10 Myths About Swimming DEBUNKED

We're going to debunk the 10 biggest swimming myths that we hear all the time. Now, if you swim, you know that swimming is an amazing form of fitness for your mind and your body. It's low impact and great for people of all ages. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation out there. Now the first myth that we hear all the time is that you have to be in really good shape to be called a swimmer or to even start swimming. And this is 100% false. It couldn't be further from the truth. The only place you see the physique of a Greek God is on TV at the Olympics for a swimmer. You actually never see people that look like this at the swimming pool. Sure. There are people that are in amazing shape from swimming, but swimmers come in all shapes, sizes, genders, interests, and they're a part of the community. So if you swim and you're in the water, don't feel discouraged because you don't look a certain way. So if you swim, you're part of the swimming community. Now, the second myth that we hear all the time is that you can't lose weight from swimming. And again, this is 100% false. You can absolutely lose weight. Swimming is an incredible form of exercise. You're moving through the water, which is 800 times more dense than air. You burn more calories swimming than almost any other type of physical activity. If you can control your diet after you swim because you spike your metabolism, you're going to lose weight. It's just a simple fact, because you're, you have burning more calories than you're consuming. That's the simple formula. Just make sure you're consistent with your training, with your workout plan, and check out the MySwimPro app. You don't sweat when you swim. This is something that we often hear from swimmers and non-swimmers thinking that because you're in the water and your body's cooler, you don't sweat. And the reality is you do sweat. Anytime you do any type of aerobic activity, any fitness that elevates your heart rate, your body is going to get warmer and it's going to sweat to cool itself off. The difference is when you're in the water, it's a little bit harder to notice just how much you're sweating. And actually you can become very dehydrated in swimming. So it's always important to hydrate before, during, and after. Hydration is super important, even in swimming, because you are sweating, even though you're in the water. Now another myth that we often hear is you're supposed to hold your breath when you swim. Now, obviously when you go underwater, you can't breathe, but people think that when you go underwater and you're supposed to hold your breath. And the reality is that's not true. You're exhaling continuously. And the more comfortable you can be with this continual exhale, the better, because if you hold your breath underwater, what happens is your body builds up CO2, carbon dioxide, and that's actually going to cause you to feel gassed and out of breath. Blow out the bubbles, get comfortable blowing out at a consistent stream. Start where you can stand, gradually lower your face underneath the water, and just blow bubbles and hum. And that's how you're supposed to swim all the time, not by holding your breath. Continuous exhale of oxygen. You should wait one hour after eating before you can swim. And again, this is completely false. The reasoning for this myth is people think when you eat all of your muscle and all your blood cells is going to your digestive tract. So that way you can digest the food. And the reality is that's true. But as soon as you start exercise, whether it's swimming or any other activity, the blood goes to your extremities. It goes to your hands. It goes to your arms, your legs, where the big muscle groups are. And your digestion is basically put on hold until you complete swimming or whatever activity it is that you're doing. So now there is a lot to be said about eating a big meal immediately before swimming or consuming any type of alcohol, save all of that stuff for after you swim. So that way you can build up your metabolism and then you can enjoy the rewards of swimming and working out. Now our sixth myth is that clear water equals clean water. Meaning if you go to a pool and it looks spotlessly clean, or if you're in the open water, more importantly, and the water looks really, really clean. And the fact of the matter is that actually couldn't be further from the truth because you can have a clean looking pool or body of water that is actually very dirty and contaminated on a microscopic level. Now this is relevant because you need to check the water. If you're at a pool, listen to the pool staff. If it's closed, it's closed for a reason. If the open water, the lake or the ocean is closed at that particular beach, it's closed for a reason. So make sure you look up where you're going to swim so that you know you're always in safe water. Chlorine turns your hair green. Ah, that sucks, right? No one wants their hair to turn green. The reality is chlorine does not actually turn your hair green. It is the copper sulfate, which is in a pool or body of water that turns your hair green. So the way that you can minimize the impact is to wear swim caps and also just rinse off in the shower after you go swimming. The 8th myth is that peeing in the pool is harmless. Everyone, whether you've done it or not, you know someone who's peed in the pool. And in fact it probably isn't harmless for you yourself, but it can contaminate the pool because urine is a contaminant. So don't treat the pool like a toilet. Number nine, if you did not learn how to swim as a child and you learn as an adult, you're pretty much helpless and you have no hope. You think you're never going to be able to get better because you didn't do it as a kid. Now this is completely false. You can learn how to swim at any age. You can improve at any age. And that's one of the awesome joys of swimming. Swimming is so dependent on technique more so than anything else. And if you didn't learn the technique as a child, you can still learn it as an adult. Are you going to go to the Olympics? If you start learning how to swim at 25, it's unlikely. However, you can still become an awesome swimmer. And we know tons of swimmers who've gone on to become nationally competitive as they learned when they were an adult. Number 10, swimming with equipment is cheating. Oftentimes you hear this with fins. I don't want to swim with fins because that's cheating or you know what? It doesn't count because they swim with fins. That is completely false. Swimming with equipment, whether it's fins, paddle, snorkel, pull buoy, whatever, it's actually a better workout because it engages more muscle fibers. Your body is more stimulated in the water and that increase in muscle engagement actually increases your intensity. So you get a better workout. So instead of saying swimming with equipment is cheating, swimming with equipment should be encouraged because it gets you a better workout, better fitness, better performance, if that's what you're into. And a good rule of thumb is to keep about 50% of the workout with the equipment. If you have any more myths, make sure we hear them in the comments. Happy swimming. Bye.