Lifestyle Health John Legend Explains Why His Swim Lessons Are So Important: 'I'm Able to Live with Less Fear' The singer says that he and son Miles, 10 months, share an instructor By Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta is the Sports Editor at PEOPLE, covering everything from the NFL to tennis to Simone Biles and Tom Brady. She was previously an Associate Editor for the Health vertical for six years, and prior to joining PEOPLE worked at Health Magazine. When not covering professional athletes, Julie spends her time as a (very) amateur athlete, training for marathons, long bike trips and hikes. People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 20, 2019 02:35PM EDT John Legend is almost ready for the deep end! The singer, 40, is taking swim lessons for the first time since he was 5 years old. “I’m definitely not where I need to be, but I’m much better than where I was, and it’s only been a couple months now,” he tells PEOPLE. “I’m excited. It’s so much fun to learn and to feel much more confident in the pool.” Legend says that he didn’t want to feel restricted due to not knowing how to swim. “I was never afraid to go in the pool, but I was afraid to go in the deep end,” he explains. “I’m happy that I’m able to live with less fear and be able to swim with my kids. It just opens up a lot more opportunities. I just want to be comfortable in any water settings. So if we’re out on a boat on the ocean, if we’re in a pool, no matter where we are.” Legend was inspired to start lessons in January because he wanted to be able to keep up with his kids with wife Chrissy Teigen; Luna, 2, and Miles, 10 months. “She’s [Luna] the one who got me excited about doing it, because we started giving her lessons,” he says. “Even Miles is taking lessons now. He started lessons before me, and we have the same teacher.” Chrissy Teigen/Instagram Legend shared a few videos of his progress on social media over the last two months, and recently posted one of his freestyle stroke, which he says “is better than my float.” “I still can’t really [float],” he says. “It’s also just kind of counterintuitive. So many things you have to try harder, and with floating you have to relax better. You have to learn that it’s okay and you can relax and breathe easy.” Floating skills or not, swimming has become one of the ways that Legend, a spokesperson for Naked juice company’s However You Healthy campaign, works out. “I try to work out as much as possible, whether it’s running or swimming or lifting weights or riding a bike,” he says. “I try to stay physically active with my kids too, in the backyard or however I can.” RELATED VIDEO: Chrissy Teigen Proudly Shares Video of John Legend Taking Swimming Lessons in Their Home Pool Legend recently started paying closer attention to his health after his doctor warned him about his risk of heart disease due to a family history of cholesterol issues. Along with working out regularly, he makes sure to eat vegetables at every meal — including breakfast, when he makes a leafy salad. “It was a wake-up call,” Legend says. “We have a history of heart and cholesterol issues in my family, so it makes more sense that I have to be more vigilant. So whenever you can learn that early in your life and do things behaviorally to combat that, I think it’s good thing.”