Key ways to be a good swimmer

American swimmer Michael Phelps smiles after completing the final leg of the gold-medal winning US men's 4x200m freestyle relay during the London 2012 Olympic Games

Do you want to be as good of a swimmer as US swimmer Michael Phelps who appears to be the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 22 medals. Needless to say a lot of hard work, discipline and determination is required in order to get on the right track to be a good swimmer. Let us discuss what are some of the ways to be a good swimmer.

One of the ways is to practice other sorts of exercises, like dry exercises when you are not in the pool. You should devote most of your free time to do it in order to build muscles faster and at a consistent pace. Besides that, you can exercise every morning. Make sure you do not overwork to avoid unwanted muscle injuries. You should start out light and slowly work your way up. Running or jogging everyday can help to build your muscles faster.

A swimmer training hard during his swim meet.

Aside from dry exercises, let us discuss about some of the exercises which are more in depth. A coach would give professional and proper training in swimming to improve your skills more efficiently. Moreover, breathing exercises would also be taught. Many people do not know that breathing too much while swimming can actually slow you down. Furthermore, every swimmer should know that the wall is your friend. Kicking the wall hard enough can produce sufficient force to thrust the swimmer in the water for pick up. Before swim meets and practices, never eat too much or you will have a heavy body weight and won't be able to swim faster. It may also cause an upset stomach.

Other than that, you can also ask pointers and tips on swimming techniques from professional swimmers. A good swimmer also makes sure that he/she shaves their underarms, legs and arms to lessen water friction and to have a more streamlined body to flow through the water better.

Motivation and determination is the key to success. You will have to put maximum effort in order to achieve success in being a good swimmer. Crunches, pushups and suicides as daily workout can improve your stamina efficiently. Stamina is important to maintain the energy of the swimmer in the water. Moreover, every successful athlete should intake a low sugar and high protein diet to maintain a healthy and strong body.