Chapter 165 Swimming for Body Shaping

Chen Jue rested one hand on the lane line, gasping for fresh air as he stared with delight at the notification that popped up on his panel.

This swimming session had turned out to be a huge surprise!

Not only was the efficiency of grinding Attributes far beyond any previous session, but even his Skill Level increased with astonishing speed.

Seeing that his [Swimming] Skill was just a few more underwater laps away from leveling up again, Chen Jue’s mind started racing with ideas.

Just then, a guy training in the next lane unexpectedly swam over, greeting Chen Jue enthusiastically. "Senior Chen Jue, it really is you! I knew you looked familiar underwater."

Chen Jue snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the other person. To his surprise, it was Ma Qiang, a freshman from the sports class.

The guy was a specialty athlete on the Jiang University swim team who practically lived in the natatorium. It was quite a coincidence that Chen Jue would run into Ma Qiang on his very first visit, and in an adjacent lane no less.

"Senior Chen Jue, that dunk of yours was awesome!"

"As soon as the video of your dunk went viral yesterday, the guys on the basketball team were going crazy looking for you. They all want to recruit you to train with them."

"I didn’t expect you to be such a strong swimmer, too. Swimming 50 meters underwater isn’t something an ordinary person can do," Ma Qiang said, also resting on the lane line as he brought up Chen Jue’s recent dunking feat.

"Huh?"

"My skills are just so-so, I guess. I just mess around on my own. I taught myself how to swim in the rivers back in my hometown," Chen Jue replied, a little surprised himself. He hadn’t expected his spontaneous dunk to cause such a stir.

Not only was the Jiang University basketball team asking about him, but even a sports student like Ma Qiang, who focused on swimming, had heard about it.

"Senior, you’re just being humble. There aren’t many people at our school who can dunk."

"But you should probably go easy on the underwater swimming. Doing it too much can cause severe hypoxia and damage your brain," Ma Qiang added, offering a kind warning.

"Swimming underwater can damage your brain?"

’That serious!’ Chen Jue grew alarmed at the thought.

After all, during his first rough attempt at swimming underwater just a moment ago, he had damaged his eardrums, and his [Constitution] Attribute had even dropped by a small point.

Having learned his lesson the hard way, Chen Jue was now taking the dangers associated with this kind of training much more seriously.

"Well, it’s not like it’ll cause damage right away. How should I put it..." Ma Qiang scratched his head and stammered, clearly an athlete who wasn’t great with theory.

Just then, the middle-aged coach who was supervising by the poolside walked over. He blew his whistle and urged, "Ma Qiang! Slacking off again? Get back to training!"

"Yes, Coach Wang!"

Caught in the act, Ma Qiang looked like a mouse that had just seen a cat. He shot the coach a quick, sheepish look, said a quick goodbye to Chen Jue, and then dove back into the water.

A swimmer’s training was incredibly monotonous. It basically consisted of getting in the pool and swimming back and forth, lap after lap, from morning till night.

This was true for most competitive sports. Even with immense talent, there were no shortcuts. Good results could only be achieved through grueling practice.

However, Coach Wang was clearly quite interested in Chen Jue. After making a round of the pool, he walked over to the outermost lane and crouched down. "Son, what department are you in? Have you ever trained in swimming before?"

"Just messing around on my own. Nothing to impress you with, Coach Wang," Chen Jue said. He was resting at the surface anyway, so he started chatting with the coach.

When he learned that Chen Jue was just an auditing student and had never been involved in competitive swimming, Coach Wang looked visibly moved.

After all, Chen Jue’s underwater lap just now hadn’t been slow at all. Although his technique was a bit messy, the lung capacity to swim 50 meters in one breath was something no ordinary person could manage.

Of course, Chen Jue also took this opportunity to ask a professional like Coach Wang about the brain damage risk from underwater swimming.

"There are two reasons why underwater swimming can damage the brain," Coach Wang patiently explained. "First, the water pressure causes a person’s blood pressure to rise, which can damage the cerebral blood vessels. Second, underwater swimming consumes more oxygen than regular swimming. If the body is in a state of prolonged hypoxia, the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen, leading to tissue damage or even necrosis."

He added that FINA, the international swimming federation, had set a 15-meter limit on underwater swimming in official competitions. Besides making the races more entertaining to watch, it was also to prevent athletes from neglecting their technique and focusing solely on training their lung capacity.

This was because the resistance at the bottom of the pool was much lower than at the surface, allowing for significantly faster speeds.

Some professional underwater swimmers could even cover nearly 200 meters in a single breath without any equipment or weights.

However, such competitions were not only boring to watch but also extremely dangerous. It would be a huge problem if someone failed to come up for air and ended up suffocating at the bottom of the pool! That’s why the 15-meter limit was introduced.

Exceeding this underwater distance would result in the swimmer’s time being disqualified, a rule as strict as the 0.1-second false start rule in track and field.

...

"So that’s how it is!"

Chen Jue nodded thoughtfully after hearing Coach Wang’s explanation.

Just as he was about to dive back under to grind more Attributes, Coach Wang spoke up again. "I can see your swimming style is pretty unorthodox. Your gliding and treading water are inefficient. Swimming like that just wastes energy."

"If you want to get faster, you could learn by watching Ma Qiang and the others."

The coach had probably recognized that Chen Jue was a diamond in the rough and was offering a few kind pointers.

After all, as someone with a panel—a ’cheater’—Chen Jue’s physical stats had already reached a level close to that of a national-class athlete after a period of training.

Although he was new to the [Swimming] sport, his [Constitution] of over 2.00 made it obvious he was no ordinary swimmer the moment he started moving.

"Thank you for the advice, Coach Wang. I just hope I’m not disturbing your training," Chen Jue said, his interest piqued. After thanking him, he continued to rest on the lane line, observing and learning.

His subject of study was, naturally, Ma Qiang, who was closest to him.

The kid trained in the individual medley, a special all-around event in competitive swimming that requires contestants to master four different strokes.

The individual medley is contested over 200 or 400 meters, with each quarter of the race swum in the order of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.

Since Chen Jue lacked these professional techniques, he took the opportunity to watch Ma Qiang’s training closely.

Thanks to his greatly improved vision, his status as a semi-expert in athletics, and the powerful correction function provided by his panel, Chen Jue was able to roughly learn the techniques for Ma Qiang’s four strokes in less than 20 minutes just by observing from both above and below the water.

Moreover, through close observation, Chen Jue noticed that the muscle definition on professional swimmers wasn’t as pronounced and bulging as that of track and field athletes.

If track athletes and bodybuilders had lean, shredded physiques, then swimmers had smoother, fuller muscles, as if their bodies had been rehydrated like dried sea cucumbers after soaking in water for a long time.

Additionally, swimmers’ bodies were more elongated, their bone structure and musculature more perfectly proportioned. Like runway models, they were simply pleasing to the eye.

He also discovered that these swimming strokes provided a full-body workout, engaging muscles from the neck, shoulders, and back all the way to the limbs. Every part of the body was utilized.

Such a comprehensive workout was clearly very effective for reducing body fat.

After all, Chen Jue scanned the entire competition pool and couldn’t find a single overweight person.

All seven swimmers, including Ma Qiang, were the slender type, with no visible signs of excess fat.

’No wonder Teacher Li Rui said swimming helps shape your body.’

’This must be a form of the human body adapting to its environment, right?’ Chen Jue analyzed inwardly.

...

Having gotten a taste of the sweet rewards of grinding attribute points, Chen Jue dove back into the water and began imitating Ma Qiang’s four professional competitive swimming strokes.

With the help of his panel, he could judge whether his movements were correct and effective by watching how quickly his [Swimming] Skill Level increased by +1 and +2.

Unexpectedly, after practicing for about 20 laps and choking on a few mouthfuls of water, another notification popped up on his panel:

——————

[Ding~]

[Skill Level at 100%. Skill Level increasing.]

[Swimming Lv2→Lv3]

[You have become more proficient in the underwater sport of Swimming. You are beginning to find a swimming posture that better suits you. Your swimming speed has greatly increased, and you have mastered a special breathing rhythm.]

[In this special high-pressure water environment, your entire muscle system has been efficiently trained, slightly increasing your muscular endurance and explosive power. Your metabolism has been enhanced, and the rate at which you burn subcutaneous fat has accelerated.]

[By spending extended periods in a hypoxic underwater state, you have developed a partial immunity to the fear of oxygen deprivation, and your willpower has been strengthened.]

[Strength Attribute +0.01]

[Constitution Attribute +0.01]

[Spirit Attribute +0.01]