Many people feel uncomfortable in the water – and twice as uncomfortable being underwater. For many service members, getting in the water is key. You must swim, tread and place your face in the water to overcome any water fears (and there are many). Here is a workout that will progressively push your comfort zone to new levels each set and over time.

Swim across the pool any way you prefer. If your face is not in the water using any stroke, make it a point to swim properly to keep your head down with freestyle/crawl stroke, sidestroke or breaststroke.

Each of these strokes requires you to have your face in the water at some point. Practice exhaling when your face is submerged. You can also practice this in the shallow end as a warmup to prepare for swimming across the pool, exhaling underwater and turning your face (not your entire head) out of the water to inhale as part of the stroke to swim efficiently.

Another exercise you can try is bouncing off the bottom of the pool’s deep end. This involves regulating your breathing to exhale as you descend and inhale after your head surfaces. Repeat this sequence of exhaling down and inhaling at the top to establish a steady rhythm of breathing and relaxation during this pool skill.

Here is part one of the workout:

Repeat 5-10 times
Start in the deep end
• Fast swim 25 meters or the length of the pool, using any stroke.
• Using an easy pace, swim 25 meters back to the starting point.
• Without resting on the pool edge, start bobbing up and down from the bottom of the pool. Bob up/down until you catch your breath, maybe 5-10 bounces
• Repeat sequence

You may find bobbing challenging at first, and swimming and getting a little out of breath before bobbing makes it even tougher. Learning that you can exhale to help you sink to the bottom when your heart and lungs want you to inhale to catch your breath will help you overcome significant water confidence issues (underwater, breathing on rhythm, fear of suffocating, deep-end fears, etc.).

Use your hands at first to help you get to the bottom, but the next level is to bob with hands behind your back and feet together. This means you can only rely on your exhales to help you sink and time your inhales when on the surface of continuous bouncing off the bottom.

Part two of the workout:

Repeat 5-10 times
• Fast swim 25 meters or the length of the pool, using any stroke.
• Using an easy pace, swim 25 meters back to the starting point.
• Without resting on the pool edge, tread water without hands for up to one minute.
• Repeat sequence

Treading can also be difficult. If you are negatively buoyant, you may not have had an issue with sinking to the bottom in the first section, but staying off the surface will be more challenging if you are lean and do not float naturally. If you do float naturally, bobbing will be the most difficult exercise of this workout, especially when winded.

No matter your body type, the military’s drownproofing tests will challenge you as you will be required to bounce, float and tread. Make sure you practice all the events, including swimming, as you need to learn the techniques and get into proper swim or tread conditioning to excel in various diving and rescue swimming programs our military offers.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you’re thinking of joining the military, looking for fitness and basic training tips, or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox.

Story Continues