Feel the Water, Scull the Water

Two weeks ago I introduced sculling to my Swim Yoga class. It was frustrating to many of my students because it was their initial attempt at sculling. When first sculling, you may feel like you're not moving and, unfortunately, that is EXACTLY why you need to scull. Sculling helps you to feel the water, to build sensory awareness.

A good sculling drill to start with is the kickboard sculling drill, as it allows you plenty of oxygen and doesn't distract you with the additional element of kicking. In this drill, you will sit on the kickboard and try to keep your upper arms motionless on the surface of the water while your lower arms (from the elbow to the fingertips) windshield wiper in and out. Keep in mind that this drill requires core strength. Sit up tall and tighten your abs. This drill can be as hard or as easy as you make it - challenge yourself by keeping your muscles taut.

Workout of the Week

300 freestyle warm up

10x50 flutter kick on side
10x25 flutter kick on back (sprint)

10x50 dolphin kick on front
10x25 dolphin kick on back (sprint)

100 freestyle easy

9x100 freestyle (slow, medium, fast, slow, medium, fast, slow, medium, fast)

100 breaststroke easy

9x100 IM (slow, medium, fast, slow, medium, fast, slow, medium, fast)

200 breaststroke easy

200 freestyle easy

Workout of the Week

100 warm up

2 x 50 flutter kick on back (arms at side)

2 x 50 flutter kick on right side (looking up, left arm leading and right arm at side)

2 x 50 flutter kick on left side (looking up, right arm leading and left arm at side)

2 x 50 flutter kick on back (arms at side)

2 x 50 flutter kick (6 on right side, 6 on back, 6 on left side)

100 easy

2 x 50 6 kick drill (6 kicks, 3 strokes, 6 kicks, 3 strokes)

2 x 50 3 kick drill (3 kicks, 3 strokes, 3 kicks, 3 strokes)

2 x 50 back stroke (concentrating on rotation)

100 easy

Physique Swim & Yoga Clinic

Swimming and Yoga: Two of the best things you can do for your body. Physique Swimming, in partnership with Abhaya Yoga, proudly offers a clinic to enhance participants' understanding of both practices. Our Swimming and Yoga Class emphasizes drills that focus on balance and breathe control, the foundation to each discipline. Combining perhaps the two healthiest forms of exercise, our class presents the perfect opportunity to make a long-term investment in your body.

Session Dates:
November 6 - December 13 (No class 11/27)

Yoga: 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Swim: 3:15pm - 4:15pm

Location:
Claremont Preparatory School
41 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004

Kick It Up

Kicking is fundamental to your stroke so it's important to push your kicking to the next level. When kicking with a kickboard, your feet will emerge from the water and kick air. Maybe not a lot, but at least a little. One way to get the most out of your kicking is to head to the deep end and do some vertical kicking.

You can tackle vertical kicking several ways. Breaststroke kick, flutter kick and dolphin kick are all options. First kick with your arms in the water. Then try crossing your arms across your chest. For a real test of spirits, continue kicking while your hands are above your head.

Who Needs to Breathe?

Breathing is an issue. First you get your legs kicking nice straight, fast little kicks. Then you get your arms moving up to the ear and down to your side with a nice rotation. You're pulling, you kicking, you're moving. And then you take a breath. It's easy for your stroke to fall apart when you're breathing. Check out these helpful drills to help your freestyle breathing.

The Triumvirate

When I was a USS swimmer, my coach would give us open ended drills. She'd say, "4x100 (swim, kick, drill, swim)" and it would be up to me to choose a drill. More oft than not I would pick the stereotypical catch-up, fists or 3-3-3 drill. Before I teach you these tried and true drills, let's look at a few under appreciated drills that deserve a bit more of our attention.

Slow Arm Recovery with Hesitation: This drill requires proper body position in order to balance with your arm paused out of the water. The body should be rotated onto its side with the shoulder and hip in line. It requires a strong core and kick and will pump your stroke up a notch by helping to nail down the basics of front crawl.

Quick Catch: The catch in freestyle is quite possibly one of the most important pieces of the stroke (hence the last posting on sculling). Aside from the kick, it is what really propels the stroke. So what would make your stroke faster? Well, a faster kick but, too, a faster catch. This drill is perfect if you are looking to speed up your stroke.

High Swingers: High Swingers is another excellent drill for developing proper body position. The arm cannot possibly swing up and around without injuring the shoulder if the body is not rotated. If the body is flat in the water, the shoulder will be pinched during this drill. It will definitely nip your little habit of under rotating in the bud.

How Do you Feel the Water? Scull It!

Louisiana State University Swimming and Diving Coach Adam D. Schmitt writes that:

Sculling is arguably one of the most underused swimming drills to increase good feel of the water and improve the initial catch and thrust of all strokes.

The hands are the key to sculling. A strong stroke starts with a strong catch in the water. To have a strong catch, or feel for the water, the hands need to be strong against the water. While you scull, take notice of how your hand is angled as well as the pitch of your hand (the downward angle). Slide only your hand back and forth in eight- to 10-inch sweeps while also tilting your hand to the appropriate angle.

Think of your hand as a canoe paddle. If you want to go sideways, you would pitch the paddle in such a way that would move you the best way possible. You will NOT go fast doing these drills correctly. This is sculling, NOT pulling! Keep your kick minimal and concentrate on propulsion just from the scull. Your hands and forearms will begin to feel the focus.

Don't scull near the surface. The surface of the pool is not where your stroke is most efficient in moving forward. Correct position feels a little awkward. It is like you are sculling over a big oil barrel, reaching around in an arch with your shoulder blades lifted up, elbows high and finger tips to the bottom of the pool.
Don't go for Speed. I mentioned before, with drills, you do not want to rush them. The point of the drill is to increase your hand strength and the feel and catch of the water.

Don't let your legs override the purpose of the drill. Don't use your kick for propulsion during sculling. Also don't allow your legs to drag down behind you. If body position is an issue, you can put a pull buoy on and let your legs float behind you staying even with the surface of the water.

Check out the video below for a helpful sculling drill.

Freestyle Kicking

Swimming is like a house: if the foundation is unstable, the house will fall apart. In order to develop a strong stroke, you have to develop a strong foundation. The foundation to your stroke lies in the body position and the kick.

Kicking on your side helps you to find your balance while practicing your kick. The key to a strong kick is flexibility in the ankles. The kick, which originates at the hip, has a slight bend in the knee and a pointed toe. When kicking on your side, reach one arm forward so that it rests at the surface of the water. Keep the other arm at your side. Your belly button should be facing the wall. Your knees should be facing the wall. Your toes should be facing the wall with a horizontal kick rather than a vertical kick. You can use two different heads positions, but I recommend looking at the bottom of the pool with the water hitting your head in the middle of your cap. To see Michael Phelps talk about kicking on one's side, check out the movie below:



You can also practice your kick in a streamline position. To learn about pop up breathing while kicking in a streamline, see the video below:

2010 Physique Swim Yoga Clinic, Sunday October 24

Claremont Preparatory School

41 Broad Street
Yoga 9:30am-10:30am
Swim 11:00am-12:30pm

The focus of the Swim Yoga Clinic is to raise awareness of balance and breath control to aid stroke development. By using basic yoga principals outside of the water, swimmers will learn a variety of drills that focus on and establish key elements of balance and breath control, which is the solid foundation that enhances all strokes at any level.

This clinic is the perfect opportunity to meld two beautiful and challenging practices. We hope you will be able to join us this fall!

Physique Swim Camp Song

This summer at Physique swim camp we have a new favorite song. Check it out!

Physique Swim Camp is Lots of Fun
We like to go out & play in the Sun
Swimming 2 times a day in the pool is cool
I'll miss swim camp when I go back to school

La la la la la la la la (sing 4 times)

We go outside and have a blast,
We come back in for arts & crafts,
We hunt for caveman in the park,
Look for aliens in the dark,
Fight the monsters up in space,
As aliens land on Battery Place.

"I don't want to go home!" kids scream "NO!"
'I wish I can stay!" kids scream "Yeah!"

Physique Swim Camp is Lots of Fun
We like to go out & play in the Sun
Swimming 2 times a day in the pool is cool
I'll miss swim camp when I go back to school

La la la la la la la la (sing 4 times)

Discovering the Freedom of Water

Although adults often bring long held fears with them to the pool, their achievements are some of the most astounding simply because of this. It is hard to overcome years of built up fear. But it can be done. It is done. And participating in this achievement, this growth, is terribly rewarding for a teacher. Below please find an article by Melina Slotnick titled "Adult Swimming Lessons: Discovering the Freedom of Water" that honors Physique's approach to teaching adult beginner classes..

Learn Their Story

During an adult's first lesson, take the time to get to know your swimmer before rushing into instruction and techniques. Students often come with luggage, weighing down their potential for success. If you don't take the time to know who they are, you may never get the opportunity to help them discover their freedom in the water. If is your responsibility to help unpack their luggage carefully. Ask them about their water history. "What was your motivation to learn to swim now?" "What's your story?" Share a story of your own experiences and honor them for the effort they made in just signing up for lessons. Recognize their frustration and offer them understanding your willingness to help them learn.

Establish Base of Trust and Respect

An adult non-swimmer has struggled with the embarrassment of not knowing how to swim their whole life. They have missed swim parties, water sports, pool time or safety and have arrived, with anxiety packed neatly in their bag. As their teacher, they do not know to ask. Offer them your constant watchful eye, and keep their safety your utmost concern. Encourage them to try but grant them 'permission' to step back and move at a slower pace. This is their lesson, you are simply guiding them.

Free Them From the Pressure to Perform

For an adult non-swimmer, water is intimidating and their natural inclination is to fight their way through it, or apply too much strength. They often set unrealistic or strict goals, unfortunately making the learning of a task more 'mission oriented' rather than a joyful discovery of how water provides us freedom. Helping them respect the simple fundamental tasks is the most important lesson of freedom.

Give Them Tools to Succeed

Play with the simplest of steps. The basic principals of balance, breathing, body position, relaxing, falling to a flat and feeling the water work with the body rather than against it is your biggest gift to a new swimmer. Be patient and find ways to connect with the person individually. You are making a difference in their life: you are providing them the opportunity to master fear.

Guide the Way

It is okay to challenge your new student with new skills. Explain the importance of what they are doing, and give them time to experiment and explore. What we swimmers love about the water is not the ability to swim from one end of the pool to another, but the freedom water gives us. The freedom to leave it all behind, to come to the pool with no luggage, no worries, no fears. We come to have fun. As a teacher...share your love of the water.

Zip It Up

This summer I have discovered my favorite drill. It has long been a drill I've used but this summer I have discovered that it is IDEAL for teaching beginner adults proper body and arm position. The drill? The zipper drill. In the video below by Multisportcast.tv several drills are showcased including the zipper drill.



There are a number of reasons why the zipper drill is particularly effective in aiding body and arm position. The drill forces you to rotate from side to side while swimming (shocking fact: the majority of the time you are swimming freestyle or backstroke, you are really on your side) in order to slide your arm up your body. The drill also requires bent arms and high elbows, which prevents shoulder injuries. If you haven't tried the zipper drill, give it a shot. You might be surprised!

S.O.S.

Every summer, in the wake of tragedy, water safety is brought up yet again by the press. At Physique it is always on our minds. Our goal is to educate non-swimmers in order to prevent these devastating water accidents. This morning AM New York caught my attention with a cover story on water safety in New York. Please find Sheila Anne Feeney's interesting article S.O.S. posted below.

In the most recent tragedy involving children and the shimmering cool water that beckons on sweltering days, Crystal Reyes, 15, struggled to stay afloat in the Bronx River last Sunday.

Her friend David Lee Luccioni III, 17, jumped in to save her. Both drowned. Last month, Nicole Suriel, 12, drowned on a school trip to Long Beach. Neither girl knew how to swim, according to their parents.

Why city kids are less water literate than their suburban peers is a mix of cultural attitudes, fears and a lack of access and opportunity.

A 2010 survey in six cities (New York was not included) by the University of Memphis for USA Swimming showed that 61 percent of the respondents had low swimming ability, and 10 percent were non-swimmers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the second leading cause of accident-related death for kids, with black children 3.1 times more likely to drown than white children.

Cultural attitudes trump socioeconomic factors as a reason many kids never learn to swim, according to the study. Paradoxically, fear of the water was a major reason parents did not make swimming lessons a priority for their children, despite the fact that water competence decreases the risk of drowning.

"The kids don't learn how to swim and be comfortable in the water because the parents never learned how to swim and be comfortable in the water," said Sunny Anderson, the aquatic director of the Harlem YMCA.

While New York City schools partner with area YMCAs and the Department of Parks & Recreation to offer classes, students are not required to know how to swim as a part of their physical education curriculum. That means parental motivation is crucial if a child is to embrace the life aquatic.

Some kids can become water competent in a single eight-week course, said Anderson, but others need 32 weeks to get their sea legs.

"I know [swimming lesson] save lives," she said. "Children swimming in rivers, lakes or ocean beaches, they should take lessons there are well" because conditions in natural bodies of water can differ significantly from those of a pool.

Motivation

While at the gym the other day, I caught a CNN piece on Olympic swimmer, Cullen Jones. Sports Illustrated just posted the article Jones Seizes Swimming Spotlight. It appears I am not the only one moved by Jones' motivating story and commendable work in the community.

Please find the article below:

Cullen Jones can still picture the top of the water slide at Dorney Park in Pennsylvania where his life took a fateful turn when he was five years old. His dad Ronald, had made him promise to not let go of the inner tube on the way down, so, Ronald shot down the slide, screaming all the way, Cullen followed, gripping the tube tightly. "When I hit the bottom of the ride, there was this huge pool of water, and I flipped right over," Jones recalls. But he didn't let go of the tube. "I actually passed out," he says. "They had to give me CPR, and when I woke up, I was like, okay, what's the next ride? It could have changed my life completely if it was traumatic. I might never have touched the water again."

It was traumatic for Jones' mom, Debra, who signed up her only child for swimming lessons the next week. Jones started competitive swimming a few years later, and on Thursday night, he became just the third African-American to make an Olympic swim team when he finished third in the 100 free, good enough for a place on the 4x100 relay team. On Friday morning, Jones set an American record of 21.59 in the 50 free preliminaries and emerged from the pool to a standing ovation.

This is just the spotlight Jones has been hoping for since he burst onto the international swim scene with a Pan Pac win in the 50 free two years ago. He's hoping minority kids will see his success, get inspired and demand their parents take them to get swim lessons. Jones isn't necessarily trying to inspire the next Michael Phelps, though he wouldn't mind that. Mostly he doesn't want any little kid to have an experience like he did that doesn't have a happy ending.

A recent study sponsored by USA Swimming found that nearly 60 percent of African-American and Hispanic and Latino kids in the United States don't know how to swim, twice the percentage of their Caucasian counterparts, and that they are more than twice as likely to drown. To help address the problem, Jones has talked to schools in at-risks communities and held free swim clinics at YMCAs as part of USA Swimming's Make A Splash Initiative. "Learning to swim is a matter of safety," he says.

A surge in swimming's visibility coupled with his sponsorship with high-profile companies like Nike could give him an unprecedented platform to reach minority kids, says Jones. "The timing has been great. I love the fact that I can be a role model, that I've been given that title and that label. As Tiger Woods did for golf, I'm hoping that I can ascend to a level where I can do that for swimming."

Jones is not the first elite-level black swimmer in the U.S. "There were a number before me. But the problem is, they didn't get exposure. Maritza Correira (2004 silver medalist in the 4x100 relay) got exposure for being the first black female Olympic swimmer, but did she get enough? Not really."

Jones' first swim team, in Newark, was predominantly African-American. His role model, however, was Gary Hall, Jr., who swam in his first Olympics in 1996, when Jones was 12. "I never had an African-American swimmer come up and talk to me ... but Gary Hall, Jr. was big," says Jones, who kept a poster of Hall on his wall. "Watching the '96 Olympics, and watching him swim, I was really psyched. I was like, Dad, that's where I want to be. He said, 'Really? Then you have to put some work in.'"

Ronald passed away from lung cancer when Jones was 16, but Jones kept working, becoming a star at NC State before signing a lucrative deal with Nike two years ago. In the finals of the 50 on Saturday, he'll be racing in the same field as Hall, who is trying to make his fourth Olympic team. It's not likely Jones will turn to jello in Hall's presence like he did four years ago in Long Beach, when he was, he confesses, completely psyched out by the sight of Hall in his boxing robe and didn't make the semifinals. After all, it was Hall's eight-year-old American record that Jones broke Friday morning.

Jones wants to win Saturday, of course, and he wants to be seen. "My job is swim really fast," he says," and maybe some kid will be sitting on a couch looking at me, and saying, Dad, I want to do that."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/kelli_anderson/07/05/cullen.jones/#ixzz0uHW6yInL

Find Opportunities in Difficulties, Not Difficulties in Opportunities

I have long been a fan of pulling. Give me a pull buoy over a kickboard any day, however, I often have to rectify a slipping pull buoy, taking time at the wall to put it back in place. But is this challenge really a challenge or merely an opportunity in disguise? Flip your pull buoy sideways between the bony part of your knees to help strengthen your groin muscles.



I've also found that swapping the pull buoy for a kickboard can prove equally challenging - you REALLY have to squeeze your legs together to keep from losing a kickboard! Are you ready to find an opportunity rather than a difficulty?

Swim In Spring Meet 2010

Swim Meet How To

When it comes to swim meets, there are some key things to remember:

1.) Your body will need lots of energy for your races - carbo load the night before (i.e., enjoy a big bowl of pasta)

2.) Visualize your race and then make your vision reality

3.) Pump yourself up with music!

4.) Remain hydrated - bring a water bottle to the meet

5.) Shivering wastes energy - bundle up between races!

6.) Warm up behind the block immediately before your race by jumping up and down and shaking out your muscles

7.) Practice good sportsmanship - congratulate your competitors

8.) Cheer for your teammates

9.) Bring a healthy snack - no junk food!

10.) Have fun!

10 + 10 = 20

10 Reasons to Practice Yoga

1. Flexibility:

Yoga poses safely stretch your muscles, releasing the lactic acid that builds up and causes stiffness, tension, pain, and fatigue. Additionally yoga increases the range of motion in joints and the lubrication in the joints. The stretch is not limited to the muscles - it also reaches the soft tissues of your body, including ligaments, tendons, and the fascia sheath that surrounds the muscles.

2. Strength:

Practicing yoga will help improve muscle tone, strength and endurance. Poses like Downward Dog, Upward Dog and Plank Pose improve upper-body strength while standing poses build strength in hamstrings, quadriceps, and abdominal muscles. The lower back is strengthened through poses like Upward Dog and Chair.

3. Posture:

Increased flexibility and strength results in better posture. Most standing and sitting poses, which rely on the abdominal muscles as support, develop core strength. With a stronger core, you're more likely to sit and stand "tall." Another benefit of yoga is the increased body awareness, which helps you to realize when you're slouching or slumping so you can adjust your posture.

4. Breathing:

Because of the deep breathing involved in yoga, lung capacity tends to improve. This in turn can improve sports performance and endurance. Most forms of yoga emphasize deepening and lengthening the breath. This stimulates the relaxation response -- the opposite of the fight-or-flight adrenaline boost of the stress response.

5. Stress Relief:

People who participate in yoga tend to feel more relaxed than they were prior to practicing yoga. Some yoga styles use specific meditation techniques to quiet the thoughts that often underlie stress. Other yoga styles rely on deep breathing techniques to focus the mind on the breath and calm the mind. Yoga decreases the catecholamines, the hormones produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress.

6. Mood Elevator:

Yoga students claim they feel happier and more at ease after class. Yoga boosts the oxygen levels to the brain, which can help to alleviate depression.

7. Healthy Heart:

Yoga helps to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate, which benefits people with hypertension and heart disease. Yoga was a key component to the heart disease program designed by Dean Ornish, MD that was the first program to partly reverse heart disease through lifestyle and diet rather than surgery.

8. Help with Preexisting Medical Conditions:

Yoga is recommended as an adjunct treatment for chronic medical conditions such as depression, heart disease, asthma, back pain and arthritis.

9. Concentration:

By keeping the mind focused on a single object or mantra during a yoga session, you work to improve your power of concentration and focused attention in and outside of yoga practice.

10. Energy:

Yoga exercises, breath control training and use of yoga body locks all work to activate and balance your energy pathways, giving you the vitality and power you need to maximize your potential.


10 Reasons to Swim

1. Flexibility:

Swimming aids flexibility. Heated pools help the muscles to relax, which promotes flexibility and enables stretching of the muscles. An easy swim flushes out toxins that can build up after intense lactic-acid building endurance workout, which helps to prevent muscle tightness and soreness.

2. Strength:

Swimming uses nearly all of the major muscle groups. Water provides 12 times more resistance than air, so it takes more work to move through water than air. It tones and strengthens both the upper and lower body. Swimming not only helps to strengthen muscles but, too, it helps to build long, lean and flexible muscles, which help to boost metabolism.

3. Posture:

Your core muscles have a lot to do with posture. Swimming develops core body strength, which in turn improves posture and prevents lower back pain.

4. Breathing:

Studies have shown that swimmers have higher lung volumes and capacities than land based athletes and non athletes. Swim training studies have also demonstrated increases in total lung capacities in children and young adults. This is likely due to swimmers having to breath in a restricted breathing pattern with repeated expansion of the lungs.

5. Stress Relief:

Because swimming allows more oxygen to flow to your muscles and forces you to regulate your breathing, it is extremely relaxing. By focusing your attention on your body and physical self, you allow yourself a break from your mind.

6. Healthy Heart:

Swimming improves the body’s use of oxygen without overworking the heart.
Studies have shown that a workout routine that includes swimming can help reduce and possibly prevent high blood pressure, which lowers your risk for heart disease and stroke.

7. Help with Preexisting Medical Conditions:

The buoyancy provided by the water is beneficial to people with osteoporosis and arthritis as well as pregnant women. Swimming helps with asthma as well. In fact most asthma websites recommend swimming as one of the best forms of exercise for asthmatics. When you take deep breaths and hold your breath at regular intervals, you increase your lung capacity and train your lungs into steady regular breathing patterns, which helps asthmatics.

8. Low risk of injury:

There is little to no stress on the bones, joints or connective tissues while swimming because of buoyancy. Indeed, in the water you weight 1/10th less. On average a swimmer can burn as many calories per hour as a runner, however swimmers’ bodies are cushioned from the harsh pounding and stress on joints and muscles by the buoyancy of the water. With very little risk of injury, swimming is held as one of the safest forms of exercise and recommended as a form of rehabilitation for the injured.

9. Longevity:

Swimming promotes longevity. In a recent study of more than 40,000 men ages 20 to 90, swimmers were 50 percent less likely to die during the 32 year study period than were walkers or runners.

10. Endurance:

Typically you can sustain swimming longer than other activities. Swimmers with proper technique can swim for longer periods of time than runners and burn more calories as a result.


Equals 20 Reasons to Participate in Physique Swimming's First Swim Yoga Clinic

Fake It, Don't Break It

Any parent who gets his or her young child in the water earns my respect. It's my belief when it comes to swimming, the earlier the better. But if you are joining your child in the water in a class like Me and My Shadow, you ought to be aware of one thing - you must fake it, don't break it.

By this I mean when you are in the pool with your child, you are on stage and your audience is your child. In this situation you are an Oscar winning actor - you effortlessly move your audience with a smile or a look of fright. Although it's easy to be nervous with your child in the water, it is vital to play down these nerves and play up your enthusiasm. Children are uncannily perceptive and pick up on emotions easily. If your child unintentionally gets his or her face wet, avoid giving into your nerves. Try not to worry about how your child may react and instead pretend it is the most incredible and amazing feat. Many a time I have seen a child accidentally splash himself, pause uncertain and then burst into tears after hearing his mom exclaim, "oh sweetie are you okay". That sort of experience may hinder progress.

The same experience with a different reaction from the parent can be beneficial. If, instead of responding to the situation with nerves and fear, the mother had shown excitement and joy, the child most likely would have paused uncertain and then showed a tentative smile before, perhaps, doing it again.

When you're in class, don't forget, you're the star and the show must go on.

It's Never Too Soon (Part 1)

It's never too soon to learn to swim - but it can definitely be too late. Drowning is a leading cause of death in youth. The inability to swim is especially dangerous in warmer, coastal states where drowning is the most preventable cause of death in children under the age of 6. Starting children in swim lessons at a young age can help protect against drowning and water related injuries but there are additional benefits not widely known.

As children develop new experiences create neural pathways throughout the central nervous system. Particularly in children aged 6 months to 2 years, swimming lessons can aid the development of synapses, which in turn are connected to increased cognitive reasoning skills. Pre-school children involved in activities like swimming are shown in recent studies to trend upward on the learning curve.

2010 Spring Session

Dear All,

Thank you for checking out our blog. As we head into the Spring Season it is the perfect time to learn how to swim right before the summer time and the perfect time to start getting in shape, look good and feel strong, but the most important is to be able to be safe in the water. National Institute of Health study confirmed that swim lessons play a role in drowning prevention. Participating in formal swimming lessons was associated with an 88% reduction in the risk of drowning in children between the ages of 1 to 4.
(Arch Pediatric Med. 2009; 163(3):203-210)

We are proud to offer swimming lessons for all ages starting with parent and child classes to adults who are looking to learn how to swim or perfect their strokes.

Our Spring semester will kick off in the last week of March. Registration for classes can be arranged by phone, fax, mail or email. Please visit out website for level description, schedules and locations around NYC and North Jersey Area.

Homepage: www.PhysiqueSwimming.com

Click below for NYC locations, schedule and fees:
Battery Park Swim & Fitness Center
Claremont Prep School in Financial District
St. Barts Church in Midtown East
333 East 66th St on Upper East Side
Julia Richman High School on Upper East Side
City College of New York in Harlem

Click below for locations in NJ:
St. Peter's College, Jersey City, NJ
College of St. Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ

Please feel free to call or email us if you have questions about placement. We can also offer financial assistance, family packages and sibling discounts.

See you at the pool,
Vadim Shoykhet
Director/Owner of Physique Swimming NYC
phone: 1 212 725 0939
email: info@physiqueswimming.com

Testimonial 3/9/2010

Dear Vadim,

I'm writing just to let you know how happy we have been with Physique. Each and every swim teacher we have encountered has been patient, kind, energetic and highly skilled as a teacher. When we went through a rough patch last year, because of a fear that my daughter had about the pool, you and your staff were incredibly flexible and compassionate with her. I think it enabled her to continue with her lessons for the long run! We travel in from the suburbs for this great program and as I have told many friends, it is well worth the trip!

Best regards,

Ilene Z.

Set of the Week

Backstroke Day

20o freestyle
200 backstroke

200 flutter kick on side looking down (alternate side every 25 yards)
200 flutter kick on side looking up (alternate side every 25 yards)

50 x kick on side looking up
50 x drill (arm up drill - see video below)
50 x swim (backstroke)

repeat 6 times

12 x 100 (alternate between freestyle and backstroke every 100)

easy 300 backstroke
easy 200 freestyle

Never Too Late

Today I stumbled across an inspirational blog entry. Too often adults can let a fear of water develop into an incapacitating foe over time. I teach many adult classes and find my pupils in good humor, if a bit self-deprecating. It cannot be said enough, but adults deserve never ending kudos for getting in the pool in the first place. Having allowed fear to develop and take root over many years, they have a much more difficult time getting in the pool than children. The hardest step is the first - as illuminated in the below citation.

A lot of my friends were surprised when I finally told them the fact that I had never had swimming lessons in my life. To tell you the truth, I was a little bit embarrassed about this fact and hesitant to tell anyone. Most kids have youth swimming classes when they are young, you see. In my case, however, I was never allowed to have child swimming lessons. My mom was deathly afraid of the water. She had a brother who drowned when she was young, and ever since then she would not enter any body of water no matter how small. She thought that if I had even one child swimming lesson, I might join her brother at the bottom of the water.

I probably would have kept my lack of swimming lessons secret to this day, except for the fact that I was found out. You see, I was having a group outing together with several of my friends. We went to the lake to have a picnic, and because it was such a nice day everyone wanted to go swimming. I tried all of the usual excuses for not swimming, but no one would believe me or accept them. Finally, I confessed my secrets. I told him that I had never had swim lessons.

My friends were very supportive. They were a little bit surprised, but they were all eager to help me out. They offered to give me a swimming lesson right then and there. At first I declined, but my friend Jill is a very experienced swimmer. If she told me that she could give me swimming lessons, she probably could. I gave it a try, and to my surprise it was much easier than I had thought. I had inherited my mothers fear of swimming, and I had had it for so long that I didn't realize that it was there.

Soon after that, I signed up for adult swimming lessons at the local rec center. It was slow going at first, And I was a little bit embarrassing being taught by a 17 year old kid, but nevertheless I learned to some very quickly. Everyone there was very supportive, and soon I could swim like a champion. If you have never had swimming lessons, there is no reason to fear it. It really isn't that hard once you get in the water. Overcoming the fear and stepping into the pool is half of the challenge. ~ Original Posting

Set of the Week

Not for the weak of heart:

3 x 500 free easy

3 x 200 (100 drill, 100 swim) 1:45

6 x 50 (25 sculling, 25 free) n/t
3 x 100 free on 1:30

6 x 50 (25 kick, 25 free) n/t
3 x 100 free on 1:30

6 x 50 (25 fly, 25 back)
3 x 100 free on 1:30

6 x 50 (25 back, 25 breast)
3 x 100 free on 1:30

6 x 50 (25 breast, 25 free)
3 x 100 free on 1:30

Set of the Week

Warm Up
500 free
easy100
choice kick
200 pull

Drill Set
6 x 50 fist on :55/1:10
3 x 50 (25 kick, 25 free) 1:00/1:15
6 x 50 catch up/splash on :55/1:10
3 x 50 (25 kick, 25 free) 1:00/1:15
2 x(100 drill, 100 free) 1:45/2:00{Drill 25 ra, 25 la, 25 cu, 25 free}

Main set
3 x 100 free on 1:30/2:00
6 x 50 free on :50/:55
3 x 100 stroke/IM on 1:45/2:10
6 x 50 free on :45/:50

Cool Down

Set of the Week

If I were my coach, I'd hate me after this set...

200 Free

12x75 (swim, kick, drill – im order, repeat 3x)
12x100 (kicking on back – im order, repeat 3x)
12X25 (underwater dolphin kick in streamline position – no breathing)

200 Choice

12x50 (2 turn 50s start in middle of pool – im order)
12x100 (im order, repeat 3x)
12x25 (underwater breaststroke kick in streamline position – no breathing)

200 Choice

12x50 sprint (im order, repeat 3x)

200 Cool Down

Set of the Week

Back to Basics

200 swim, 200 kick, 200 drill freestyle

6x25 kick on front, arms at side, head in a neutral position (work on proper body position)
6x25 kick on right side (head looking down, arms at side, belly button towards the wall)
6x25 kick on left side (head looking down, arms at side, belly button towards the wall)
6x50 kick (25 on right 25 on left, head looking down, bottom arm in front, belly button towards the wall)
6x100 (25 right side kick, 25 left side kick, 50 12 kick switch)
6x100 (25 12 kick switch, 25 8 kick switch, 25 6 kick switch, 25 swim)

200 swim (concentrating on rotation and proper body alignment)

6x25 kick on back, arms at side, head in a neutral position (work on proper body position)
6x25 kick on right side (head looking up, arms at side, belly button towards the wall)
6x25 kick on left side (head looking up, arms at side, belly button towards the wall)
6x50 kick (25 on right 25 on left, head looking up, bottom arm in front, belly button towards the wall)
6x100 backstroke (25 right side kick, 25 left side kick, 50 12 kick switch)
6x100 backstroke (25 12 kick switch, 25 8 kick switch, 25 6 kick switch, 25 swim)

200 backstroke (concentrating on rotation and proper body alignment)

200 cool down

Set of the Week

Warm Up:

200 Swim, 200 Kick, 2oo Drill

Set 1:

10x25 arms at side breaststroke kick (concentrating on rocking body motion = breathe every kick)
10x25 breaststroke pull with pull buoy (concentrating on pushing forward with the hips when breathing)
10x50 (25 breaststroke drill 1 pull/2 kick, 25 breaststroke)
10x100 breaststroke (1-3 on the 2:00, 4-6 on the 1:50, 7-9 on the 1:40, 10 on the 1:30)

200 easy

Set 2:

6x200 kick with board (fly, breast, free)

6x100 stroke with board (1-3 on the 2:00, 4-6 on the 1:50)

300 cool down

Set of the Week

Having drooled over swim sets posted by other bloggers, I've decided it's time to post my own so here commences the first "Set of the Week" post. This set is a general work out and does not target a specific stroke. It is a great starting point for those former swimmers looking to dive back in. Take it easy and find times that work for you. The next time you try it, cut 5 seconds off from each set.

6x100 (25 swim, 25 kick, 25 drill, 25 swim - free, fly, free, breast, free, back - 15 seconds rest)
8x75 kick (25 kick on right side, 25 on back, 25 on left side - i.m. order - 15 seconds rest)
9x100 (1st easy, 2nd medium, 3rd fast - repeat and drop 5 seconds each set of three, i.e. 3 on the 1:45, 3 on the 1:40, 3 on the 1:35)
100 easy
4x200 kick with board (1, 3 = free and 2,4 = choice - 10 seconds rest)
10x50 (negative split - 2 on the 1:00, 2 on the :55, 2 on the :50, 2 on the :45, 2 on the :40)
300 cool down

For Those With Injuries

I realize that this blog posting is an advertisement for the Blue World Pool, but it reminded me of the astounding benefits of swimming when injured. The blogger writes, "when a friend of mine injured his ankle during a workout he was asked to restrict his physical exercises by his physician. A complete outdoor person, he found it difficult to go through his day without his daily routine of workouts. It was during this time that he discovered the multiple benefits of swimming as it was a safe form of physical exertion even with an injured ankle".

For those with back injuries, swimming offers relief from the constant compounding caused on the spine by gravity. When I was younger and suffering from scoliosis, my doctor recommended swimming as the perfect relief for my back pain. My best friend suffered from her own injury at that time, having damaged her knee during an unintended slide tackle while playing soccer. Again, the prescription for the sports-minded individual was the pool. Swimming puts less pressure on the joints than other sports but still provides a full body work out.