What Muscles Does Swimming Work? Swimmers Body Explained.

Hi, my name is Dan. I am a former professional swimmer and NYC-based swim school owner. I'm here to share beginner swimming tips and help people understand & learn swimming quickly and easily.

Today, we will dive deep into the anatomy of swimming strokes. You'll learn the specific muscle groups associated with every stroke and how to get a full-body workout out of swimming.

Let's dive in!

Key Muscles Used in Swimming

While swimming is considered a whole-body workout, it's essential to understand that you'll engage different muscle groups in various capacities depending on the swimming stroke you choose to swim. However, the main upper and lower body muscles unite all four strokes to generate propulsion and ensure balance and stability in the water.

Shoulder muscles

It's not well-known that swimmers are known for their broad shoulders; among all swimming muscles, shoulders stand out the most. The reason behind it is simple: shoulder muscles are constantly activated in every swimming stroke. It's also a part of your body that endures the most stress from swimming. For that reason, besides a nice athletic figure, swimmers often struggle with deltoid and shoulder muscles injury.

The shoulder muscle group consists of the triceps, neck muscles like your trapezius, and smaller muscle groups around it.

Chest muscles

The most significant forces on your chest are the biceps and pectoral muscles. Chest muscles are essential for various reasons: from pulling the water, breathing, rotation, and stability to balance. Muscles of your chest work in simultaneous dance with shoulders and back muscles to maximize your swimming efficiency in every stroke.

Back muscles

Among all the back muscles associated with swimming, the latissimus dorsi is crucial in all strokes. From butterfly and front crawl, latissimus dorsi muscles will ensure balance and provide propulsion. The stronger your latissimus dorsi muscle, the greater your distance per stroke will be.

Leg muscles

No-brainer legs help our body move forward while swimming by providing additional power and speed. While all of your leg muscles are used in all stroke techniques, it's important to note the main muscles that play the most significant role.

Whether swimming front crawl or breaststroke, you must engage your foot muscles, hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, and gluteus maximus to counterbalance in the water and swim faster.

Core muscles

A strong core can make or break your swimming efforts & technique. While many swimmers forget about the importance of core muscles, it's an important connecting point between your lower and upper body. Your abs, obliques, and gluteus maximus and medius are responsible for proper body position in the water.

When a swimmer's core muscles are not strong enough, oftentimes, it results in poor stroke technique and unwanted injuries. A good way to prevent this from happening is to add some abs exercises to your strength training routine.

Bonus: Swimming & Muscles FAQ

Can you build muscle by swimming only?

It's totally possible to build muscle by swimming only, but your results are going to be limited. You're definitely not going to get the same results you'd get from combining swimming and strength training.

However, if for some reason you can't lift weights, I recommend incorporating resistance training into your routine.

Resistance training can be done both on land and in the pool and can significantly improve your swimming results, build muscle, and diversify your workout.

How can you target isolated muscle groups in the pool?

While swimming engages all the muscles in your body, there are multiple ways to engage different muscles separately.

Want to target your quadriceps, hamstrings, and the rest of your leg muscles? Get a kick board, and get a few laps in kicking with your legs. Additionally, you can always use fins and get your lower body working harder.

If you'd like to focus more on your upper body muscles, paddles and pull buoy can come in handy. Swimming with them will let your lower body rest, while your back, shoulder, core, and arm muscles are putting in some work.

Lastly, you can always add more resistance with a parachute, drag socks or shorts, and other resistance equipment that will make your muscle work a little bit harder. All of those little exercise tips can build muscle better than a couple of sets of pull-ups.

Conclusion: Swimming is a full-body holistic exercise

While swimming is considered to be a more endurance form of exercise, it's totally possible to build muscle in the pool. All you have to do is design your training the right way.

To maximize your muscle growth in the pool, remember to:

replenish your energy sources after swimming;
let your muscles recover from the stress;
be consistent with your workout regimen.