I’ve recently created a bit of a garden out back of my house. Because of this, and the warmer months, I’ve started to use my pool to cool down. And I’ve come to find myself exausted after I dry off after my dip. I’ve christened this phenomenon swim fatigue. So I’ve made it today’s goal to find out why and how I can minimize these effects.
So for your benefit and mine, here’s some of the reasons we get tired when we hop out of the pool.
Obviously, it’s Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise can be defined as anything that moves large muscle groups for a continuous duration. This causes an elevated heart rate, and means the exercise is, once again, aerobic. When you swim, you’re recruiting the large muscles of your arms and your legs. From your pectorals, to your lats, to your glutes and quads, you use most of your large muscle groups when you swim hard. This basically mean that if you swim for at least thirty minutes it qualifies as aerobic exercise.
Despite this, your heart rate still won’t quite elevate to the rate that you would get exercising on land. This is due to the bouyancy and cooling effects of the water you’re swimming in.
And because the workout is so hard, you’re probably experiencing something called “excess post exercise oxygen consumption”. But to put it into simple terms, the swim fatigue you feel is partly due to after burn. Basically, you worked so hard that your body needs extra energy to repair muscles and return your body to a resting state.
Swimming in Cold Water
When you hop into the pool, even on the hottest summer day, the pool is gonna feel cold. When you jump into the pool, your body loses heat much more quickly than in air of the same temperature due to water’s increase heat conduction. This is why you feel cool in the pool even after swimming hard, your core temperature is slightly lowered. When you swim, your body also expends energy maintaining it’s temperature, which you can add to the list of swim fatigue causes. And then, when you get inside and warm up, your body responds the same way a warm glass of milk makes you tired, which explains the sleepy feeling. You can attribute most of the temperature effects to the re-heating process, basically.
There’s no real way to avoid this warm up, so try some ice water after you get out of the pool. Then maybe go for a light jog to increase your blood flow.
Good Old Sunshine and Swim Fatigue
This effects me doubly so since my swim session is usually after yard work. After a day out in the sun you’re usually up for a nap when you get back into the house. Some studies have even claimed that you lose some cognitive function after being in the sun. Much like the warmup effect, your body tries to cool you down when you’re out in the sun.
So, basically, if you swim, plan to have a rest period. It’s a fun exercise that’s good for your joints, but I feel like swim fatigue will always rear it’s head after.
