Is it best to train in the pool alone or with others?

Swimming is a beautiful sport (in fact, it is the most practiced in the world), able to produce countless benefits for the body and mind. Everyone does it for personal reasons: there are those who do it for fun, others who do it to get back into shape or to maintain their weight and those who just like the spirit of competition or even pure relaxation. In fact, swimming is also a great anti-stress activity, which allows us to relieve tension and anger, and can be done alone or with others.

It depends on how you want to experience swimming and your personal experience

Swimming alone is useful for finding your own dimension, meaning being more “intimately” in contact with the water by staying with your thoughts and facing challenges and objectives alone. However, water activities in a group allow us to make new friends and strengthen team spirit, collaboration and healthy sports competition. To each his own. But if you are a beginner, it is more than recommended to be followed by a qualified instructor, who will teach you good swimming techniques for the 4 main styles (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, dolphin). Once you manage to master at least two of the major styles, you can even begin to follow a training program alone, which you can do 2 or 3 times a week, and is always set by an expert guide. It is advised to avoid DIY solutions that, in addition to not providing benefits, may even be harmful.

Lap swim

Lap swim can be done in dedicated lanes on established days and at specific times. You can get into the pool and swim as long as you want, with your preferred style and without constraints or guidelines from the instructor. It is possible that you may need to split the lane with other swimmers. In that case, you should follow some simple rules so you don’t interfere with their activities. For example, you should occupy the lane best suited to your skills, swimming in a circulation and staying to the right to avoid colliding. Do not jump in the presence of the other swimmer when they are getting closer to the edge, and slow down and stop in the angle near the edge if your swimming mate is about to pass you.

Group courses

However, if your intention is to socialise, meet new people, have fun with friends and share objectives and results, nothing is better than enrolling in a group course. For beginners, the first objective in group work (better not to exceed 6-7 people) is to reach a good degree of safety in the water and to acquire the main swimming and breathing techniques. As you acquire the techniques, you will then start to enhance your program. If you love the water but are afraid that you may get bored, you can also choose water fitness courses like acquagym or hydrobike, which move to the rhythm of the music, in order to change up the type of workout and give more to your day.

Constancy first

Whether you decide to swim by yourself or you prefer to do it with fellow adventurers, the first objective you should look at is constancy. Determining how much time we have to train (2-3 times a week would be ideal) is important in order to develop an appropriate program. It would be ideal, if you are a mid-level swimmer, to swim at least 30 minutes without breaks while maintaining a steady heartbeat and correct posture.

Have you already decided what the most effective type of training is for you? Do you prefer company or strokes in solitary?