Rediscover swimming

Want to rediscover your love for Swimming in 2023?

We would love to welcome you back to any of our 9 swimming pools, many with separate learning pools and splash zones so you can focus on your lane swim.

Swimming is a great way to ease your way gently back into your health and wellness routine in the new year and will leave you feeling fantastic.

Slow and steady wins the race!

If you haven’t swam for a while we’d recommend building your confidence back up in a slow lane.

This will give you plenty of time to get back in the swim of things as it could take you a good two to three weeks before you find your rhythm again.

Top Swimming Tip!

If you head back into the pool set yourself a 10-15 minutes time cap, count how many lengths you complete in that time at your own pace and rest as many times as you need to.

On your next swim try to beat your high score.

Use the gym to build yourself back up

Swimming is great – but mixing it up by going to the gym will help you swim for longer in the long run.

It all begins with a good warm up!

Start with 5-10 minutes of work on a cardiovascular machine of your choice.  

Think a brisk walk or a light jog on a treadmill, a medium intensity session on a rowing machine or a good pace cycle on a bike. 

The goal is to get your heart rate increased and your muscles warmed ahead of your main workout.

Building your cardiovascular system and endurance in your main workout

It’s time to get that heart pumping to make a positive impact your swimming performance.

Recline bike

Exercises thighs, calves & glute muscles.

Cycle for 10-15 minutes at a pace you feel comfortable with. As you build up you can push yourself a little more. Exercises thighs, calves & glute muscles.
Arm bike

Strengthen those arms and work your upper body, Move your arms forwards for 2 minutes / then backwards for 2 minutes (4 minutes total is 1 round). Aim for 3-4 rounds.
Plank

Strengthen your core muscles, including your abdominals and lower back. Get into a position similar to a push-up and hold for as long as you can. Rest 30 secs and repeat for a total of 3-5 rounds.

And now to cool down…

Pick any cardiovascular machine - Treadmill, Bike, Rower – and aim to move for 5 minutes at an easy pace, to reduce your heart rate before completing your session. 

What you need to know

What are sets and repetitions?

This is the number of times you do an exercise before you stop for a rest. Sets are simply groups of repetitions. So 10 press ups, followed by a rest, followed by another 10 press ups is two sets of 10 reps.

How much weight should I use?

Enough to make the move challenging. Each repetition should go at the same speed.

If you feel like you are slowing down, it’s time to stop.

Pushing yourself until you can’t do anymore, is useful to build muscle bulk, but not so much for strength training.

How many reps should I be doing?

The general rule is that using a weight that allows you to get through one to five repetitions will help to build up strength.

How much should I rest?

If you are training for fat loss try to keep your rests to less than 1 minute.

For strength and muscle rest for between 90-120 seconds.

How do I progress?

At Active Northumberland you can book an ELEVATE fitness pathway session with one of our expert health and fitness team for a more tailored programme.