Don't Let Fear Affect Your Swimming

BY STAN POPOVICH

Sometimes, fear and anxiety can get the best of us in swimming. The key is to know how to manage that fear and anxiety. As a result, here is a brief list of techniques that a swimmer can use to help manage their fears and every day anxieties.

Occasionally, you may become stressed when you have to swim in an important event. When this happens, visualize yourself doing the task in your mind. For instance, you have to swim in front of a large group of people in the next few days. Before the big day comes, imagine yourself swimming and doing your thing. Self-Visualization is a great way to reduce the fear and stress of a coming situation.

Sometimes we get stressed out when everything happens all at once. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get their mind off of the problem. A person could read the newspaper, listen to some music or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things.

Another technique that is very helpful is to have a small notebook of positive statements that you can carry around with you. Whenever you come across an affirmation that makes you feel good, write it down in a small notebook that you can carry around with you. Whenever you feel stressed, open up your small notebook and read those statements. This will help to manage your negative thinking.

In every anxiety-related situation you experience, begin to learn what works, what doesn’t work, and what you need to improve on in managing your fears and anxieties. For instance, you have a lot of anxiety and you decide to take a small walk before your event to help you feel better. The next time you feel anxious you can remind yourself that you got through it the last time by taking a walk. This will give you the confidence to manage your anxiety the next time around.

Take advantage of the help that is available around you. If possible, talk to a professional who can help you manage your fears and anxieties. They will be able to provide you with additional advice and insights on how to deal with your current problem. By talking to a professional, a person will be helping themselves in the long run because they will become better able to deal with their problems in the future. Remember that it never hurts to ask for help.

Remember that patience, persistence, and education will go a long way in preventing fear from becoming a factor in sport of swimming.

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy-to-read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties.

Keys to Success: Whitney Sprague

Five Keys to Success with 2009 World University Games medalist Whitney Sprague

1. Determination. When you come up against an obstacle, you just have to keep on going, otherwise, you won’t end up achieving anything. I had so many obstacles the past year. It was obvious I would not succeed if I did not push through them.

2. Set really good short-term goals. My entire 2009 was short-term goals, just one foot in front of the other. I had knee surgery in November and had to take a month and a half off from swimming in the middle of the season. But I worked hard each day to get back.

3. Find a good support system. I could not have done it without my trainers, friends and parents, and all the coaches and teammates I have had. They can always help bring you up and help you realize that the goal is only a little bit further in front of you. It’s nice to have that kind word when you are not feeling that hot.

4. Take good care of your body. I did not do this very well for a while, but in the end, I started listening to my coaches, trainers and doctors. You need their help so you can focus on what you need to do. You have to train properly, eat right and take care of your body outside of the pool. You also have to do your physical therapy if you are coming back from an injury. I learned that one the hard way.

5 Have fun. I have to have fun while I am swimming, or I just can’t do it. I always try to keep a good attitude and have a smile on my face while I am training. If you are not happy, it’s just not going to be fun. The people around you get down, too, and it’s a chain reaction. So I learned, through being on a team, the importance of staying positive.

What Causes Muscle Soreness?

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Your muscles should feel sore on some days after you exercise. If you go out and jog the same two miles at the same pace, day after day, you will never become faster, stronger or have greater endurance. If you stop lifting weights when your muscles start to burn, you won't feel sore on the next day and you will not become stronger. All improvement in any muscle function comes from stressing and recovering. On one day, you go out and exercise hard enough to make your muscles burn during exercise. The burning is a sign that you are damaging your muscles. On the next day, your muscles feel sore because they are damaged and need time to recover. Scientist call this DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness.

It takes at least eight hours to feel this type of soreness. You finish a workout and feel great; then you get up the next morning and your exercised muscles feel sore. We used to think that next-day muscle soreness is caused by a buildup of lactic acid in muscles, but now we know that lactic acid has nothing to do it. Next-day muscle soreness is caused by damage to the muscle fibers themselves. Muscle biopsies taken on the day after hard exercise show bleeding and disruption of the z-band filaments that hold muscle fibers together as they slide over each other during a contraction.

Scientists can tell how much muscle damage has occurred by measuring blood levels of a muscle enzyme called CPK. CPK is normally found in muscles and is released into the bloodstream when muscles are damaged. Those exercisers who have the highest post-exercise blood levels of CPK often have the most muscle soreness. Using blood CPK levels as a measure of muscle damage, researchers have shown that people who continue to exercise when their muscles feel sore are the ones most likely to feel sore on the next day.

Many people think that cooling down by exercising at a very slow pace after exercising more vigorously, helps to prevent muscle soreness. It doesn't. Cooling down speeds up the removal of lactic acid from muscles, but a buildup of lactic acid does not cause muscle soreness, so cooling down will not help to prevent muscle soreness. Stretching does not prevent soreness either, since post-exercise soreness is not due to contracted muscle fibers.

Next-day muscle soreness should be used as a guide to training, whatever your sport. On one day, go out and exercise right up to the burn, back off when your muscles really start to burn, then pick up the pace again and exercise to the burn. Do this exercise-to-the-burn and recover until your muscles start to feel stiff, and then stop the workout. Depending on how sore your muscles feel, take the next day off or go at a very slow pace. Do not attempt to train for muscle burning again until the soreness has gone away completely. Most athletes take a very hard workout on one day, go easy for one to seven days afterward, and then take a hard workout again. World-class marathon runners run very fast only twice a week. The best weightlifters lift very heavy only once every two weeks. High jumpers jump for height only once a week. Shot putters throw for distance only once a week. Exercise training is done by stressing and recovering.