My Carly Talks About Swimming

Carly Stoakes

My daughter Carly has been a certified lifeguard for the last several years. Since 2009 she has been living in Nashville working as a lifeguard, and swimming instructor. Here she discusses the value of incorporating swimming into your workouts.


The YMCA is home to all sorts of individuals. We all know them. There are the members who are religious about their daily routines, and then there are a select few who are just trying to lose a few pounds for a special event, or upcoming beach season. The middle school crowd is also there trying to "impress the ladies". Plus, you have the senior citizens who are there under doctor's orders. Last, but not least, you have the steroid-infused gang who, well...let’s just say...like the mirror.

    

And then there are people like my Dad, who do it as a lifestyle, who see exercise as not only a way to look better for a few days, but as a spiritual, mental, and physical healing that goes beyond what any prescription can do for you.

A while back, I got invited to go to the Y with a group of my coworkers as kind of a day off to see each other out of the work place.  They wanted me to give them a few pointers on their swimming strokes, performance and form.

One of them, Rachel, had been a swimmer in high school and college, so she knew the ropes. But the other two guys, Robbie and Paul, had been into football and wrestling. And while both sports are incredibly demanding and respectable, they were not ready for what I had in store for them that day.

As Rachel and I did a few laps to warm up, Paul and Robbie hadn't even made it half way down the 25-meter pool.

Here is why: While having muscle may seem like the most important thing in wrestling, and ensures you will run hard over the other guy in football. In swimming, a more lean muscle is required.  Not only do you have to have speed, but endurance.  Endurance means drive to push yourself on for long periods of time. Meaning, the heavier you are, the harder it is to "move on;" especially in the water. So, because of our conditioning, Rachel and I were able to complete more laps in a shorter period of time.

Dara Torres

Some say swimming is a woman's sport and only good for cardio workout.  It is a cardio workout, but what most fail to realize is that it is muscle-training activity just as much as it is cardio.  So to all those men at the gym only hitting the free-weight corner, here is a little piece of information... while lifting weights will add on desired muscle, it will also keep your current fat percentage at more-or-less the same number. The resistance of swimming forces you to work not only large muscle groups, but also the smaller muscles we take for granted.

That is why Robbie and Paul had such a hard time.  Their football and wrestling training was concentrated more on working the larger muscles that were in high demand when the game started, like the quads and traps and triceps.  So when they got in the water their smaller muscle groups like their rhomboids, serratus and deltoids got a run for their money! Not to mention the lung workout they received.

So the next time you hit your local YMCA, or fitness center, and are heading in to get "jacked," remember to stop by the pool, because swimming IS NOT just for woman.