By Terry Laughlin
May 10, 2007 -- I’ve practiced yoga on and off for 15 years, more regularly since turning 50. Last week, on May Day, our teacher suggested an intention, based on the Celtic festival Beltane, to merge the “male and female nature” in ourselves. As Carrie explained, the male nature is doing while the female nature is receiving. Being a habitual do-er, I decided to do less and receive more during class.
Because I’d been traveling for most of the previous two months, and had attended only two classes in that time, I felt a distinct lack of “yoga fitness.” Two days earlier I attended a similar class led by the same teacher. After 75 minutes I was whipped. But after focusing on receiving, I felt fresh and incredibly energized.
Receiving is a suggestion, not an instruction, and takes imagination to put into practice. Here’s how I practiced receiving in yoga:
In any movement that involved bending or sinking, I focused on feeling myself just respond to gravity. In any movement that involved lifting or supporting, I focused on feeling as if my arm or leg simply floated up. I also focused on using core muscle while keeping my limbs relaxed.
The contrast between these two classes mirrored swim practices I’d done on the two preceding days. On April 29, I’d swum 5000 yards focusing on relaxed hands and arms, and a leisurely stroke. I finished feeling completely fresh. The next day, though I swam only 3000 yards, my focus on creating propulsion with my arms left me dead tired.
Most triathletes instinctively feel it’s necessary to be do-ers to prepare for an endurance swim – more yards for fitness, harder laps for speed. But a focus on receiving is ideal for swimming longer distances. In February of 2002, though I’d swum little in previous months, I registered for the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, leaving myself only four months to prepare. Though most other entrants swam approximately 450 miles in those four months, in pursuit of extraordinary fitness, I trained just 180 miles, devoted entirely to practicing “extraordinary economy.” I completed the 28.5-mile swim in 8 hours and 53 minutes with no post-race fatigue or soreness. In 2006, I repeated this approach, finishing in about 8 hours, and finishing in the upper half of the field, though I was one of the oldest participants.
A focus on Doing Less in swimming will bring particular benefits in a triathlon, leaving you much fresher for the bike and run. Perhaps the experience may encourage you to think about how to do less back on land. Here are tips for receiving swimming endurance:
Receive air
Breathing easily is essential to swim a long distance without fatigue. And Receiving Air is the best way to do it. Focus on an active exhale to fully clear your lungs and they’ll fill effortlessly on the inhale, since nature abhors a vacuum. Practice this by listening to the bubbles coming from your nose the entire time your face is in the water. Or by regulating your speed or effort in a training set by the energy of your exhale. Exhale gently while swimming more easily. To swim faster, try simply increasing the intensity of your exhale.
Give in to gravity
Inexperienced swimmers often waste vast amounts of energy trying to stay afloat. But the human body’s natural position is to have 95% of our mass submerged. We swim through the water, not over it. Rather than fight gravity, relax into the water. An unexpected dividend of giving in to gravity is that there’s much less drag below the surface than right at it. Practice this in training by:
1. Relax your head and neck completely and allow the water to support its weight.
2. Let your hand sink below your forearm on entry – fingers pointing down. These actions should help you feel your hips and legs become lighter.
Take the path of least resistance
Our instincts incline us to muscle our way through the water, especially in the chop or waves we may encounter in open water. But, water resistance is much stronger than any power we can generate. Instead, cut through chop with a long, sleek bodyline. Rather than pushing water back with your hand, focus on spearing it forward, then lining up head, torso and legs to follow your arm through the “channel” it creates.
Soften your hands
When we were young, most of us were taught to turn the hand into a flesh-and-bone paddle for moving more water. But, a relaxed hand not only holds water perfectly well; it’s also more sensitive to the best way to work with the water. Right now, hold your arm forward with your hand hanging limp from your wrist. If your hand is like this as it spears forward, it will help your balance and be in a better position to hold water as you stroke. If your fingers separate slightly during recovery and as you begin your stroke, you’ve got it right. If they’re pressed together, your hand is too tense.
Receive awareness
Because the water is dense and completely enveloping, we swim through a literal “sea of sensation” receiving more input from our surroundings than in any land sport. The most effective way to heighten awareness is to simply listen. Anything you do more quietly in the water will be more efficient. Quieter means a hand entering more cleanly, a foot working more effectively and a body more streamlined.
Receive success
If you do enter a race, your best strategy is to not race. Virtually everyone else will work too hard in the first 100 to 300 meters then spend the next 1200 meters slowing down. When they do, you won’t have to chase them. Just pick one of the focal points I suggest above – likely the one that makes your stroke feel best – and give that your full attention from the start, while everyone else is thinking about racing. Just keep practicing your focus, one relaxed stroke after another. Before long, without even trying, you’ll notice yourself passing other swimmers.
Terry Laughlin’s latest book is Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body. In 2006, he broke two U.S Masters 55-59 long distance swimming records by practicing what he teaches. Read more of his articles at www.totalimmersion.net.