- There's a lot that we can learn from professional swimmers
and I'm not even talking about
their beautiful and efficient swimming strokes.
Today, I'm talking about hacks.
I mean, if you swam twice a day, six days a week,
then you're probably going to find some ways
to make your life easier both during,
before, and after training.
- Yeah, absolutely, so today we're going to be sharing some
of those shortcuts and tips so that you can adopt them
ahead of your next swimming session,
and just enhance your general swim training experience.
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Now there are some specialist bits of equipment out there
that you can use to increase your drag when swimming,
such as swim parachutes or bungee cords and the like.
And the theory behind that is that the drag makes it
harder to swim so that when you pop them off,
swimming feels that much easier.
But you don't need to splash out
on all these fancy bits of equipment;
you can just use your own.
Such as, say, a pair of running shorts.
They can just go on over the top of your swim kit.
But do make sure you use one with, say, a draw cord,
because you can very quickly have them around your ankles
when you push off from the wall.
You can also put on an old pair of running tights
over your swim cossie as well.
And another trick is to just double up with another
older pair of swimming trunks or shorts even
that can go over the top of your cossie or trunks
that you're already wearing!
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- Okay, this one could be a little bit cheeky.
But it's rather frustrating
if you've got a key swim session planned,
you come down to your local swim fit,
and the fast lane is full of slow breaststrokers.
So if you've got a group of you, say three or more,
that's quite a good way to make sure that the lane
then flows at the speed that maybe
is appropriate to the lane you're in.
And if people aren't getting the hint
when there's quite a few of you doing a session,
then maybe even add in a few sprints or some butterfly,
and hopefully the slower swimmers will realize
which the appropriate lane is.
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We have enough kit to wash and dry every day as it is,
so the last thing you want to do is get
that dry kit that's in your bag
contaminated with a pungent chlorine smell.
Now I learnt this hack a few years ago.
Basically, using a swimming cap
to keep the rest of your kit dry.
So once you finish your swim,
make sure you've rinsed and squeeze-dried your swimsuit
and then all you need to do is pop it
inside your swimming hat
and that way it should keep the rest of your kit dry.
If you want to be really safe,
then wrap it in a towel to keep it dry
from the rest of the kit,
or pop it in a side pocket out of the way.
It saves you getting a towel extra wet
and it also keeps the rest of your kit dry.
But, if you don't have a swimming hat,
I'm aware some people don't swim with caps,
then you could use a specific dry bag,
or even a plastic bag.
Put it in there, and then you can easily
pop it inside your bag, and the rest of your kit is fine.
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- Now then, goggles when they're brand new do come
with a nice anti-fog solution built into them,
but after a while that soon disappears and you're left
with some foggy goggles.
Now you can go and buy something specific
like anti-fog solution to put back into the goggles
but a cheaper option is some baby shampoo or
something that is completely free is your own saliva.
(spits)
So when your goggles get a scratch in them
you can undo that.
So do try and keep care with them.
Put them in a box if they've come in that,
but a nice trick that you can do
to keep them from getting scratched
is use an old and sock and pop them in there
which works just as well.
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- Swimming pool floors aren't
necessarily the cleanest of places,
and they can be pretty slippery as well.
So flip-flops are great for protecting your feet
as well as reducing your chances of falling over.
And if you are swimming in an outdoor pool
and the ground temperature is really cold,
then flip-flops will at least help
keep your feet a bit warm.
But my favorite reason for using flip-flops is to save time.
Now, admittedly, in the winter it's not really an option,
but trying to battle to get your feet dry,
your socks on when they twist,
and then into your shoes can take quite a lot of effort
as well as a lot of time.
As soon as it's warm enough outside,
I opt for flip-flops post-training.
You slip them on and you're out the door in no time.
And another tip: if you are a woman
and you're wearing tights after training heading to work,
it can be a nightmare trying to get them on when in you're
in a really hot and humid changing room,
and they end up twisted and you feel uncomfortable all day.
So if there is another bathroom you can use,
get everything else changed, walk out the door,
find somewhere a bit cooler,
and then you can put your tights on much more easily.
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- Now there's something about chlorine in the water
that just makes you hungry after a swim.
Now, I have no idea about the science behind this,
but usually after a swim I am starving
and have got those post-swim munchies.
So try and plan ahead and having something like
a recovery shake ready so that you can have that when
you get out the pool and on your way to work or going home
so you avoid the temptation of the vending machine
when you leave the pool,
or even the petrol garage as you drive by.
And another thing to think about if you're doing
an early-morning swim, or it's a long session,
you might want to take a gel or something that gives you
that little bit of extra to tide you over mid-swim.
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- Post-swimming hair is not necessarily the best look,
and if you don't have time to wash, brush,
and blow-dry your hair before leaving,
you can quite often end up walking out of the pool
looking like a drowned rat
that's been through a hedge backwards.
But I have learned some tricks over the years.
A cap hides a multitude of sins,
so if you ever wonder why I'm wearing a GTN cap
in so many videos, well, that's the reason.
If, however, it's in the winter you need to make sure
you keep your head warm, especially if your hair is wet,
because you will lose a lot of heat through that.
A beanie is a great idea.
Also, if you're going training early morning
I find a beanie helps getting out of a warm bed
and makes it a little bit easier.
If you've picked up any hacks from swimming
in a swimming pool that we haven't included today,
please let us know.
Equally, if you've tried any of these,
let us know how you got on in the comment section below.
- And hopefully you have enjoyed our video today about hacks
so please give it a thumb up, like button,
find the globe on screen and click that
to make sure you've got all the other videos on our channel.
If you want to see a video that we did about how to swim
with paddles, you can find that here.
- And if you want to know more about
how to prevent foggy goggles,
we've done a whole video on it,
and you can find that just here.