Swim Workouts For Beginners

Swim workouts for beginners should focus on building proper technique, strength and endurance. Advance swimmers focus on speed and distance once they have mastered the other skills. Swimming is a full body workout that combines strength training and cardio.

1. Perfecting technique means understanding the proper form your body should be in while swimming. Keep your neck and shoulder muscles relaxed. Hold your head straight and the rest of your body parallel to the bottom of the pool. Extend each arm fully in front of you as you rotate your body with each stroke. Keep your kicks smooth and under water creating as little splash as possible. Most importantly, control your breathing. Try to alternate breathing on each side to keep your strokes even. Pace your breath. Focus on these things one at a time during a beginner swim workout to better technique.
2. Strength is another important part of swimming. Swimming uses just about all the muscles in the body. Build leg strength by holding a medicine ball in front of you while using your legs to propel you to the other side. The added weight and not being able to use your arms will really make a difference. You can also work out the arms by using different swim paddles that attach to the hands. They add resistance to your strokes causing your arms, shoulders and core to work harder.
3. Endurance is also very important. Beginner's swimming workouts should focus on being able to stay active for a longer period of time. Increase endurance by increasing the amount of time you swim instead of increasing your distance within a certain time span. Keep your breathing and movement steady and in rhythm while you swim laps.