All posts tagged: swimming

Dryland exercises for swimmers: CRAWL

Published by Anna Kazakova

Help your body to develop muscles so the muscles will help you to swim longer and faster. Together with  Kamishi Swimming School we prepared a wonderful set of dryland exercises for swimmers that  they usually provide to their crawl swimmers. It is a selection of exercises from Swimming Anatomy book by Ian McLeod. All of them you can do at home with just a little use of equipment or without equipment at all. We start with ARMS   Close grip push up Execution: Facedown, slide both hands under your chest so that your thumbs touch along the midline of your body at nipple level. Your toes support your lower body. Holding your body in a straight line from your ankles to the top of your head, push your upper body upward until the elbows are almost locked. Lower your body until your chest is 2.5 cm off the ground. Be careful if you already have pain in the shoulder joint and avoid dropping too far into the ending position. A common mistake is to take the head …

Swimming: 7 Reasons to learn it

Published by Anna Kazakova

Have you always thinking about learning to swim but never started? Here are seven great reasons why you should learn to swim this summer! Safety first. Last year was a record year in Sweden for drowning statistics—137 deaths. So, learn to swim as an adult and be ready to save yourself…and others. Saving exercises are taught with the swimming lessons. Swimming makes you a happier person. Swimming, like many exercises, stimulates the release of endorphins. Swimming reduces stress and promotes relaxation. Being in water reduces depression—“swimming can significantly decrease both anxiety and depression” says sports psychologist Aimee C. Kimball, director of mental training at the Center for Sports Medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Learning to swim is challenging and helps boost self-confidence. More often than not, adult beginners who start-out learning the breaststroke have issues with water phobias…and having a phobia of any kind is a confidence killer. Either they personally experienced a near drowning, or a loved one has. Having this phobia, unfortunately, does not only influence your relationship with water but …

You’re Not a Turtle, You’re a Dog! – Motivational Story

Published by Anna Kazakova

Sometimes when people work, study, or even live together—they tend to examine each other and make comparisons. Eventually, if not immediately, one can find themselves battling inner conflict brought on by consciously or sub-consciously deciding that “I’m not as smart as the person next to me.” This way of thinking is a distraction and negative, and usually leads to giving-up and quitting. It is a feeling that eats from the inside and leads to nothing good or positive. As I once mentioned before in another post, Merenlin and myself teach adults how to swim (breast stroke) and how to stay calm (especially those who have had a traumatic experience) in water. We enjoy working with them the most because it is difficult for them to change old habits and easily adapt to function normally in water. Somewhere near the midpoint of the course I tell a story about a turtle and a dog. I tell this story because It helps the inner voice say “I can…I am good enough!” The voice that says the opposite …

How Much Does a Triathlon Cost? Part I: Swimming

Published by Anna Kazakova

A triathlete – is a person who doesn’t understand that one sport is hard enough. So… congratulations! You are one of them! Being that you’re here, you’re probably on your way to completing your first triathlon. And I’m sure you already noticed that this hobby/sport/lifestyle is pretty expensive. Read-on and learn useful tips on how to minimize costs of triathlon equipment as a beginner. Follow the links and click on images to easily shop the equipment you need for the best price we could find.  If we consider the sports associated with a triathlon—swimming, biking, and running—the expenses triple. Instead of one sport, it’s three—making it more difficult to train. Before buying equipment, consider some options. Everything started in water – Life on the planet Earth began in water, and so does a triathlon. In this article we will try to cover all possible expenses you might have during the preparation and participation of a triathlon race. Swimming Triathletes wear everything they need from the get-go. After all, transition-time counts! Wetsuits If you’re competing in …

How I crossed Bosphorus

Published by Anna Kazakova

At 20:45 I arrived at St Görans Hospital emergency entrance. I took a number, registered myself then had a seat. That evening I was supposed to be at my place relaxing and sharing my emotions after the Bosphorus Cross Continental Race. It’s been a week since the event and I still couldn’t find the energy and inspiration to write about it. That’s right my friends, your brave life advisor landed herself in the hospital. A taxi cab swerved into me while biking to the gym. Not my lucky day! Suddenly, at 21:00 and still waiting for a doctor to examine me, I was hit with a rush of inspiration – so I broke out my laptop and began writing. BOSPHORUS  I don’t know about you, but I have a Bucket list* and every summer I try to cross off at least one event. Last year, for example, I went sky diving over St. Petersburg, Russia as well as deep-sea diving in the Atlantic Ocean in Spain. This year I planned to swim from Asia to …

Wish me luck: Crossing the Bosphorus Today

Published by Anna Kazakova

Today is the race day. Today is a big day. Not every day we have an opportunity to swim from Asia to Europe. So hello, the 26 th Bosphorus Cross-Continental Race, I have been waiting for you for a year! As you already know, I have been in Istanbul for a few days already, preparing for the race. Follow my adventure on Instagram @lifeasaninvestment and @angelwithoutwing and cross your fingers for good luck at 10 a.m. (Istanbul time).           And don’t forget to check up for updates on the blog or our facebook page.  

When Doctors Told Me Not to Run

Published by Anna Kazakova

  “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.”― Michael Jordan Even though it was two years ago, I still have tears in my eyes when I think about that 5 km run on a chilly May day in Stockholm. *** The story began many years ago in my mother country, Russia, when my doctor cautioned me to not run or partake in any physical training. For an active kid like me it was quite harsh to accept. Even my parents, for my own good, took away my bike and roller blades! I remember that day clearly, so clear that I still see that bright white medical coat with the name badge reading ”Surgeon Ivanov.” “You will never run”, – I heard again and again. At the age of eleven, I developed a strange disease called phlebeurysm on my right leg. It looked so awful that I wouldn’t wear shorts or skirts for the following nine years, and I constantly wore bandages on my one leg to reduce pain.  At age …

Three Secrets and a Big Passion – Triathlon!

Published by Anna Kazakova

Today is a big day for our blog! With the help of our web developer, we are launching a new outlay and design—and premiering alongside a new look will be an exciting new topic as well… I’m sure all of you have noticed that I am notably passionate about investment opportunities, leadership, and entrepreneurship. However, I do have another passion that I’d like to share with all of you—a passion that will most certainly reveal another side of me that is absent in any of my past posts. Nevertheless, the time has come to let you all know that “big finance” is not the only ambition that drives me. My other big passion is…SPORTS. First Secret: The Ironman Triathlon is my goal Yes, my passion is sports—particularly triathlon, which is the one sport that most people have little understanding of and are somewhat unaware of how tough it is, both mentally and physically. Swimming, biking, and running completes a triathlon. Just to inform you, triathlon is like a drug. It involves lots of goal setting (years actually) in …