For several months now, perhaps even up to a year, I have been getting up early in the morning and heading to the local pool at 6.00am. Three days a week, I turn up at the Aquatic Centre with an ever expanding array of accoutrements. When I first started going to the pool I used a flotation belt to help keep me buoyant when doing aqua jogging. I did this for several months and basically it is just walking up and down the pool. A gentle exercise, but it has proven the best thing post knee surgery and recovery and also for rehab after my spinal operation.
As time has gone on, I started to look at ways of increasing my activities. I started doing some light breastroke, while still wearing the flotation belt. I might have done six half lengths if that at the beginning. I continued to use the flotation belt and always tried to make sure that I continued to swing my arms and step out in a long step rather than a small and measured pace. I also started to walk faster and try to get my heart rate up.
For the past few months I have started to swim properly. It has been a challenge as I have not done proper swimming lengths of a pool for maybe up to 10 years, maybe more. I purchased some flippers/fins to help me with my swimming as I always found I swam best wearing fins in the past. Then I bought myself a cheap pair of goggles. I started to try to do lengths and gradually the technique was getting better. However, the one thing that I struggled with for many weeks has been the ability to breathe correctly when doing freestyle. I tried for a while, but every swim session seemed to include several mouthfuls of pool water. I just couldn’t seem to get the whole thing to come together and it was the breathing that was the most problematic. Then one day one of the lifeguards suggested to me that I might like to try a snorkel. So, I went and bought one and it was the best thing I could have done. For a while, I couldn’t understand why being able to breathe appropriately was so difficult for me. After all, I had done it in the past and not really had any issues. Then I thought about it and realised why it was so problematic.
As I have often said, I have slowed processing and that can make some situations a bit challenging. What I realised was this. The process of swimming lengths in the pool is more complex than you would think, especially for someone with Parkinson’s. There is a lot going on, that has to be attended to, to be able to swim each length. First of all, I need to remember to kick. The kick is aided by wearing swim fins. At the same time, the arms must do their part and a good flow and the correct positioning are very important.
So, I would start swimming and try to coordinate everything that it took to be able to swim lengths in the pool. While I had my arms and my feet working together, I really struggled to do even half a length sometimes. The reason I struggled was that I could not get my breathing right. Then one day, the attendant suggested to me that I consider using a snorkel. There are now special swim snorkels that run down the middle of your face and using them helps in taking away some of the stress of managing breathing. Breathing through the snorkel is so much easier than trying to time my breaths and ensure that my face is high enough out of the water so that I can catch a breath.
The only problem left was I was getting water up my nose, which is almost worse than swallowing water. So, I invested in a nose blocker to prevent that happening. Trouble is, the first nose blocker didn’t go on very well and I had to keep stopping to get it to stay in place. The second nose blocker was much better.
I started back at the pool today, after the weekend. I am gradually getting more proficient each time I swim. Swimming is supposed to be a very good and supportive sport for people like me, who are not particularly sporty.
If you want to give it a try, perhaps go to your local pool. If you have never really swum before, there are always adult lessons available. Getting the right equipment is important too, like my goggles, flippers/fins, nose plugs and snorkel. Whatever you need to be able to swim effectively.
They say that the best medicine for Parkinson’s is exercise. As I have several other conditions, my safest choice is the pool and it has made a hugely positive impact on my health and wellbeing. I am committed to continuing to swim and grow stronger and hopefully that will pay dividends in my physical health and wellbeing and also my mental health.
Here’s a podcast with a few more thoughts about swimming and Parkinson’s.
My journey with Parkinsons 