Do any of you swim as a form of excercise
 

I swam all my childhood, I couldn't get out of the pool I loved it so much.
I was trained by a former olympian swimmer who was good friends with my mom so I'm very comfortable in the water.
I swim about 2-3 miles a week depending on the time I have.
I do three strokes.....crawl, breaststroke and backstroke, I never was strong with butterfly so I don't even attempt it.
I find that every single muscle in my body is built, however as most swimmers so, I retain a bit of weight so I can float.
I also find if I don't swim for a while I start to have dreams of me swimming which means I need to go back swimming again.
I'm a cancer sun and cancer rising so maybe that's why I just love to swim.
I love the meditation of it because of the sound of the water splashing in my head just calms me down.
Spiritlite
:D

I don't swim as a way to keep fit, lose weight or anything else like it.I know it is very good, but as a kid i was afraid of water even though my parents tried to make me swim.Nowadays i exercise 6 days per week in order to keep fit and improve my physical condition.I am into mind and soul nurturing, but the body needs it help also :)

Hi spiritlite ... nice to speak with you :)
I have had some unusual swimming experiences over the years. When I was very young I was having lessons at the local pool. I had this very strict teacher who used a long bamboo stick as her motivator lol She would make me jump in the deep end and then proceed to poke me in the ribs and push me out towards the middle if I attempted to grab the edge of the pool. This went on for a few days and I was a nervous wreck lol . Then one day while I was swimming and she was poking she dropped her sunglasses and as she bent to pick them up i grabbed the edge of the pool and when she tried to poke me I grabbed the stick and wouldnt let it go :D I told her very firmly that I wasnt letting go till she stopped poking me lol I dont remember what happened after that ... I think my mother came to the next lesson lol
That was ok ... I got over that and did eventually learn to swim like a fish and would go body surfing and the rest when I was a teenager. Then years later, late one afternoon I was on a farm with some friends and we went for a swim in the creek which was way down the back of their property. Well everyone ended up in the water before me and made their way up to this old log which had fallen across the creek ... they all climbed up on the log and were sitting with their backs to me. I dived in and went under for a bit and then when I surfaced I couldn't breathe. I was experiencing a lung spasm and was trying to take in air but nothing was happening! My friends were all admiring the bird life and laughing and yahooing while I was in the pre drowning stages :D I did manage to float on my back and eventually I got my breathe back and dog paddled over to the log and climbed up unceremoniously lol completely exhausted with my friends ribbing me for taking so long lol
That was that and I didnt swim for a while afterwards ... it affected me quite a lot ... then a few years later I decided it was time to get over it and went swimming in the mouth of a river and had to be rescued because the tide was taking me out to sea lol I walk quite a lot these days ... and stay out of the rain lol ...

I am fortunate to have access to an indoor heated salt pool at my gym, and I go there three days a week to swim and move about in the additional resistance provided by the boyancy of the salt water. It's much healthier for your skin than the heavier concentrations of chlorine in most pools, though there IS some chlorine, as the salt produces it, salt being from sodium chloride.
I find this form of exercise both peaceful and uplifting of the spirit and a good workout for the body... one that does not damage or inflame joints. Also, there's just something about floating in warm salt water that is so calming... almost womb-like!

Thanks guys I love all your stories.
Spiritlite.

I swim twice a week. A 25m pool. I'll do anything between 40 x 25m (1 km) and 50 x 25m (64 is a mile).
I find it great since I have a medical condition and my joints are very instable. Helps to strengthen my shoulders and upper back - all those 'keep shoulder in place' muscles. Non-weight bearing so it doesn't hurt if my hip slips, which it frequently does in the pool whereas it absolutely kills if it slips and I have weight on it.
I tend to do power swimming rather than using it for gentle exercise. So I use my stomach muscles and really push myself. Good for co-ordination. Keep ankles straight, use legs, hips, and lower stomach, then upper stomach, back, shoulders and chest. Breatheeeee.
The down side is, it only takes one person getting in my path or going slow to throw the whole thing out of sync. If I'm lucky, I can get a lane to myself for a while. :)

Lovely I high five you for being a swimmer I also find it very meditative.
Spiritlite.

Me too I swam a mile today and plan on doing it tomorrow and Friday YAY.
I LOVES IT.
SPiritlite.

Good for you!!! I swim (swim, run, do calistenics, walk, etc) in an indoor heated salt water pool for an hour three times a week. I have no idea what the equivelent would be in miles, but I do get some good exercise without inflicting injury on my joints! It's soothing, too, and after I do my regimen I hit the jetted hot tub to pound those sore places with hot water.... ahhhhhhh, the bliss of it! :D

oh man I'm drooling over the salt water pool.....I also use the hot tub then I go for a sauna afterwards too.
Spiritlite.