Does Swimming Build Muscle? | Well+Good

Whether you’re a little kid jumping into the pool on your summer break or an adult reaping the benefits of swimming for health and longevity, swimming can be a fun and relaxing way to work your body and mind. Competitive swimmers often have toned physiques and muscular arms and shoulders, along with tremendous aerobic capacities developed from countless hours spent submerged in water.

Does swimming build muscle or is it more of a cardio workout? We chatted with experts to find out.

Experts In This Article:

• Julie Dunkle, an elite triathlete, experienced gravel cyclist, and triathlon coach
• KJ Kroetch, CPT, Colorado-based swim and triathlon coach and certified personal trainer

Does swimming build muscle and strength?

Strength training has many benefits, such as building muscle, maintaining muscle mass, and creating strong and stable joints. Swimming is a high-resistance, low-impact activity that is an excellent form of resistance training. While swimming can build muscle and strength, it primarily builds swim-specific strength that may not always transfer to other areas of life.

Professional swimmers often supplement their swim training with land-based strength and resistance training to further enhance their muscle mass.

Swim equipment to build strength:

1. Hand paddles: A fantastic tool for increasing upper-body strength
2. Pull buoy: Isolates the upper body and allows focus on arm strokes
3. Swim fins: Enhance the kicking motion and engage the quadriceps

Does swimming improve your cardiovascular system?

While swimming can build muscle, its more noticeable benefit is improving the cardiovascular system and aerobic fitness. Swimming is an effective way to build cardiovascular capabilities and improve aerobic fitness. Tailoring swim workouts can impact all heart rate zones of cardiovascular fitness.

Swimming workouts:

Most standard lap pools are 25 yards or meters long. Here is a sample swimming workout to build strength:

• 200 freestyle swim, no equipment
• 2×100 backstroke or breaststroke, no equipment
• 100 breaststroke, no equipment