De-stress and tone up with a swim

SWIMMING is great exercise because it involves lots of muscle groups.

Also, as you’re supported by soft water, you’re less likely to get injuries such as sore knees from pounding the pavement as you jog or scrapes from falling over when playing football. To make the most of your swim, check out these tips.

Wear the proper gear

You can go in a clean tee and shorts but water-logged cotton billows and weighs a tonne. A swimsuit is designed to work efficiently in water.

Go when it’s quiet

When there are kids squealing and jumping, it’s hard to do laps or relax. Figure out when you can get the pool to yourself.

Warm up by stretching

Swimming is low impact exercise but you’ll be using lots of muscles, so prevent cramp and injuries by warming up before you take the plunge.

A front crawl looks great and feels wildly energetic but actually a breaststroke is more intensive, although not as impressivelooking.

An advantage is that you can keep your head above water and see where you’re going.

Start slow

Swim a couple of slow laps where you make a point of stretching to improve flexibility and then a few fast laps to get the blood flowing. Then work a few mediumpaced laps to energise yourself and work on your muscle tone by keeping that workout glow going.

Relaxing end

Finish by floating on your back for five minutes and meditating. If you’re the type to doze off while you float, hook an ankle on the side so you don’t bump into other swimmers.

Don’t forget your waterproof sunscreen. Apply half an hour before going to the pool so it soaks in and stays on.