Practicing the Butterfly Stroke-Maybe Helping a Team

 For those of us who like the water, swimming is one of those activities where you can always find something to improve. I can do most of the strokes pretty well. I’m a good swimmer, I’m a fill in lifeguard, and I swim in the ocean, the lake, and the pool. I also lap swim and dive.

(Illustrative Only)

Ok that is too high and wasted
energy but you
get the point. 

Recently, someone mentioned that they needed a little help with a swim team. I said, “Yeah, I can do ALMOST all the strokes.” Even the butterfly. Now, I can do the butterfly, but I wouldn’t exactly call myself Michael Phelps.

So, I figured I’d better brush up on it before somebody actually asks me to show someone this stroke. I want to spend the next month or so really working on my technique and getting the stroke down correctly. I can do it now, but sometimes it feels like I’m plowing my way through the water. And while you’re naturally going to move some water with the butterfly, there’s definitely a more or less efficient ways to do it.

That’s one of the things I really like about swimming. It’s a great workout without putting a lot of stress on your joints. You can build your cardiovascular fitness, develop good muscle tone, and work pretty much your entire body without beating yourself up.

I don’t sprint from one end of the pool to the other every time—I’m not trying to set a world record here—but I do keep a pretty brisk pace. My goal is to get to about 45 seconds for 50 yards consistently and keep it up. The pool is 25 yards, so that’s one length down and one length back.

The more you practice, the more efficient you become. You start using less energy, your technique improves, and you can maintain a faster pace without feeling like you’re fighting the water.

So my goal is to get down around 45 seconds, or at least consistently under 50 seconds, and maintain that pace for about 10 minutes. That should be a pretty good workout. Of course I might swim longer and I usually swim about 30 minutes but that faster segment of time is what I'm conditioning for.

I’m always learning, too. I’m a certified yoga instructor and a licensed fitness instructor, so I’m pretty interested in fitness, exercise, nutrition, and figuring out what activities work best for different people.

So if you want a little help with your fitness, figuring out what kind of activities might work for you, or even just getting some general ideas about exercise and nutrition, send me a message or shoot me an email. muradabel@gmail.com

And, of course, here’s the butterfly stroke. I was looking at this earlier, and apparently the water and I still have a little negotiating to do.

While I doubt I will be showing them all of the techniques I'm pretty sure I would help with the drills, time, etc. We will wait to see. Just helping out.