How to learn to swim as an adult on your own and enjoy the process: recommendations, swimming techniques and useful exercises. Learning to Swim on Your Own: Practical Tips for Adults Learning to swim without water

07.09.202027.05.2017

Learning to swim without the use of assistive devices for an adult allows strict discipline, the study of basic theory. It is recommended to start independent development of the practical side of swimming only after familiarization with safety precautions and rules of conduct in the pool.

You can learn to swim at any age. The only obstacles for an adult to achieve the desired goal may be prejudices and fears. Getting rid of them allows a clear understanding that swimming in the pool and in the open water brings not only pleasure, but also has a beneficial effect on health.

Swimming lessons on a regular basis contribute to:

development of the respiratory system;
training of the heart and blood vessels;
stimulation of metabolic processes;
strengthening the muscles, immunity and nervous system.

You should start learning to swim in a shallow pool or open water. The legs should feel solid support, the head and shoulders should be above the water. Feeling completely safe and gaining confidence allows the presence of a person who knows how to swim well.

An alternative may be classes with a qualified trainer. Attendance at special classes is not prerequisite You can learn the basics of swimming on your own.

How to breathe correctly?

Learning to swim crawl, the movement of the legs is biting and fast. The more intense the blows, the greater the speed develops. Breaststroke requires a different movement technique, reminiscent of the movement of a frog in water. It is easier to learn how to move your legs, mastering the breaststroke, holding your hands either on the side of the pool, or using a special board that supports the swimmer on the water.

How to learn to swim crawl and breaststroke?

The easiest to learn for a beginner swimmer is the crawl. It is not very difficult to master this technique. They lay down on the water with their faces, begin to sort out alternately with their legs, lowering and raising them. At the same time they wave their hands. First, one of the hands is brought forward, lowered into the water, and the palm folded in the bucket is stroked towards the thigh. Perform the same movement with the other hand.

Swimming crawl, the air is taken into the lungs for every second stroke. To take a breath, the head is first taken out of the water and then turned towards the moving arm. Take in air with your lungs as much as possible. It is impossible to swim for a long time without a sufficient level of oxygen.

Breaststroke is a little more difficult than crawl, but you can master it quickly enough. The main thing to consider is that the movements when swimming with a breaststroke should be synchronous and similar to those made by a swimming frog. It is more difficult to learn how to swim with a butterfly. It is recommended to master this technique with experienced coach. The specialist will demonstrate the movements by his own example and check the correctness of their implementation.

Sports swimming requires special training. TO professional career it is almost impossible to prepare an adult swimmer. Appropriate trainings and loadings have to begin since the childhood.

Swimming in the pool

Swimming in the pool is good not only for health, but also for the figure. Regular classes considered effective way release of energy from fat accumulations. What matters is not only the amount of time spent in the pool, but also the effectiveness.

In order for training to be as effective and safe as possible, you must follow a few simple recommendations:

Exercising on an empty stomach;

Water pressure on the abdominal cavity during swimming is high. If the stomach is full, it is fraught with problems with digestion. There should be 2.5 hours before training, and after training - an hour later.

Train between 16.00 and 19.00;

In the morning, the body is not yet ready for heavy loads, and in the evening, on the contrary, it needs a good rest. If you do it in the mornings or evenings, the training will be less effective than the training done during the day.

You need to visit the pool at least three times a week;

Regular classes are the key to stable results. Constant training accustoms the body to loads, the muscles quickly remember the acquired skills in swimming.

Put on a rubber hat, remove jewelry;

Prolonged exposure to water on the roots negatively affects the condition of the hair, and jewelry can be lost.

Take a warm shower or warm up;

Warmed and prepared muscles allow you to make your workout more effective.

Wear rubber slates.

Walking barefoot on wet tiles can cause injury.

The health benefits of swimming are invaluable. The immune system people who regularly visit the pool is strengthened. They are much less likely to suffer from heart disease, colds and other ailments, are not subject to depression, always arrive in an excellent mood, do not suffer from obesity, have good muscles and proportionately developed body.

Swimming is a special kind of sport that is beneficial for almost all body systems. Swimming develops endurance, improves blood circulation, increases efficiency, strengthens the cardiovascular and respiratory system, increases the metabolic rate and promotes more rapid burning body fat. Swimming builds a lean, muscular figure as it engages all major muscle groups.

Learning to feel the water (preparatory exercises)

Let's take a look at the most simple ways float on the water, feel their buoyancy, understand the density of water. These exercises will be useful for those who still do not know how to swim at all, even like a dog. Our task is to learn to relax, because the water does not let those who are overly tense through.

Float

This exercise will help you feel how the body is pushed out by the water. All you need is to go into the water up to your chest, inhale as much air as possible, hold your breath, quickly squat down and wrap your arms around your legs bent at the knees, pressing your head to your knees.

After a few seconds, your body will float and your back will be on the surface of the water. When you feel that the air is running out, stand up, catch your breath and repeat 8-10 more times.

Jellyfish

Standing waist-deep in water, take a deep breath, hold your breath, and simply lie face down in the water with your arms and legs relaxed.

star on the back

The task is the same - at a shallow depth, take a deep breath and lie down on the water, but now face up, spreading your arms and legs to the sides. The back is completely relaxed, the water holds itself, we do not make any effort. When you feel confident, try to take a horizontal position and just lie on your back, arms along the body.

Slip on your chest

Now your task is to feel that your legs are heavier than water. To do this, inhale deeply and squatting push off from the bottom. Try to straighten your body, keeping your arms at your sides or pointing them forward with an arrow. The force of your push will help the body to float up and start moving, but soon you will feel your legs sink down, bringing you into an upright position.

Slipping on your back

For many, this exercise is easier than sliding on the chest, because it is easier to catch the balance on the back, but otherwise everything is very similar. We take a deep breath, tilt the body back, push with our feet, fold our arms with an arrow, point forward and calmly move on our backs. It is with this movement on the back that classical swimming training begins.

Learning how to breathe properly while swimming

Before you start learning swimming technique, you need to learn how to breathe correctly.

Competent swimming technique on the chest, that is, crawl, breaststroke and butterfly, implies the complete immersion of the head in the water. Swimming the way most swim, with your head above the surface of the water, is inefficient and simply wrong.

The first thing to learn is to exhale underwater. A very common mistake for beginners is to hold their breath while the face is under water. For many, this happens purely reflexively, diving to puff out their cheeks like a hamster's and not breathing. Probably, in some cases in life it may come in handy, but not while swimming. Therefore, we repeat once again, one of the main rules is to learn how to exhale correctly under water. It is better to hone this skill in shallow water and not during the swimming itself, but simply by standing and lowering your face into the water.

We inhale through the mouth, lower our face into the water and begin to slowly exhale through the nose, open our eyes. The exhalation should take at least three seconds, after which we raise the chin up and forward, as when swimming with a butterfly or breaststroke, we lift our face out of the water to flap our eyes and let the water drain from our face.

Inhale again and repeat the exercise. At the same time, it is important to hold onto the side of the pool to eliminate the desire to wipe your face with your hands. Imagine that you are swimming. It is necessary to take several consecutive breaths and exhalations, lowering the head - to the exit, and raising it - to inhale. The most important thing is calmness. We exhale into the water, do not wipe our face, even if at first you feel discomfort, it will go away in a maximum of two days.

Over time, you can reach more dynamic squats with exhalation under water. At one - take a powerful breath and sit under the water, at two, three, four - release all the air under water. Then quickly rise out of the water, immediately take another deep breath and immediately sit back under the water to exhale. The main thing is not to hold your breath and not exhale too sharply. It is important for you to learn how to take a deep and quick breath through your mouth, and then slowly, smoothly and completely exhale through your nose.

How to learn to swim in one day?

Let's look at one of the methods of quickly learning to swim.

1. Step one

Go into the water about waist-deep and turn to face the shore. Next, you need to dive into the water, lean forward and stretch your arms forward so that only your head remains above the water. After we push off with our feet from the bottom so that the body moves forward, and not up. Immediately we lean our hands on the bottom, leaving our legs in limbo.

We repeat the attempt, only we lean on the bottom not immediately, but after a short pause after the push with our feet. At the same time, we try to slide a little in the water. With each attempt, we try to slide in the water a little longer than the previous time. After a few attempts, you will be able to slide longer and easier in the water before you put your hands on the bottom.

2. Step two

3. Step three

Adding work by hand. There are different options, the easiest and most ergonomic way is dog-like, although this is not necessary, the main thing is that the trainee is comfortable.

That's it, you swam! Subsequently, the style can be changed as you like, it's up to you. The main thing is that you have learned to stay on the water and have ceased to be afraid of it.

In a swimming pool. It has several serious advantages over open water.

Calm water. Even small waves will make your training much more difficult.
Pure water. At first, you will periodically sip it with your nose and mouth. It's better to take a sip of water with bleach than some kind of infection.
Swimmers and accessories for swimming. To perform various exercises, you will need to hold on to the edge of the pool and use the boards and balls that are available in any such institution.
Availability of instructors. You won't drown. Anyway.

What to bring to the pool

If you are going to the pool for the first time, be sure to bring with you:

medical certificate;
swimsuit or swimming trunks;
towel and shower gel/shampoo;
swimming cap;
rubber or plastic slippers;
Goggles.

1. Exhale into the water

YouTube channel Sikana English

Put on your glasses. Make sure they fit snugly on your face. If there are gaps, water will pour into them and it will be very unpleasant.
Stand next to the wall of the pool, put your hand on the side. Take a deep breath through your mouth.
Go under the water and slowly release the air for three counts. You can do this only through the nose or through the nose and mouth at the same time.
Come up and again take a sharp deep breath with your mouth.
Repeat the exercise 10-12 times.

2. Float

Global Triathlon Network YouTube channel

Be sure to do this exercise if you are afraid to dive into the water. It will help to work out the breath and feel yourself.

Put on your glasses. Take a deep breath and dive into the water.
Pull your knees to your chest, clasp them with your hands and calmly lower yourself to the bottom of the pool, slowly exhaling through your nose and mouth.
When you reach the bottom, rise up for a new breath.
Repeat 10 times.

3. Exhale into the water with the movement of the legs

YouTube channel SwimUP RUS

Put on your glasses. Grasp the edge of the pool, straighten your arms and lie down on the water.
Inhale through your mouth, lower your head down and exhale into the water for three counts.
While exhaling, work with your feet. Make movements from the hip, keep your legs almost straight, but without enslavement in. Pull the socks off, wrap the feet slightly inward, thumbs towards each other.
Raise your head above the water, inhale and lower your face back into the water.
Repeat 10 times.

4. Exhale at the side with a turn to the side

Put on your glasses. Grab the edge of the pool right hand, press the left to the side, lie on the surface of the water.
Immerse your face in water and exhale for three counts. It is important not to hold your breath in the water, but to constantly release air.
Turn your body and head to the left, lift your face above the surface of the water and take a deep breath. Do not lift your head: the right ear should remain in the water.
Lower your face back and repeat.
Perform 10-12 times, then do the same with a change of hand.

How to move with exhalation

Now that you've relaxed enough in the water and learned how to exhale into it, it's time to master the exhalation movement. We will show exercises for mastering the basic style of swimming: front crawl.

1. Swimming on your feet

YouTube channel SPORTLIFECLUB

Put on your glasses. Hold the bottom edge of the swim board.
Straighten your arms, lie down on the water.
Move forward with footwork. Move from the hip, gently and freely.
Breathe as during the exercise "Exhale into the water with the movement of the legs": a deep sharp breath above the surface, a smooth slow exhalation with the face in the water.
Swim 100 meters like this. Rest when needed.

2. Inhale to the side

YouTube channel Love Swimming

While swimming, the head does not completely come out of the water. This provides streamlining and reduces the time to inhale. help you work out correct position heads in motion.

Put on your glasses. With your right hand, take the board by the far edge. Press the left to the body.
Exhale smoothly into the water as you work your feet.
Turn the body and head to the left, towards the pressed hand, lift the head out of the water and inhale. Do not raise your head too high: the right ear remains in the water.
Lower your face back into the water and, as you exhale, move forward through the work of your legs.
At the end of the track, change hands: now you will hold the board with your left hand and turn your body and head to the right to inhale.
Swim 100 meters with each hand.

3. Inhale for every stroke

YouTube channel Skills NT Swimming

Put on your glasses. Grab the bottom edge of the float board with your left hand.
Lie down on the water. Lower your face into the water, exhale, work your feet.
Take a stroke with your right hand. When the hand comes out of the water near your hip, turn your body and head to the right, stick your face out of the water and inhale. Then lower it back into the water and exhale. Repeat.
Swim 100 meters. Change your hand each time at the end of the pool.

4. Inhale every three strokes

Put on your glasses. Stroke with your right hand while inhaling, as in the previous exercise. Make sure that the head is not completely raised above the water, turn the body to the side.
Dip your face in the water. While exhaling, take a stroke with your left hand, and then with your right. Do not lift your face out of the water, exhale.
Simultaneously with the next stroke with your left hand, turn your body and head to the left, raise your head and inhale.
Lower your face into the water and stroke with your right and then your left. Take the next breath with right side. Thus, you will inhale on the other side each time.
Swim 100 meters. You can start the exercise with a board, and when you get used to it, swim without it.

How to learn to swim faster

Don't stress. Your body should be relaxed, movements should be free and smooth. While you are straining, you are sinking and spending much more energy than you need to move.
Don't forget your legs. Often beginners swim on one hand, and lower limbs practically do not work. Make sure that the latter also participate in the movement. Try counting your kicks. For example, do three strokes for each stroke.
Master the technique. Even if you swim for the soul, and not for the records, look at the swimming technique in the chosen style. Some of the subtleties you will not reach on your own. Correct technique help you swim faster and have more fun.

Lungs, . This manifests itself in:

strengthening the muscles of the vascular highways;
improvement of joints;
tonic effect on;
common organism.

It is noted that pools are not only more efficient than gyms but also safer. For beginners, this is relevant - it is almost impossible to get injured in the water (no one will let a beginner to the tower).

The main difference from the gym is that the emphasis is not on mass gain, but on its "alignment" and general strengthening of the body. A seemingly simple swimming procedure is accompanied by a number of physical processes - here is the resistance of water, and the action of forces (lifting or loading), and this is supplemented by energy costs.

Before entering the water, remember the importance of breathing. The first lesson will be devoted mainly to its production. The main thing is to rhythmically alternate inhalations and exhalations. For an unprepared person, this may not work out right away, but after a couple of swims, the desired mode will be set.

Sharp breaths taken above the water are replaced by nasal exhalation during immersion, thereby changing the volume chest which affects buoyancy.

People who are just thinking about how to quickly learn to swim will have to work with swimming methods such as crawl and. The first is often called free, and often classes begin precisely with its development. The breaststroke is already more difficult, it is performed on the chest and with the active movement of the legs.

Butterfly requires a fair amount of training, so for beginners, only some of its elements can be used. Swimming on the back is the same crawl, but reversed.

Did you know? A swimmer who has overcome 100 meters spends four times more energy for this distance than an athlete who has run it.

Including all four styles, called complex, only experienced swimmers are allowed to it.

Getting rid of fears

Some are familiar with this unpleasant phenomenon, but it can be overcome. It’s worth starting with the fact that in itself it is a defensive reaction. You should not be ashamed of this: a person by nature is afraid of depth, and the level of training has nothing to do with it. Many adults, even without being afraid of water, do not know how to swim, and there is nothing reprehensible in this.

You can get rid of this phobia. Important make yourself safe. In the same pool, it is better to start from afar - just go to the ladder and gradually start descending.

If discomfort and alertness is about to turn into panic, it is better to step up a notch and look around. Indeed, beginners are not allowed to go to great depths, and the coach is always there.

Decided to go into the water. Create an attitude - water should not be intimidating, but, on the contrary, become an assistant. For the first time, it’s enough just to go in, for the second approach - to swim a couple of meters in the presence of an experienced swimmer, and so on.

Important! Such situations are often accompanied by some unpleasant memories, so in some cases you will have to turn to a psychologist.

Not everyone can overcome fear right away, but this is not a reason for despair - they get rid of it gradually. Sudden drops can cause dangerous euphoria and overestimation of possibilities.

Where to start?

Now let's see what the very first lesson will begin with, and what props will have to be acquired.

Stay on the water

Physics says that a person does not need to exert any extra effort to stay on the water. Pro Effect buoyancy almost everyone knows, but not everyone succeeds.

Physiology and the same fear make their own adjustments here. Overcoming an unpleasant phobia, consider some points. People often drown not because of the terrible depth or weakness, but on the contrary, from the energy put into floundering.

To finally convince the beginner of safety, the trainers show a simple trick - inhaling more air, they squat to the bottom, then stretch their arms up and float up.

It is better to stay on the water on your back. Take a deep breath, push off with your feet to lie down on the water surface, and try to relax. The only thing that can happen is that you swallow a little water, but this is not a reason to panic.

Did you know? The legendary Michael Phelps for eight years (2001 - 2009) set 39 records in different styles. Seven of them are still standing.

The legs will go under the water. No one drowns, it's just that the lower body is, in principle, heavier than the upper, so you have to keep it afloat by making movements.

The Importance of Breathing

Even on land they do it for 10-15 minutes. Muscles should come into tone, and blood should accelerate;
Immediately after entering the pool, walk along the bottom, combining jumps with waving your hands;
Water squats with breath holding (5-6 times) are mandatory. The same applies to the full cycle "inhale - exhale";
Standing in the water up to your chest, hold your breath and sit down with a further ascent with a “float”;
Inhalation is done sharply while the head is above the surface of the water. It is impossible to take air through the nose, only through the mouth;
Exhalation is carried out into the water, when immersed. At the same time, the lungs will have to be released completely (several delays in a row will not only slow down the pace, but may also worsen your well-being);
The rhythm of breathing is in the first place here. It is possible that he will have to train in the course of many classes;
When you change the style, the breathing rate is adjusted as well.

Important! Athletes use the bilateral technique, breathing under one or the other arm. For an amateur, this method is complicated, and its use when recreational swimming not necessary.

There is another nuance here that may alert. Yes, you can swallow water, but with rhythmic breathing and an equally uniform change in body position, the wave (it is created by the head) always follows an air bag in which you can capture air for inhalation. The higher the speed, the bigger it is.

To make such subtleties easier to learn in practice, you will have to buy some accessories.

Purchasing additional accessories

Before you start swimming properly, let's get some equipment.

A beginner will come in handy board for swimming. This lightweight material will help you stay on the water at first and give you confidence in your abilities.

They can be divided into two types:

Combined. They have a streamlined shape, and in the middle there is a notch that is clamped between the thighs. Such a board is suitable for everyone - with its help they work out the movements of the arms and legs;

For leg training. Wedge-shaped or triangular allow you to work on maneuvers.

For the manufacture of plastic, isolon, durable polyethylenes such as HDPE are taken.

When buying, ask if the surface has been thermally treated - this increases the service life.

It will also be useful shoulder blades. These are thin plastic plates with latches, repeating the shape of the palm. For fingers there are bulges and membranes. It will be easy to pick them up: the assortment includes different sizes, ranging from children's XXS to large XL.

They help to feel the water, its movement. Making a stroke, the swimmer, as it were, increases the contact area, which is important for setting up the technique.

In stores you can see shoulder blades:

standard rectangular shape;
popular now - anatomical;
finger blades (for professionals);
protective that prevent .
there are products without clamps, but for a beginner they can simply fall off their hands.

Important! Latex hats are often sprinkled with talcum powder. This is done to prevent allergies.

At the very beginning it will be useful and float(he's a kolobashka). It has a narrowing in the center that does not allow it to slip out. The squarer the shape, the greater the resistance and the muscles will have to work harder.

For beginners, a combined version similar to a board is suitable. Figure eight shape - to strengthen the legs. For starters, it is better to buy a small kolobashka.

They buy to improve speed data and work on maneuverability. For the first workouts, monofins or separate ones, made of hard rubber or plastic, will come off.

Concerning breathing tube, then it will fit - during the first swims, strokes are not obtained in the best way, often with dives.

TO glasses there is only one requirement: they should sit tightly on the bridge of the nose and not rub it. For this, there is an adjustment option.

There are two main requirements for all these devices - safety and maximum convenience.

Learning to swim

When everything you need is already in store, we are preparing to dive. We repeat that mental attitude no less important than physical condition.

On site

The first lessons will be devoted to keeping on the water and setting the breath, and only then the “big swim” begins. The first will be exercises:

Grab the stop with your hands and lie down on the water with your chest. At the same time, actively work with straightened legs, trying not to splash water much.
Holding on to the same stop, try to push off bent legs slightly unbending them at the knees. At the same time, the feet also bend, increasing the area for pushing.
Pushing off, spread your arms to the sides, trying to glide through the water. This movement is done with straight arms (palms turned towards the body).

If these simple techniques do not cause difficulties, and breathing remains even for a long time, you can begin to master the styles.

Light styles

The foundations are laid when a person has already begun to understand how to swim with a crawl. To master this method, start with backstroke:

Lying on your back, move your legs, observing the sequence of ups and downs. With hands the same story - lift them up, then lowering them into the water, while trying to stretch them as much as possible. The stroke is done so that the hand passes in a semicircle, touching the thigh, after which it is brought into the air. Fingers are closed, palms are straight.

The standard on the stomach begins with the fact that you have to lie down facing the water and move your feet as described above. Putting your palms together in a “scoop”, bring your hand forward and up, making a stroke towards the hip. Then the second hand connects, and things go more fun - you need to keep up the pace. Try to lift your head with every second stroke, exhaling deeply.

Important! With this swimming technique, the breath lasts no more than 0.5 seconds. That's why it should be maximum.

Having become adept at the crawl, they begin to switch to breaststroke. It is considered a slow style, but it can be used to swim a long distance:

Hands are taken out of the water symmetrically and simultaneously, while the swimmer is turned to face the water;

The main driving force is the legs, which try not to take out of the water;
Leg movements resemble those of a frog - half-bent limbs, when straightened, give great acceleration;
In addition to breathing, it is important to achieve synchronous action of the arms and legs, but without.

Complex styles

Their complexity relates, first of all, to technology. If you look at butterfly, That The swimmer's procedure is as follows:

Swimming on the stomach, they perform a wide and powerful stroke with their hands (he lifts the body above the water);
Legs and pelvis work in waves;

The torso complements the movement of the legs, helping to extend the arms for the swing.

It does not provide for a passage under water, except for the starting jerk and turning from the side.

For backstroke not weak physical conditions are also needed - arms are extended straight, bends are not made. Legs strike vertically down and up. At the same time, the swimmer's face is not immersed in water, except during turns and start.

Professionals keep fit with complex swims, alternating styles every 50-100 meters. For a beginner, such training is quite dangerous, especially in terms of breathing and circulation.

We hope that we have convinced you not only of the benefits of swimming, but also of its accessibility for everyone. good results and happy swimming!

In a swimming pool. It has several serious advantages over open water.

Calm water. Even small waves will make your training much more difficult.
Pure water. At first, you will periodically sip it with your nose and mouth. It's better to take a sip of water with bleach than some kind of infection.
Swimmers and accessories for swimming. To perform various exercises, you will need to hold on to the edge of the pool and use the boards and balls that are available in any such institution.
Availability of instructors. You won't drown. Anyway.