Aquatic sports are mostly categorised according to both its physiological demands on an athlete as well as the training methods required. Swimming places athletes in an environment where their body awareness is greatly affected. Coordination on land and coordination in water require completely different skills, which is why not everyone understands how swimming could benefit athletes such as soccer players, baseball players or even football players.
Swimming Benefits to Land-Based Athletes
The four main areas where swimming is the best possible training for athletes participating in land-based sports include the establishing of a cardiovascular baseline, prevention or rehabilitation of injury, developing lung capacity and generating full body movements as well as strength.
Injury Rehabilitation and Prevention
Swim training offers athletes the best option in supplementing their existing training. The primary driver is the injury free addition of low-impact cardiovascular exercise. The added buoyancy in the water equip athletes with exercise options in which both the muscle and joints are protected, while it is also a great way to start a program after recovering from injury. Many athletes that have to cope with chronic injuries prefers to add intensity to their exercise routine via water exercise, and swimming is about the only form of exercise that can help injured athletes during their recovery.
Cardiovascular Baseline Establishing
There is a major emphasis on the importance of stabling a robust cardiovascular baseline during the preseason phase or almost all sports, achievable via generalised fitness training. This is when most professional athletes prefer to incorporate their land-based training programs with swimming workouts since sport-specific exercises are much less, of a priority and the main focus is on getting back into great shape. Incredible cardiovascular endurance is demanded by swimming while other cardio-based sports such as cycling, and running do create joint stress and mostly focus on the lower body. Swimming targets the entire body places no stress on any of the muscles.
Swimming Vital for Increasing Lung Capacity
Cardiovascular fitness is increased via lung capacity and the one way for athletes to achieve this is swimming. Swim training assists athletes in holding their breath for longer as well as getting used to breathing control. Once athletes achieve high-intensity exercising via limited air, their lung capacity increased and so does their performance on land. This can be measured via heart rate, and at the end of a swim set, by taking the pulse rate, athletes can also check how quickly they can get their heart rate back to normal.
Generalising Full-Body Movements and Strength
Some athletes think of swimming as a cardio-based workout only, although it actually places a high value on the strength of the entire body. Each of the strokes is achieved via a range of motion focussed around the shoulder joints, the torso and even the hips, which also makes it the perfect workout option for golf players or any sport that including either a throwing or rotation motion. At the same time, swimming is an exercise that demands core stability and non-swimmers often find it quite difficult to maintain good upper and lower body strength.