Can swimming help runners get faster? Swimming is an amazing form of cross training for runners, plus can help injured runners recover faster. Here's five reasons why every runner should add swimming to their cross-training routine.
1. Swimming can help reduce common running injuries.
There’s a reason why most people enjoy bobbing around in the pool on holiday; taking a load off those weary muscles feels good! Water’s buoyancy counteracts the effects of gravity, reducing pressure on your body’s weight-bearing joints, and alleviating stress on muscles, tendons and ligaments. As a result, swimming can help reduce the injuries most commonly associated with pounding pavements. If you’re fretting about the impact of the street on your joints, start by swapping one of your weekly runs for a session in the pool.
READ MORE6 ways swimming will injury-proof your body2. Swimming can help you run fasterAccording to a study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, runners who added regular swimming training to their routine over a period of 10 weeks improved their running time over 3.2k by 13 seconds. That’s a considerable leap forward in performance.
