Beginning to swim for exercise - what strokes work best for....??

Question

I'm 28. I used to run a lot, before I moved to my current place, which has a swimming pool. I used to be overweight and have maintained my loss for years. I have heard that swimming is great to tone up the excess from weight loss.

I'm targeting my arms and thighs.... and I know all strokes are great for that. But are there any particular moves/strokes that work superior to others to tone the midsection/abdominal areas??

Also, about how long should I swim to start?? And when should I increase?? Keep in mind that I'm fairly athletic and conditioned from running. Please help. THANK YOU!! :)

Answer 1

i suggest...

10x front crawl

10x back crawl

6x elementary backstroke

6x breast stroke.

and not necessarily in that order... maybe front crawl, elementary, back crawl, breast stroke.  but that's just me.

hope i helpped

Answer 2

I'm on a swim team so I know just like you say that there is a lot of excercize and muscle building. If you're looking for muscle then you should do theButterfly to target the shoulder muscle and the abdomen. Also I would recomend the freestyle swim or front crawl if you get tired and still want to work out that targets a little of the upper abdomen. I think that you should start at 30 minutes and then work your way uo every two times about 10 minutes! good Luck!!

Answer 3

breast stroke is good for arms, butterfly is hard on both. try doing 10 sets 100yrd sprints. increase 1 set every 4-5 swim days

Answer 4

If your focusing on arms and legs, i suggest butterfly or breaststroke. But for YOU, i will suggest breaststroke because your getting old and butterfly requires massive muscles from the arms and you also need the correct technique to gain anything. Breaststroke is a fairly easy stroke.

No offense or anything on the "old" comment. The truth is the truth =D

Answer 5

For great workouts, swim the front crawl and butterfly. Start off with 3x weekly, an hour per session before increasing to 4 to 5 times. Do a continuous 10 laps free, 2-3 laps butterfly, rest for 5-10 mins before doing as many reps as you can.

Include some gym work during the week--rowing, sit ups, leg raises, etc

You should see much progress in a month or so, as you are already very fit. How avoid rushing and pushing yourself too much, Maintain a programme and modify/enhance it as you go along.