My wife, the avid swimmer, truly didn’t believe me when I told her that I would most likely drown if she took me to the pool with her. She insisted that my Functional Fitness would transfer easily to the pool.
Here is what she did not take into account, though. Yes, my muscles did not fatigue completely and I could recover after a lap relatively well. But, there is this little thing called breathing that kept causing problems. I know I am supposed to breath. I breath every day. But for some reason, trying to do so with my head in water is not the same as while doing 50 Burpees.
Oh, but all you have to do is “turn your head and catch a breath,” she said. Sounds easy enough. It did until water was also gulped in, causing me to choke. Maybe if I didn’t hold my breath and then try to inhale as much air as I could while my lungs were exploding, then maybe…just maybe I could breath more smoothly and not suck in air and anything within 5 feet of my mouth like a black hole. As it stood, I would end a lap with a feeling of exhaustion, panic, fear, and did I mention panic! My heart rate had to slow down – not from the physical exertion, but from fear. Fear of suffocation.
It is good to have new goals I suppose. Apparently swimming without having nightmares is one of my new ones.
So in consequence, I failed to develop any usable workouts from my time at the pool so far. So please, either email me or comment on this post with some good ideas for great Functional Fitness workouts in the pool. Or just share your own near death experiences while trying to do a few laps like me.
Doggie paddle my friend. That or get yourself some little floaties that toddlers use on their arms. 🙂