Keep your swimming consistent in 2019

Looking for motivation to continue your casual swimming in 2019? Our 5 tips will help you stick at your swim routine and achieve your new year goals. 

With us already diving head-first into the New Year, we know it can be hard to maintain your motivation and stick at your fitness routine well into the new year. To help we have compiled our top tips to make sure you keep your swimming routine consistent.

Set yourself long and short term goals:
Setting long term goals: Your long term goal is something you are hoping to achieve by the end of the year. When most people take up a new fitness path or hobby such as swimming, we often set an overarching goal – whether it’s to participate in the Rottnest swim, improve our stroke or increase our overall fitness. Setting yourself a big goal is great, however it can become discouraging if you don’t start seeing results. That's why it is so important to also set yourself short term goals.

Setting short term goals: A short term goal is a target you want to complete in a short period of time - this could be a week or a month. This year try setting yourself mini challenges that will edge you closer to your 'ultimate goal.' For example if your end goal was to participate in the Rottnest swim in 2020, set yourself incremental distances you want to achieve in training throughout the year. This could be to increase your swimming capability by 'x' amount of laps per month. These small successes will increase your motivation while reminding you what you are working towards.

Start off small:
Something is better than nothing! Make sure you don't burn yourself to the ground within your first weeks of swimming. When starting something new or trying to get back into a routine, start off small and build upon your training as your motivation grows. Take it easy for your first few weeks of training, aim to train most days within the first week but keep the workouts easy.

Workout with a friend:
Taking a friend with you on your fitness journey is a fantastic motivational tip. Having someone to keep you accountable on days where you don't feel like training will force you to get to the pools and smash through your workout. During swims, a friend can help push your ability and make your fitness journey more enjoyable.

Start a swim journal:
Writing down your weekly training is a great way to stay on track with your long-term and short-term swimming goals. A fitness diary can also be a great source of motivation if you are feeling uninspired as you can look back at your first few workouts and see how far you have come.

Make the time:
It can be hard to keep a consistent time to work out every week as life often gets in the way. Make sure when setting out on your swim journey you put aside a time you know you can consistently commit to. This means if you are often busy in the afternoons with work or social commitments, make your set swim time in the morning. This helps curb the temptation to skip your swim due to other commitments. 

Looking for a location to kick start your 2019 swim routine? Try our pools at HBF Arena.