Swimming is a great way to relax and wash off the heat during summer. It’s also a great form of exercise since it works your entire body and cardiovascular system. Rather than spending a warm day indoors on the treadmill, you can spend an hour each day swimming laps in the swimming pool. Swimming burns more calories than most low-intensity exercises and builds endurance and muscle strength. Some of the swimming exercises you can try this summer for toned muscles include:
#1 Water Crunches
Like the typical crunches, water crunches burn belly fat, augment the spinal structure, strengthen the hip muscles, and help develop core muscles. The water reduces the stress of the movement, making them easier to do. You can do water crunches at any water depth, and the intensity can be increased by leaning on the steps or using a pool noodle.
To perform them correctly, start by ensuring you are floating horizontally on the water surface on your back, raise your head and allow your eyes to focus on the ceiling and draw your hips up. To perform the crunches, bring your head and shoulders forward, fold your knees to your chest, and then lower your knees and shoulders to return to the original position. Use your abdominal muscles to pull your upper body to the surface.
#2 Butterfly Kick
The butterfly kick is a common swimming technique, but you might be shocked to learn it helps shed excess fat from the belly, hips and thighs. To perform this exercise, bring your legs together from your thighs to your feet. Keeping your toes pointed, use your hips to kick your legs while still keeping them together and push through the water. This works the deep ab muscles (internal abdominal oblique), especially when exercising on your back.
#3 Water Running
Deep water running or aqua jogging is an excellent exercise for athletes with injuries since it reduces stress on the hips, knees and back. It’s also a perfect way of improving cardiovascular fitness, building muscles, and learning to run correctly without injury. When performing this exercise, ensure the water is just below your neck. Ideally, your back should be straight, your arms bent at the elbow or in front of you. Start with a slow jog, then run as fast as you can through the water for several reps of 5-10 minutes each.
#4 Pull Buoy Presses
Incorporating a pull buoy creates extra buoyancy for your hips and keeps your body streamlined. It helps you slow down your stroke and builds core strength and the glutes, especially when you squeeze your glutes to hold the pull buoy in position as you swim. For this swimming exercise, it’s okay to switch sides as if you are rolling from side to side; this enables you to practice breath control which is excellent for your cardiovascular system since it expands your lung capacity.
#5 Push-Offs
If you are using a shallow pool, push-offs are a great cardiovascular exercise to boost your workout and tone your glutes and core. The water creates enough resistance as you come up, which helps you build muscle in your legs and abdominals. To perform this workout, stand upright in the pool with your feet touching the surface, place your hands behind your neck, get in a squatting position and push off to the original position. Do three sets of 10 reps to start with.
Benefits of Swimming Exercises
Besides strengthening your muscles and increasing your heart rate, swimming exercises have other benefits, including boosting your mood, managing stress, improving sleep and alleviating pain. So next time, if it’s too hot for the gym and you don’t want to avoid being sweaty, consider swimming and incorporate these exercises. Your body will thank you.
If you want to join a group for a swimming exercise, check out the Merritt app for any classes scheduled at your club. Or if you’re more interested in swim lessons, sign up at our Michael Phelps Swim School.
