Make swimming fun again

Did you know that ‘play’ is a human need?

Our health suffers when we don’t get enough time to play in our lives.

Now of course, this means different things to different people.

For some, training with buddies can be play.

For others, games and competition are needed to fulfill that play need.

If you’ve followed Tri Swim Coach for very long, you know that we’re not about counting yards, meters, laps, miles, or even on board with the idea of saying “Good job!” after every set or workout.

Fun, on the other hand, is key to success.

So how can you make swimming fun again, if you’ve lost that loving feeling?

I recommend first changing your mindset. Instead of “I need to get my swim workout in today” or “I have to do 3000 yards today”, try thinking of what ways this workout will be fun, and even exciting.

There are so many ways to do this. Like…

• Mixing things up. Do you typically do the same general workout every time? Do it backwards. See what that’s like. Do strokes besides freestyle. Don’t know any? What a fun challenge, I highly recommend backstroke (both for balancing out a tan, and for a quick break during a race if necessary).
• Add in a sprint workout but cut distance in half. You could just do 3-4 50 sprints with easy 200s sprinkled in in between, record your times somewhere and try to beat them next time.
• SWOLF, or swim golf. It’s a fun game- do 50’s, count your strokes and check your time on each one. Add those numbers together for your “score”, and try to lower that number with each 50, until you can’t lower it anymore.
• Hot tub. On those cold, gray winter days, sometimes the thing that motivates me the most is getting in the hot tub. Don’t be afraid to do that first!
• Use the 1 Second Everyday app. It’s basically a way to record 1 second of video of your life every day and put this together into a movie after a certain length of time. How many creative 1 second videos can you get at the pool or wherever you are training? Perhaps it’s time to try a new pool or body of water!

Go get your play on this year!

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