WHY YOU SHOULD BE SWIMMING-THREAD
Just in time for Summer, a long overdue delve into one of mankind’s oldest and greatest pursuits. Good for the mind, the body, and the soul, swimming should be a lifelong pursuit of anyone seeking happiness and health. Let’s dive in->

10,000 years ago a tribe of people in what is now Egypt painted this image on a cave wall. Are they swimming? I believe so. Swimming is an obvious subject for ancient art, since we do not know how to swim naturally like other mammals it is a special skill worthy of depiction.

We were likely swimming long before those images were painted. There is ample evidence that our ancestors made use of the sea for food, jewelry, and tools. Neanderthals were recently discovered to have dived for clams in the Mediterranean. It’s in our blood!

Historical references to swimming continue with the Egyptians, Assyrians and Babylonians, the palace of Knossos had bathing pools, in book XVI of the Iliad Patroclus taunts Hector by comparing his charioteer falling dead to a man diving for mussels.

Swimming remained a valued skill as civilization evolved and became the ultimate expression of man’s greatest pursuits: war and leisure otium et bellum. Swimming is a warrior’s skill.

Swimming greatly augments the skillset of a warrior, he can use it to his advantage to ambush his enemy, or lure them into a position of disadvantage. Water is the great equalizer No wonder so many warrior cultures valued it as a skill:
https://twitter.com/LindyFit/status/1269716844862230528?s=20

Swimming isn’t only an advantage in individual combat, Pausanias recounts the story of Hydna and her father who swam 10 miles trough open ocean to cut the mooring lines of the Persian fleet before a battle, greatly damaging the ships.

But it wasn’t only the Greeks, the Roman strategist Vegetius encouraged warriors to know how to swim, the medieval Christine de Pizan encouraged knights to know how to swim. But two warrior traditions stand out in their reverence of swimming, the Norse and the Samurai.

The Japanese and the Norse had to swim to fight. The Samurai had an art called Suijutsu, which involved swimming silently, armored, and fighting while swimming. It was one of the bugei juhappan, the eighteen basic warrior’s skills. To be a Samurai you had to be a swimmer.

The Norse had an equal respect for swimming, a common descriptor of Norse heroes is “he swam like a seal”. The greatest Norse swimming hero of all was Beowulf. He fought sea monsters, and dove into Grendel’s lair to defeat his mother. Swimming is heroic!

Beyond its utility as a survival and martial skill, swimming has physical benefits including:
-increase in v02 max
-reduced blood pressure and heart rate
The controlled breathing necessary in swimming is unique to aerobic activities, forcing you to relax and focus on control.

This makes swimming a great tool for cardio development and general aerobic health. I can personally attest that after a swim breathing feels better, like I’m getting more air with each inhalation.

But what about my gains? You ask. If you are cutting, I have never been more shredded than when I’ve been swimming high volume, and the resistance aspect helps you retain muscle mass. Swimming is perfect for the Summer cut. Just ask Ross Edgley, long distance swimmer:

If you aren’t cutting, swimming can grow certain muscles which weights can't. Likewise the low impact of swimming greatly reduces the chance for injury and an interruption to your weight routine. Swimming can even be combined with a weight routine, just ask Laird Hamilton:

Swimming is a great way to end a tough workout, to lengthen the muscles and ease the joints without impact, to allow you a faster recovery and greater gains.

Swimming in natural bodies of water has its own benefit: grounding, just like walking barefoot on earth you get the benefits of the negative-charged ions through the water. Plus the feeling of natural power consorting with the aquatic spirits.

Swimming is meditative, my mind is never clearer than after a swim. The natural rhythm of swimming and the isolation from stimulus being in the water provides creates the perfect environment to think and clear one’s mind.

Swimming produces something beyond fitness, an ease of being which is difficult to describe, Fr. Seraphim of Sarov says “Swim often and you will feel on earth like the fish in the water”

I feel after a swim like a big cat, my movement is easy and intentional, I do not rush or stutter, and my posture is perfect.

To be efficient in the water requires grace, which will naturally transfer to how you carry yourself out of the water.

Swimming is inherently beautiful, why all the aesthetics posters post so many pools. Water is pleasing to the eye and enhances the human form when submerged and produces beautiful forms when out of the water. Go somewhere to swim and it will add beauty to your life.

Swimming develops a certain ingrained nobility which is impossible to compare, swimming makes you noble!

I want to see every one of you achieving mastery of the water this summer. Dominating at the pool, the beach, the river, and the lake. I don’t care where just get out and swim! Dust of the old goggles and stroke into the sunshine.

I am happy to answer any questions or make personalized swim routines, just DM me.

Go get wet!