Considered one of swimming’s most recognizable flotation units, the common-or-garden kickboard, evokes fond recollections of studying the right way to swim. However, these easy but efficient coaching aids go manner past being utilized in swimming classes and are simply as related to aggressive swimmers as they’re to novices. If you’re available in the market for a software to enhance your kicking method otherwise you simply wish to make your swim exercises extra dynamic, studying the right way to use a kickboard is a step in the precise route.
By giving your swim coaching an additional dose of buoyancy, you’ll be able to enhance confidence in your weaker swim strokes. Utilizing a kickboard on your freestyle swimming looks like the apparent alternative, however they will additionally come in useful to realize a stronger breaststroke and even backstroke. The kickboard is a traditional software that has stood the check of time, and it might probably nonetheless assist together with your swimming method in the present day.
On this article, we’ll be exploring the explanations to make use of a kickboard, lesser-known kickboard workouts, and the right way to use one accurately.
Why Use a Kickboard?
There’s a sea of pluses to utilizing kickboards in your coaching classes, from higher physique place to snorkel-like respiratory. Listed below are a few of the benefits from utilizing a kickboard as a coaching help.
Give attention to Your Decrease Physique
Any iron-addicted gym-goer who’s price their salt is aware of that skipping leg day is a large no-no. Issues aren’t any completely different in the case of swim coaching. Swimming is a full-body exercise and, subsequently, requires good power and method from each muscle.
By giving the higher physique a little bit of a break by way of the usage of a kickboard, you’re isolating your legs. This implies they’re doing much more work to propel you ahead within the water, which is able to promote muscle progress and may help you hone in on the nuances of the flutter kick or your breaststroke kick.
Get pleasure from Constant Respiratory
A kickboard is much like a swim snorkel in that it lets you get pleasure from uninterrupted respiratory. This implies you’ll be able to apply much more focus to the flutter kick.
Extra constant and controlled respiratory permits your muscle to get much more of the oxygenated blood that they crave. This implies you’ll be able to actually put your legs by way of some gnarly coaching classes, which may help with muscle progress and even weight reduction.
You possibly can even complement this respiratory with a swim snorkel, which is able to assist you to preserve your head down for a extra pure stroke.
Practice By way of Higher-Physique Accidents
Getting injured is a horrible however virtually inevitable a part of coaching in any sport. An upper-body harm might be supplemented with a kickboard to maintain you within the pool and from going stir loopy.
The pull part of your freestyle places plenty of pressure in your shoulder. Utilizing a kickboard to maintain your higher physique buoyant can enable your harm to recuperate whereas conserving you within the swimming pool. Plus, the endorphins launched from train can enhance to your psychological wellbeing, so all of the sudden ending your coaching generally is a blow to each your psychological and bodily well being. Adjusting your coaching to be accomplished with a kickboard may help you keep away from disruptions to your coaching schedule.
Attempt Some Recent Drills
When your coaching begins feeling stagnant, it’s time to combine it up. In sport, it’s pure to get bored and crave new actions, and swimming is not any completely different. Utilizing a kickboard opens up a brand new realm of drills you’ll by no means have tried for those who haven’t used one earlier than.
Utilizing coaching aids within the swimming pool or in open-water adventures is a surefire method to blow off the cobwebs and may even train you new expertise.
Lesser-Identified Kickboard Workout routines
You possibly can add a kickboard ingredient to simply about any drill on the market, previous and new. There’s extra to simply utilizing a kickboard than including some brutal leg-only laps to a drill although. Convey out your artistic facet with a few of these kickboard workouts, which require you to assume just a little outdoors the field.
Seize the Backside
That is the right train for bettering your entrance crawl physique place. Merely totally prolong the kickboard in entrance of you whereas grabbing the underside of the board.
Due to the total extension, this train would require you to have your head within the water, so you’ll have to rotate your head to take breaths. Or you’ll be able to complement this train with a swim snorkel so you’ll be able to focus much more on that straight physique place.
Hug Your Kickboard
The lesser-known stroke to make use of your kickboard with is the backstroke. This easy train can actually assist your backstroke flutter kick.
Hug your kickboard in opposition to your chest in order that it’s flush together with your physique. Barely arch your again, and also you’re good to go. You’re now placing all of the work of the backstroke in your legs. This may help to enhance power and method.
Push for the Burn
Who wants a health club once you’ve obtained the resistance of the water and your trusty kickboard? Kickboards are product of various materials sorts, however all of them have one factor in widespread: buoyancy.
It gained’t take you lengthy to learn to use a kickboard’s pure inclination to depart the water so as to add resistance. It’s similar to power coaching within the health club utilizing free weights or dumbbells.
You possibly can practice the identical muscle tissues {that a} pushup works by performing a kickboard pushdown. Merely stand waist deep within the pool, and push your kickboard down together with your arms spaced shoulder-width aside. Push till your arms are straight. Begin with a set of 10 reps. You possibly can add an extra board for extra resistance or up your units.
How one can Use a Kickboard Safely
Getting within the water with a brand new coaching help, recent train concepts, and new drills might be an effective way to convey life again to your swim exercises. However, like something new on this planet of train there is a component of danger if the right precautions aren’t taken.
Keep away from Neck Pressure
When utilizing your kickboard to provide your arms a relaxation throughout breaststroke or freestyle, you’ll be able to raise your head up, permitting for fixed respiratory. Not having to fret about your respiratory method is a pleasant luxurious in a swim exercise, simply watch out not to do that for too lengthy because it may end up in neck pressure.
Utilizing a swim snorkel will assist you to swim utilizing your kickboard for as lengthy you want by conserving your head down. This protects your neck and gives you a extra streamlined swim stroke.
Be Aware of Your Dolphin Kick
With just a little follow you’ll be able to nonetheless carry out a top-tier flip flip whereas conserving maintain of your kickboard. This in fact means there’s nonetheless a chance to carry out a dolphin kick.
Through the dolphin kick, some swimmers preserve the higher physique very stationary whereas others make use of just a little motion to inspire the dolphin kick. If you’re a part of the second camp, remember that that is very tough to emulate whereas utilizing a kickboard and may result in decrease again ache.
Are Kickboards Nonetheless a Related Coaching Help?
Kickboards are one of many quintessential swim coaching aids. You utilize them like coaching wheels in your developmental years, then as you get extra severe about your swimming they change into a software that may enable you to mould the nuances of your stroke and acquire the power you want. Not solely are kickboards simple to make use of, they will enhance power, make exercises extra dynamic, and most significantly, are comparatively cheap.
If you’re serious about getting a kickboard for your self, it’s best to take a look at enviornment’s choice, which has a great combine of favor and performance. In relation to traditional flat kickboards, we provide a plain fashion and a printed kickboard.
Alternatively, it’s possible you’ll wish to get a kickboard that doubles up as a pull buoy. This offers you the choice to work solely the higher physique or solely the decrease physique on the fly with only one piece of kit. Try the Pull Kick Floatation, Swim Keel, and Pullkick Professional.
