Cycling is one of the best cardiovascular exercises, doubtlessly, but can be complemented with other activity that is even more effective, that’s why today we will talk about swimming and cycling two sport activities that work better if are combined in their practice.
If you want to know how swimming will help you to improve your pedaling, stay with us and discover it. This time you can leave your helmet and your tool kit, instead, take your goggles and immerse yourself in this text.
Swimming and cycling, how these are complemented?
The key for both sports is in the strength of certain muscles and cardiovascular ability, above all, breathing. Each one of them strengthen both abilities to their own way, but by combining them, the result is wonderful.
Swimming and cycling are two low impact activities, this means that cause a small or zero impact to joints, above all knees and arms, besides, both strengthen back muscles.
However, due cycling exercises mostly legs, while swimming is with torso, back and arms, is ideal to practice two activities to have a muscular balance. This means that top or lower volume of our body will be balanced, without having big legs, small arms, and vice versa.
Advantages of swimming for cycling
Even though cycling cause low impact to joints of legs, swimming is much less. In fact, floating in water release stress in joints. That’s why cycling can help your legs to recover or relive from tiredness that pedal causes.
Maybe you don’t realize but correct swimming makes you develop a great balance. When you work with arm, abdomen, back and leg muscles to swim in straight line, you’re creating an exceptional balance and coordination. This, will help you to have a better balance in bike, above all, in very rough or narrow terrain.
However, the main advantage is breathing. Due swimming requires a great lung control, you will learn to breath more effectively, meaning, you will achieve better oxygenation without taking so many breaths of air; at the same time, this will provide you a better lung performance and resistance. Pedaling up hill demands too much cardiovascular effort, and swimming will help you to achieve it.
Advantages of cycling for swimming
Benefits are almost the same but on the other way around. In the case of balance, cycling won’t give you an instant balance by swimming, but will help you to adapt to the water flow, due balance in your handlebar you can apply it to swim in straight line.
By pedaling, as we mentioned, requires a great cardiovascular effort. By swimming you will have a better breathing control, but if you already practiced it before cycling, the last one will help you to dominate your lungs much faster than when you started to take swimming classes.
If you’re a cyclist of great distances, your secret weapon will be legs. Pedal, doubtlessly will improve your calves and other muscles. When you swim, your pedal will be much stronger and faster.
How to combine both sports
To combine swimming and cycling, isn’t enough with practice these two, but you must know how to do it. Firstly, it’s important to create a routine of active rest. This means that you alternate the days that you will swim and the ones you will pedal.
For example, you can practice swimming Monday and Wednesday, while cycling can be for Tuesday and Thursday, in this way, the muscles you worked when cycling, will rest when swimming. This is the active rest: to don’t exercise some body parts without doing exercise.
Now, it’s important to know that every swimming style provides some specific advantages for cycling. These are:
- Crawl style swimming (free style): you will improve the strength of top upper limbs and your aerobic capacity. By working to different distances and speeds, you will improve your resistance and speed.
- Back style swimming: you will develop and strengthen the muscles of your back. This will help, above all if you spend so much time inclined in the handle bar. In the same way, when cycling up hills, will give you more strength in your lower back.
- Swimming with table: by using a table to float, this will oblige you to not use arms only, but you will only use your legs. As you suppose, you will have greater strength in your pedaling.
That’s how is complemented swimming and cycling. Independently, if you use one to improve the other, you will be practicing two of the most effective sports for your cardiovascular system. Don’t stop doing it and you will have a healthier life.
