I have never competed in a tri-athalon, and can safely say that I never will. But it seems that for lots of tri-athletes the swim is the toughest part of the competition. Which is why Total Immersion Swimming is the perfect solution.
What tri-athlete wouldn't want to finish the swim with improved speed and more energy left over for running or biking or whatever comes next?
By improving your glide through the water and learning to use your body's natural bouyancy to help propel your self forward you can swim faster with less effort; the very definition of increased efficiency.
This is why TI Swimming is so great. It's better swimming for everybody, regardless of what level swimmer they are.
Tri Total Immmersion Swimming
Summer Swimming
This is The Sellwood Pool,
where I spend my summer mornings. It's a community pool in my neighborhood, and it is a treat. During the winter and the tortuously long, cold spring I dream of swimming in this pool.
With a slide and lots of fountains and water features it's a madhouse in the long, hot afternoons of July and August. But in the mornings it is enjoyed by just a few regular laps swimmers and the swim team.
It's only open from mid-June until the end of the Labor Day weekend, but those few months are delicious. And now it's just a fond memory, until next June.
Stroke Count in Total Immersion Swimming
So for the past week I've been counting strokes, the number of strokes it takes me to get from one end of the pool to the other. This is one of the training methods in the Total Immersion Swimming DVD.
The idea is to get a benchmark number of strokes and then to try to make your stroke more efficient so that you can decrease the number of strokes and still make it from one end of the pool to the other.
It used to take me 23-24 strokes, but when I am paying attention and striving to lengthen my body and use the glide I can cross the pool in 19 or 20 strokes. And I feel like I am doing it with much less effort. I feel like I am swimming better, more efficiently, more streamlined, and more elegantly.
That's what I love abut this method, you get results right away. You always feel like you are improving. And I have been enjoying my swims so much more, really looking forward to them every morning.
Total Immersion Swimming Techniques
I have tried to incorporate the principles of Total Immersion Swimming into my daily swims. The main idea is streamlining your whole body and getting the most out of your body's ability to glide.
Before I even heard of Total Immersion Swimming I knew instinctively that people who swim with their heads raised are working harder than they need to. I tried to make sure my head was down and my posture was balanced. Breathing on both sides really helped me even out my stroke.
I learned to stretch out my stroke by reaching as far as I could and holding the glide position as long as I could. I learned these techniques form a free video online at Total Immersion Swimming.
These simple changes to my stroke made a huge difference. My swimming became more relaxed, more elegant, more efficient.
Total Immersion Swimming Breaststroke
Check out this demonstration of the Breaststroke using the techniques of Total Immersion Swimming. Watch how long and how far the swimmer glides. This is the whole idea behind this style of swimming, maximize the natural ability of your body to pass through the water, instead of thrashing your way through it.
Totally Immersed in Total Immersion Swimming
I have only watched a couple of the videos and started reading Terry Laughlin's book Total Immersion Swimming, but already it makes so much sense to me and I can see the things I am doing in my own swimming that are not efficient.
Today at the pool I focussed on lengthening my body and feeling the harmonic undulation. I know that sounds kooky. But I could feel my swimming becoming smoother and more rhythmic and the concrete results were that it took me fewer strokes to cross the pool. That's pretty immediate results!
The techniques for Total Immersion Swimming
The other thing I love about the Total Immersion Swimming
I used to think the only way to get faster in the water was through grueling workouts. But you can increase your speed and efficiency by working smarter not harder. Seeing yourself swimming more smoothly and efficiently will help you do so.
I'm already convinced that if you even try only a few of these techniques you will improve your sense of comfort in the water and you'll improve your swimming technique and probably your speed too.
Total Immersion Swimming
I've been swimming for years and I always thought of myself as a pretty good swimmer, until I came across Total Immersion Swimming
What I like best about swimming is the feeling of moving through the water, the glide. It feels like the essence of swimming, the essence of being in the water. When swimming is effortless like this it is a transcendent experience. When you use the techniques of Total Immersion Swimming you maximize this feeling of gliding through the water.
Of course it is good exercise too, one of the best things you can do. It works all of the major muscle groups in the body without putting any undue strain on joints or feet, like running does.
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