Aquatically Achieving Your Body Toning Goals: Swim To Get Fit

A Different Approach To Building Lean Muscle

You don’t stack weights on a barbell, lie on a bench and press to tone your legs. You also don’t build lean muscle in your shoulders and arms by doing butterfly kicks. Building lean muscle from knuckles to toes can be difficult for the occasional gym-goer, especially on a fixed amount of time per day and week. If you are trying to stay fit, stay afloat. That’s no joke; swimming is an activity that can improve your health in many different ways at the same time.

Swimming is a great way to exercise because of the unique environment it creates. The water allows the human body to function with less resistance as compared to the open air. Think about it, when you jump off the high dive at a rapid pace, and land in the water, your speed changes and you fall slower than you had during your initial leap. Due to its abilities to consume all the space around the human body, we constantly have to push it away from us or use it to bring ourselves closer to our destination. This resistance is a challenge to the body and acts as your “equipment.” During this time you are elevating heart rate and heightening your cardiovascular ceiling.

A lot of time you hear people say they want to hit the gym more often, but don’t want people confusing their need to get healthier for wanting to gain bulk and muscle. To do so, one needs to challenge the boy in a unique way. Weightlifters who consume carbohydrates and protein in large amounts and workout multiple times per day typically use their body’s anaerobic energy system. They spend time working their bodies to gain bulk, which typically consists of performing three to four sets that consist of eight to twelve repetitions (three sets of ten sound familiar?) with one to two minutes rest between sets that over time creates hypertrophy in the muscles and the lifter looks buff. To create lean muscle, triggering the aerobic energy system is key. Lifters will engage in activity for longer bouts, from two sets of fifteen repetitions, for minutes at a time or even until exhaustion. This builds muscle that looks lean and sculpted rather than large and swollen.

This article will mimic that of a thirty-second infomercial pitch: a quick pitch attempting to sell the idea of a product that allows you to accomplish more with less. Most gym attendees want a great many things when they walk in the door and since they don’t have the time or energy to complete twenty-five separate activities and run a half marathon per lunch break. Even the kids who hit the weight room after school couldn’t produce as much with more time. But if you won’t take “no way” for a solution then trade in your dumbbells for a swimsuit and get ready to be lean and tone.

How Do I Incorporate Swimming?

First lets revisit the idea of challenging the entire body all at once and start with the simple act of treading water. When a person is submerged in water in which they cannot stand in they are forced to wade with the movement of their arms and legs. To stay afloat, the body works together as a unit. The ankles dorsiflex and plantar-flex as the knees extend and flex. The hips combine for a fluid motion of hip flexion and extension, abduction and adduction with some slight internal and external rotation.

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In order to keep the spine upright the core muscles including the erector spinae and abdomen muscles posture the spine to keep the person upright while wading. During a calm tread the person will horizontally abduct and and adduct the arms at the shoulder simultaneously while the arms themselves are in slight external rotation to allow the hands to paddle in a cupped shape to propel the body at the surface. Arms, abs and legs: a full body exercise.

Specifics? Treading Won’t Make Me Trim

Someone who is looking to get the most out of aquatic exercise can understand that treading should be treated as a warm-up. Swimming laps can also help raise the heart rate and prepare the swimmer for some more challenging water aerobics. Spend roughly five minutes warming up in the water before beginning the regimen.

Body Toning Aquatic Exercises

Jogging in Place (2x1 min)

Bilateral Side Jumps (2x15)

Squat Thrusts (3x15; 3 ft. Water)

Dead Leg Breaststroke (3x45 sec)

Backstroke (2x45 sec)

Butterflies (2x45 sec)

High Knees (2x20 sec; 3 ft. Water)

Butt Kicks (2x20 sec; 3 ft. Water)

Calf Raises (2x30)

Free-Style Swimming (At least 5-10 min)

Additional/Advanced Exercises That Apply To Facility*

Breaststroke Against Current (2x1 min)

Underwater Breaststroke Against Current (2xExhaustion)

Weighted Aquatic Dumbbell Curls (2x15)

Kneeling Aquatic Dumbbell Triceps Extension (2x15)

*If the facility in which you swim at has aquatic specific equipment, such as waterproof dumbbells or weighted wrist and ankle weights, completing the Body Toning Aquatic Exercises with weight is permitted for those healthy, confident and able.

For all exercises that are listed as timed, can also be performed in laps as well. These exercises are roughly designed to apply to all pools, for athletic purposes and leisure. For example, if you swim at your local YMCA or athletic club, the pool may be marked for swim competitions and you can substitute 45 seconds of swimming for five laps in a standard Olympic pool. To achieve the goal of getting toned instead of bulking up and adding girth, keep the repetitions high. You can add additional sets to challenge yourself but less than twelve repetitions will challenge the body’s anaerobic system.

Safety and Helpful Tips

Before engaging in any regimen of pool exercise, consider your health. Typically indoor pools are heated and enclosed in rooms that have temperatures set above the average home or office room temperature in order to keep water warm. If you have no experience in pool activity or moderate bouts of swimming in deeper water, be sure to remain in areas in which you can stand with your head above the surface. Do not add weights until you have been able to complete the exercises alone efficiently. It is also important to consider allergies for those who may be allergic to pool chlorine or other chemicals added to the water.

In addition to safety, remember not to allow yourself to go stale while waiting on results.

Carbohydrates are required to have high energy levels during exercises but can be ample in moderate amounts, and lean muscle will not be achieved if your diet consists mostly of sugary meals (aim for 35-40% carbohydrates in daily diet). The carbohydrates you do consume should come an hour or more before swimming to avoid cramping (just like mother warned you!). Consuming carbohydrates afterward is acceptable but again, in moderation. Supply the body with enough fuel to complete your exercises and get through the day and build strong lean muscle through the duo of diet and exercise.

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Finally, have fun! Be sure to enjoy your unique approach to gaining lean muscle and improving your health. If time permits, participate in a pick-up pool basketball game or swim freestyle for a longer period of time. If a pool is large enough, you could enjoy circular laps of kayaking, another great way to take advantage of aquatic exercise, this time above the surface. Kinesthetic awareness can be improved by inserting a small boogie-board under your feet in the deep end and flex the abdomen while trying to keep your balance on the board. This will improve your ability to have a better understanding of where your lower extremities exist during open-chain exercises.