Swimming

[darklite]

Just curious but which strokes are the best for building up muscle in the body?

I mean, that foir instance, i tend to breaststroke alot, but it doesn't offer much in the eay of exercise. I tend to glide too easily thru the water, so theres no resistance to build any suppleness or muscle.

Are there any strokes that are very much so, muscle intensive?

(I'm more interested in swimming as a way to increase physical attributes than weights, simply because weights are too awkward to acquire at the moment. Theres a swimming pool nearby that i can use every day)

cheers

[DaLinkWent]

If you want a really good swimming workout you have to be able to do the butterfly. A couple ahrd laps of that will give your cardio workout a jolt!

I have a hard time with that stroke so I usually will do freestyle and finsih with a cool down stroke like the breaststroke. As long as you go hard it should do the trick but I would leave the breaststroke for cooling down because it's too smooth of a stroke to actually work hard at.

My goal eventually is to become a pro surfer so I have increased my swimming training. You can also try things like swimming with weighted vests (only in a lap pool!), fins, boards etc.

Just remeber that going hard and decent distance is the key.

Good Luck and Have FUN

[CJNY]

"you can also try things like swimming with weighted vests "

I hope this was a joke!

Regarding swimming for muscle gain, you've more or less answered your own question. Swimming is a wonderful exercise with many benefits to recommend it but building muscle isn't one of them.

Hand paddles and fins can be used to isolate and increase resistance somewhat but serious swimmers who want more muscle lift weights.

Carl

[DaLinkWent]

hope this was a joke!

Dead serious, no pun intended

I swma varsity for a number of years and during practise we would swim with weighted vests, granted we were in a lap pool where the water never exceeded four feet so the potential for drowning was very limited but the it was explained was similar to running with weighted vests.

Carl's got it right on as far as using swimming to uild muscle, not a good idea. Cardio and endurance it's fabulous, mucle building it's not.

Good Luck!

[TheBigness]

there are resistance devices of differnrt varieties avaible for purchase from many companies.

[DaLinkWent]

there are resistance devices of differnrt varieties avaible for purchase from many companies

erm . .yeah :confused:

[Jock]

Originally Posted by CJNY

Swimming is a wonderful exercise with many benefits to recommend it but building muscle isn't one of them.

Exactly right.

Jock