Swimming is a good endurance exercise. The buoyancy of the water lets you move your joints through their full range of motion and strengthen your muscles and cardiovascular system with less stress than on land. Since swimming involves the arms, it can lead to excessive shortness of breath in people with lung disease. However, for people with asthma, swimming may be the preferred exercise as the moisture helps reduce shortness of breath. People with heart disease who have severely irregular heartbeats and have had an implantable "defibrillator" (AICD) permanently placed on their hearts should avoid swimming. For most people with chronic illness, however, swimming is excellent exercise. It uses the whole body. If you haven't been swimming for awhile, consider a refresher course.

To make swimming an endurance exercise, you will eventually need to swim continuously for 20 minutes. Use the frequency, duration, and intensity guidelines set out in Getting Started With Endurance Exercise to build up your endurance. Try different strokes, modifying them or changing strokes after each lap or two. This lets you exercise all joints and muscles without overtiring any one area.

Swimming Tips
The breast stroke and crawl normally require a lot of neck motion and may be uncomfortable if you have neck pain. To solve this problem, use a mask and snorkel so that you can breathe without twisting your neck.

Chlorine can be irritating to eyes. Consider a good pair of goggles. You can even have swim goggles made in your eyeglass prescription.

A hot shower or soak in a hot tub after your workout helps reduce stiffness and muscle soreness. Remember not to work too hard or get too tired. If you're sore for more than two hours, you should go easier next time.

Always swim where there are qualified lifeguards if possible, or with a friend. Never swim alone.

Self-Tests for Endurance/Aerobic Fitness
For some people, just the feelings of increased endurance and well-being are enough to demonstrate progress. Others may find it helpful to demonstrate that their exercise program is making a measurable difference. You may wish to try one or both of these endurance/aerobic fitness tests before you start your exercise program. Not everyone will be able to do both the tests, so pick one that works best for you.

Record your results. After four weeks of exercise, do the test again and check your improvement. Measure yourself again after four more weeks.

Distance Test
Find a place to swim where you can measure distance for instance, you can count lengths of the pool.

After a warm up, swim, as briskly as you comfortably can for 5 minutes. Try to move at a steady pace for the entire time. At the end of 5 minutes, note the number of laps and immediately take your pulse and rate your perceived exertion from 0 to 10. Continue at a slow pace for 3 to 5 more minutes to cool down. Record the distance, your heart rate, and your perceived exertion.

Repeat the test after several weeks of exercise. There may be a change in as little as four weeks. However, it often takes eight to twelve weeks to see improvement.

Goal: To cover more distance or to lower your heart rate or to lower your perceived exertion.

Time Test
Estimate how far you think you can go in 1 to 5 minutes. You can pick a number of lengths in a pool.

Spend 3 to 5 minutes warming up. Start timing and start moving steadily, briskly, and comfortably. At the finish, record how long it took you to cover your course, your heart rate, and your perceived exertion

Repeat after several weeks of exercise. Again, you may see changes in as soon as four weeks. However, it often takes eight to twelve weeks for a noticeable improvement.

Goal: To complete the course in less time or at a lower heart rate or at a lower perceived exertion.

As always, never start an exercise program without your doctor's approval.

Bryant Howard BA, MA, CFT, SPN — Bryant is certified through the International Sports Sciences Association. He is both a Fitness Trainer and Performance Nutrition Specialist. He also holds certification in CPR and First Aid. He has trained competitive athletes for ten years and offers personal and group training sessions in the Portland, OR area. Bryant Howard owns Performance Fitness Training