Swimming, three butterfly variations - 08/13/09 (Summer)
During the hot months of summer, I am an avid swimmer. I love swimming in a local outdoor pool that's only a quick walk from where I live.
Instead of doing my usual 45 minute walk in a local park (which I do during the cooler seasons of fall, winter, and spring), I head out to the outdoor pool and swim for about 45 minutes.
The outdoor pool is open only during the summer; the rest of the year it's closed. So, I get to swim 3 months out of the year. The other 9 months I don't swim.
To keep my body in shape year-round, I do my dry-land exercises every day, so when summer rolls around again, I can get back into the pool, and start swimming again without any problems.
In this video, I am practicing three variations of the butterfly stroke.
At the time I shot this video (summer 2009), I was 58. I turned 59 at the end of April 2010. One of my major concerns as I get older is that swimming the strenuous butterfly stroke can put a lot of stress on the heart, especially if many blood vessels have become clogged with cholesterol. When sudden exertion occurs, clogged blood vessels can result in a heart attack, or a stroke.
I rely on my dry-land exercise routines to keep all my internal systems in excellent condition - - especially my cardiovascular system, my lungs, my muscles, my tendons, etc.
I make sure to eat nutritious foods year-round (no junk food), and I exercise daily to keep my cardiovascular system unclogged. I want to make sure my blood continues flowing smoothly through all my blood vessels, supplying all the oxygen my muscles require whenever I need to exert my body vigorously.
To swim easily, bones have to rotate easily in their sockets; joints need to remain flexible. My stretching exercises help me maintain flexibility year round.
During swimming, muscles have to contract and lengthen repeatedly, flex and relax; they have to recover quickly and be ready to repeat the same action again and again. Tai chi exercises help keep my muscles "sung" / relaxed year-round, and help me maintain the "loose" muscle quality that is so useful for swimming.
Tendons need to be strong, firm, integrated, and unified to maintain correct body position in the water. They also have to be capable of "disconnecting" quickly, so I can change direction easily in the water. Practicing "total body jing" exercises throughout the year helps me maintain firm, strong tendons that can connect and unify from head to toes in an instant (and disconnect at will).
Deep breathing exercises help increase my lung capacity, as well as the amount of oxygen I can send through my blood vessels, and the amount of carbon dioxide I can release during every cycle of respiration. In this video, I cross the pool on one breath, completing 8 butterfly strokes without coming up for air. After a short break, I swim across the pool on one breath, doing another 8 butterfly strokes. My muscles need a lot of oxygen to support this type of intense activity. Because I do deep breathing exercises year round, I can go across the pool on one breath while moving my body rapidly.
Swimming is all about flexing and relaxing different groups of muscles to produce efficient, streamlined body movement in water. Doing challenging mind-body coordination exercises throughout the year (like the tai chi form blindfolded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY7XycYzBq8
and while balancing a book on my head)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWQ9DOxBe7g
helps keep my mind-body coordination skills honed, so when summer rolls around again, I'm ready to apply my mind/body matrix toward some serious swimming.
All the dry land exercises I do throughout the year help keep my body in excellent shape so that when summer arrives, I have no problems swimming strenuously in the pool, even though I am a year older than when I swam last summer. My body hasn't changed all that much during the year, thanks to all the tai chi, chi kung, and other exercises I do year-round to stay in shape.
Videos of all the exercises I do daily to stay in shape are contained in this ChiGuy396 playlist "My Complete Morning Exercise Routine"
http://www.youtube.com/user/ChiGuy396#g/c/B7E78BCF26E6B8E7
I'm looking forward to swimming the butterfly again in a few months, when the outdoor pool opens again. On a hot day, I'd much rather be swimming in the cool water of the pool than walking under the sun in a park where there is very little shade.
ChiGuy396
ChiGuy396@yahoo.com
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nice job man
deshawn972 1 year ago