Swim Faster by Streamlining Your Life Outside the Pool

As swimmers we obsess over finding even the most minute ways to shave precious hundredths and tenths.

After all…

• We shear off our body hair.
• Invest hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars into suits that promise to cut down on drag.
• And are focused on making the tiny improvements in our technique to decrease resistance in the water.

With this methodical and detail-curious (detail-obsessed makes us sound crazy, which we totally are not…right?) approach we stay focused on making our swimming as efficient as possible.

We understand that to swim faster we need to subtract certain things as much as possible.

Less drag.

Less resistance.

In our high and low search for new and novel ways to gain a critical advantage over our competition it is easy to overlook the things in our day-to-day to life that we can improve.

If you want to swim faster this year (and not have to spend more time in the water to do it), you can apply the same “less is more” approach that we swear by in the water with the way you do things outside of it.

What areas of your life outside of the pool are causing you resistance?

What parts of your life outside of the pool are causing you to have extra drag in the water?

Here are a few of the more glaring examples:

• Sleep: are you getting a solid 8+ hours of sleep per night? If not, what is the drag? Is it watching TV in bed? Is it not managing your evenings effectively?
• Stress: Is stuff outside of the pool turning you into a stress case? Are you allowing school and work to pile up on you to the point that you find yourself cursing under your breath about all the stuff you need to catch up on?
• Time management: Do you find yourself perpetually rushing over the course of the day with a moment to yourself nowhere to be seen? Down time from school and swimming is necessary to help stay mentally fresh over the course of the season so make sure you are budgeting your time to allow for it.
• Nutrition: Are you settling for convenient foods that aren’t so convenient for your swimming prowess? Are you scrambling to get food—even if it’s less than good for ya—instead of planning out some good meals for yourself ahead of time?

In Summary

In the never-ending arms race for better training techniques, more quality yardage, and more efficient technique, sometimes performing our best in the pool truly comes down to the fundamentals.

Like getting your sleep. Eating good, performance-yielding food. And managing your time and stress.

What will you do this year to streamline your life outside of the pool so that you can swim faster in it?

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