. Therefore while swimming, your legs get a much needed break while the upper body is challenged more than usual. In this way, while swimming the legs have a great opportunity to... read entire entry
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on 5/10/2008
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