Beat The Heat: Your Guide To Swimming Strokes

One of the best summer time exercises that you can get involved with in the coming warmer months is swimming. Not only will swimming be an excellent way to help you cool down after a hot day in the sun, but it’s also a very good way to boost your calorie burn as well.

When diving into the pool, it’s helpful to know about the different summer strokes that you can perform as each is going to work a different set of muscles and offer a few different physical benefits.

Let’s have a quick look at the main strokes that you need to know about.

The Back Crawl

The very first stroke to consider is the back crawl. This one tends to be the easiest and is a good recovery stroke to do if you’re feeling fatigued from the other strokes that you’re completing.

Due to the nature of this stroke, you’ll best target the back and lat muscles as well as the hamstrings as you propel yourself through the water.

When performing this one make sure to think about keeping your abs tight at all times.

The Breast Stroke

The second stroke to consider is the breast stroke. This one is going to have you moving through the water without lifting the arms overhead and is primarily going to hit your chest, lats, as well as the back.

This does tend to be a favorite among many swimmers and will burn slightly more calories than a back crawl would.

The Butterfly

Moving along, next we come to the butterfly stroke. This one could easily be considered the most intense stroke of them all and will require far more coordination on your part.

When doing this stroke you’ll need a powerful upper body and strong core to keep yourself in position throughout the movement.

When doing it you want to make sure both arms are coming up simultaneously and then driving through the water at the same time as well.

The Front Crawl

Finally, the last stroke is the front crawl. Like the back crawl this one isn’t quite as intense either, but is going to burn more calories than the back crawl itself.

It’s good for working the core, lats, chest, as well as the shoulders, and will help to enhance your mind-muscle coordination as well.

For best results, it would be good to alternate between all of these different swimming strokes as that is what would yield the best overall workout and also help to reduce any boredom that you may experience as well.

Getting started with swimming is a perfect way to liven up your workouts and challenge your muscles in a new manner.