Finding Time For Masters Swimming

Everyone’s busy. I get it. Family, kids, work, more work, business travel, you name it. We’re all moving in many different directions these days.

When I started Masters swimming again about 5 years ago, I was a Road Warrior. For me, that meant I was traveling 3 weeks a month, mostly driving around the Northeast for my marketing job. I spend 6-8 nights a month in hotels. I certainly didn’t think I really had the time to start training for Masters swimming.

However I did train. I became a Masters swimmer and I got in shape. Fast forward to today and I’m in amazing shape, training 5-6 days a week and competing regularly. And I’m still traveling for work.

For me, I have found seven major ways to find the time to train for Masters swimming. Hopefully you can find an idea or two that will help you too.

Seven Ways to Find Time For Masters Swimming

Decide – Make the decision you are going to do it. I have found that actively making the decision to do anything is very powerful. Once you decide, your subconscious will help you find ways to accomplish what you decided you’re going to do.

YMCA Reciprocals – One of the really cool benefits of my YMCA membership is that most Y’s offer reciprocal use. That means when I’m traveling around the Northeast, I can swim at any YMCA without having to pay extra. They honor my Y membership through a reciprocal program. I have found all YMCA’s outside my area to offer some sort of reciprocal program, even for a few days.

My recent morning swim while visiting RI at Kent County YMCA

Write Down Your Goals – I’ve heard it said by many success trainers that writing down your goals is critical to achieving them. I have personally found when I write down my swimming goals I find the time to train regardless of how busy I am. I write down my goals in the form of what I want my swimming times to be for each event I swim.

Sign Up For a Meet – I signed up for a swim meet soon after I started Masters swimming again. It gave me the extra incentive to train when I was busy or didn’t feel like it. If I was busy and was wondering if I should swim I would think to myself “Well, I have a meet coming up so I have to swim today”.

Get Up An Hour Early – One strategy that is very effective to get in a swim workout is to get up an hour early. Use the time to swim or organize your day to fit a swim in. I get up early (between 4-5am) and am able to get a lot of busy work done, which helps me make time for my workouts later in the day. Getting up early has also given me the extra time to create a daily stretching routine, which has been highly beneficial for me.

Watch Less TV – One of the biggest time wasters for me is watching TV. I will see a new show, watch the first episode and then binge watch. I have found when I limit my TV viewing that I am more productive with work. I also sleep better when I watch less TV. If you have something that is holding you back and wasting time (TV, Facebook, video games), then try cutting back and replacing that activity with something you positive you want to add – like swimming.

Hopefully you found an idea or two that will help you find the time for Masters swimming. If you have an idea that has worked for you to find more time to swim, please comment below!