Complementary exercise for swimming please …

[CurlyWurly1991]

So I am feeling pretty stressed and want to increase exercise to support with that.
At the moment I swim twice a week for about 800m a time. It’s hard for me to swim more than that due to pool timings, access to transport, work etc. I LOVE swimming.
No longer trying to lose weight but would like to be more toned.
For further context I’m TTC, hypermobile and don’t do well with very strenuous or high impact exercise. I get a lot of fatigue afterwards which can affect me for days.
I have access to a gym and fitness classes (inc in membership) but like swimming would struggle to get there any more than currently.
thanks !

What do you do in the pool?
I'm not quite clear, do you or don't you have more time for exercise? You say there is a gym and classes but you'd struggle to get there.

Anyway, if you only have those swim sessions I would shake them up to make the most of the time. So rather than just do laps, do 25m as fast as you can, rest for 15 secs, repeat. Or get a pull buoy or float so you can focus on just arms or legs for some laps.

Am I right in thinking with hyper mobility you shouldn't do breaststroke?

Walking or spinning.

Hi @TheOrigRights sorry that wasn’t clear. I do have time for exercise but would struggle to get to that physical location on a regular basis. So the swimming twice a week is now a regular routine on Mon/Fri mornings, and on top of that I would need to be flexible (ad hoc sessions) or do the exercise from home.
good idea on mixing up the lengths and doing some interval (?) training with it. I usually start with breaststroke then do same amount of front crawl with 2-4 lengths backstroke at the end. I think breastroke is ok for me. Technique is good as I have had lessons in the past etc.

If the fatigue is caused by your hyper mobility then I assume you have it quite severely, in which case you might be better asking on one of the health boards.
People on the exercise board might not be best placed to advise if you have health issues.

Get into weight training but find a PT who can assist with your hyper mobility. You don't have to see them all the time, just get a plan off them that you can follow wherever you go to the gym

Thanks for everyone’s thoughts. I was actually about to see a PT but cancelled because of the TTC as I don’t know how committed I can be long term.
Pilates has been great in the past but £££ and some teachers encourage me to overstretch and I’ve been injured.
dont think my hypermobility is too severe but things like running probably do more harm than good although I’ve run in the past.
Maybe I need more of a gentle yoga routine as it’s mainly for my mental health tbh.

There are lots of yoga videos on YouTube you could try

I have hypermobility too and find yoga quite hit and miss. I’m naturally quite good at it, with being bendy, but I often over stretch.
Weights with a PT have been a godsend as I’ve tightened up my loose joints by strengthening the muscles. It’s worth bearing in mind with TTC that your joints become more elastic when you are pregnant, so anything you can do to strengthen them beforehand will be beneficial.
I was only diagnosed after I’d had my children but it’s something I wish I’d known.

Yoga not ideal for hypermobility. Pilates better. Online might be cheaper?

ah these are good points. Yes I kind of gave up on yoga because have often overstretched (so tempting!!) and then paid for it afterwards. I know there are good teachers out there though. Will check out the online videos - I used yoga with Adrienne before, and possibly less likely to overstretch on my own because I’m not trying to show off my bendiness in a class 😆
@Findyourneutralspace that is a great point. I also didn’t know I was hyper mobile until after I had my first. Had dreadful SPD. I will need to stop the breastroke and be more careful with swimming and activity generally if/when I conceive this time. Do you mind me asking what type of exercises / weights have been good for you? It would be great if I could avoid such bad spd again. I was last pregnant 10 years ago and part of the reason it has taken me so long to try again is not having a good pregnancy last time 😔 I was in crutches etc.

I was also on crutches with SPD. It’s agonising isn’t it? Lots of glute exercises have helped as my pelvis is particularly rickety after having the kids - so squats, lunges, leg press etc.
Also core work like planks will build strength and you’ll want to build some upper body stuff in there, just for balance.