Swimming presents unique respiratory challenges.Swimming presents unique respiratory challenges.

Gyms and promenades suddenly become eerily devoid of runners and exercise enthusiasts at this time of year.

Are they all really at the beaches and cafes, happily pursuing other pastimes, or are they reluctantly kicking their exercise routines because they are simply unable to contend with the sweltering heat?

Even highly motivated athletes preparing for specific competitions tend to struggle to keep up training intensity through the summer.

If you’ve ever tried running outdoors in the midday sun, then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s not much fun at all.

In fact, some might even say it’s torture, but even worse, it’s downright dangerous. We need to avoid the sun and dangerously high temperatures at all costs unless we want to end up dehydrated or knocked out by heat exhaustion.

Instead of merely adapting or reacting to our environment, however, why not proactively immerse ourselves in it in a way that suits us, and use it to our advantage?

The most obvious solution is to hit the waves. What better way to cool off is there than immersing yourself fully in cool water? You’ll still need to protect your skin though, so consider a good, waterproof sun block on your back or go the tourist route and swim with an old T-shirt on, particularly if you’re swimming around noon.

Coming from someone with essentially no background in swimming or aquatics in any shape or form, I couldn’t sing its praises enough. We’re surrounded by sea and presented with a good quarter of the year when we pretty much don’t feel like doing anything else.

I believe fitness enthusiasts and athletes from all local sports should use this to their advantage, diversifying their fitness and giving body systems strained throughout the year the chance to recover, while still giving the general system a good workout, thus preserving overall fitness.

I only recently came to fully appreciate the joys and benefits of swimming in the sea, as overuse injuries started to set in on my weary anatomy.

We are essentially weightless in the water, alleviating the pressure and strain inflicted on our joints most of the time as we walk and run around on dry land in constant resistance to the forces of gravity. Ankles, knees, hips and the vertebrae of the spine are constantly subject to compression forces as they support our body weight, forces multiplied each time we jump, run or even take a step.

In the water we are free of such compression forces, leaving the muscles unrestricted to work in liberating new ways.

This fact in itself further multiplies the benefits of swimming. Healthy doses of new stresses to the body are welcomed by positive adaptation. The heart must work harder to pump blood to muscles contending with stimuli to which they are unaccustomed.

Swimming also takes the joints of the upper body, in particular, through ranges of motion greater than those exploited during many land-based movements, boosting flexibility. Swimming the breast stroke with squat-style kicking leg movements also encourages hip flexibility. Greater range of motion in muscles and joints decreases the risk of injury through strains and sprains in everyday activities.

Be proud to live on these beautiful islands of ours and keep in shape the distinctly Mediterranean way

Among my favourite characteristics of swimming, however, are the unique respiratory challenges the sport presents. Many sports and leisure activities employ the use of rythmic body movements.

If you’ve ever tried boxercise, kick-boxing training or even dance aerobics or Zumba, you might have noticed that synchronising breathing with intricate movement patterns doesn’t always come naturally or easily.

When we’re trying to learn a complex new skill, it’s surprisingly easy to forget to breathe. Sometimes you might notice you’ve held your breath for a good number of seconds, until you are suddenly forced to start breathing and struggle to catch up with the oxygen debt created.

Ryhthmic breathing to avoid fatigue is a skill that must be practised, and swimming is a great way to develop respiratory discipline. In the freestyle stroke in particular, the head will remain underwater and turn over only as the lead arm fully extends, allowing the airways to clear the level of water and essentially come up for air.

Coming up for air between each and every stroke, however, disrupts rhythm and actually makes the flowing action of swimming much harder, causing us to tire sooner.

Getting in the right rhythm and breathing on the right number of strokes according to the speed you’re moving at, are excellent ways to boost the efficiency of the respiratory system.

The respiratory muscles themselves are strengthened, as the intercostal muscles between the ribs work in concert with the large diaphragm muscle that sits beneath the lungs to draw air into the chest.

The muscles of the body must, in turn, process the available inspired oxygen as efficiently as possible to continue burning fuel and sustain the activity. And if all these wonderful benefits weren’t enough, swimming is a functional movement, employing all the muscles in natural movement patterns, forcing the body to work as one complete unit.

So beat the heat in summer 2014, be proud to live on these beautiful islands of ours and keep in shape the distinctly Mediterranean way.

matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt

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