Swimming my way to a healthy back
- by Bruce Benning
I sacrificed a bit of convenience in switching from running to swimming as my primary sport. I could run anywhere – just head out my front door and turn right or left, while swimming requires a trip to the pool. But I’m delighted with an unexpected benefit – a stronger, straighter back than I’ve had in ages. Twenty one years of high mileage pavement-pounding left me with what felt like a compressed spine. Today I have better posture than ever and the primary reason is TI drills and Fishlike swimming.
My work has me spending hours staring into a computer screen, and like many people who do that, my back gets hunched, so I really look forward to starting the day with a swim that imprints better alignment before I head out to subject myself to gravity for the rest of the day.
I first noticed my improved posture when I practiced Lengthen your Vessel – Drill #3 in the FME progression. As I stretch out in Sweet Spot and extend an arm I feel my back extend as well. The combination of weightlessness-in-water and my acute attention to forming a long, clean line from fingertips to toes contribute to a sense of my unburdened vertebrae regaining space lost to gravity since my last swim. And the feeling of slipping through the water is satisfying as well. In time I was able to imagine being pulled by a towline attached to my hand or head and the result was a decompressed back.
When I progressed to the Underswitch drill, I could feel the added ingredient of body rotation improve my posture yet again. Switch drills give your core-muscles a sound workout and strong trunk muscles are key to a healthy back. Finally when I put all the steps together for my new stroke and I swam tall and to slip through the smallest possible hole in the water I could feel my posture continue to improve. I noticed that when I came out of the pool after my workout I stood taller. When I walk or sit now, I can feel that my posture is much improved since swimming and I stand straighter. For a guy turning 48, I feel as if I've gained an inch instead of losing it to aging.
Previous issues:
Help Create the next TI DVD!
Friends: For the first time, we're asking your input on an important question: What new products development should we prioritize? More importantly what new TI learning tools would address your greatest need or interest? While we’ve made these decisions via intuition for the last 16 years, when you enjoy the good fortune of a following as loyal and caring as ours, it simply makes sense to ask for advice.
Q & A
Kicking for the right reasons
I'd suggest that all TI swimmers should think of the primary value of what the rest of the world might refer to as "Kicking Sets" (We call it Balance Practice) as being a very revealing way to examine how "slippery" your bodyline is.
Rehab swimming continued: Fine muscle tuning
- by Terry Laughlin
I turn each set into a quest to wring as much stroke length and speed as I can from minimum muscle. At times I feel like an automotive engineer tirelessly tuning an engine to tease out a bit more horsepower while still increasing fuel efficiency.