By Cristian Corbett, Swimming World College Intern
High school and college swimming seasons are known to be long, brutal and sometimes eternal, but eventually it must come to an end; and whether you’re looking forward to it or not, off-season training is an absolute necessity in order to stay in shape for the next season.
Off-season training can be hard, especially when your team stops training completely without continuing any mandatory practices (i.e. high school season, D3 college team), so here a couple ways to stay in shape while you’re in the off-season.
1. Hit the gym!
Photo Courtesy: Deniz Hekmati
Possibly the best way to stay in shape while you’re out of the pool is to keep building your muscles. Strength is an extremely important part of swimming and hitting the gym in the off-season will make sure you don’t miss a beat.
2. Eat healthy!
Photo Courtesy: Jessica Spengler, flickr
As good as it might sound, eating junk food while you’re out of the pool is probably one of the worst things you could do, especially since you won’t be able to burn it all off at practice. Eating healthy can ensure that your body is in top shape to be able to hit the pool when your next season starts.
3. Keep up that cardio.
Photo Courtesy: Greg Alrich
Along with strength, keeping up your endurance is the best way to get ahead of your opponents for the upcoming season. The worst feeling is getting in the pool and realizing you have to build up all the endurance you lost while you were in the off-season. Running, biking, or any other type of cardio will help you keep a good level of endurance, just bump up that heart rate!
4. Play other sports.
A perfect way to get a good cardio and strength workout is to play other sports. Basketball, baseball, football, soccer and especially water polo are great ways to gain strength and cardio all at once– plus they’re pretty fun activities.
5. Join a club team!
Photo Courtesy: Taylor Brien
Probably the most obvious and logical way to stay in shape for your next swim season is to keep swimming! Whether it’s only a few days a week or the same intensity as your in-season practices, any time in the pool is better than none!
It’s always good to engage in other exercise routines so your fitness levels don’t drop during swimming off season.