Swimming can yield significant health benefits, including improved weight regulation, enhanced cardiovascular endurance, reduced likelihood of developing chronic disease, enhanced mood and improved longevity, according to the Mayo Clinic. To swim efficiently and quickly, you need to optimize the use of your body parts and muscles. Your most important swimming-related body parts include your shoulders, arms and hands, legs and feet and back and neck.
Shoulders, Arms and Hands
You use almost all your major muscle groups and body parts when you swim with the proper technique, according to Georgia State University's Department of Kinesiology and Health. Among the most important body parts used in swimming are your arms. As a swimmer, your arms are your principle source of power generation and are one of the most significant contributors to forward propulsion in the water. A 1992 study published in the "British Journal of Sports Medicine" states that arm power is important in swimming, especially in the longer distance swim events. Your hands also are an important swimming-related body part. According to SwimmingTechnology.com, your hand force is the most important factor in swimming propulsion and is directly related to your swimming speed. Increasing your hand force will allow you to swim faster.
Legs and Feet
Legs are an important, and often underrated, body part that you use in swimming. According to a 1999 study published in the "European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology," using your legs while swimming enhances your generated propulsive force by improving the action of your arms. You use your legs for each of the different swim strokes, although your legs are especially important for the breaststroke. While it's important for you to incorporate leg movement to enhance your swimming technique, learning how to kick properly is one of the most challenging aspects of the sport. Consider working with a certified swimming instructor or a swim coach to learn how to use legs to optimize your swimming technique. American Olympic swimmer Jenny Thompson states that your feet are another important swimming-related body part, and that your feet act like flippers to help propel your body through the water.
Back and Neck
Your back muscles, especially your latissimus dorsi muscles--which run from your back to your upper arms, and are among of the largest muscles in your body--are important for swimming. They exert a powerful influence on the various strokes, and they help dictate your speed, power and form. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the action of your latissimus dorsi muscles draws your upper arms or humerus bones downward and backward and causes them to rotate inward, a motion that's typified by the downstroke in the crawl. Like your back, your neck is another important swimming-related body part because it controls your head movement while you're in the water, helping you time your breaths appropriately.
References
- MayoClinic.com: What Aerobic Exercise Does for Your Health
- SwimmingTechnology.com: FAQs
- Georgia State University: The Exercise and Physical Fitness Page: Swimming
- "British Journal of Sports Medicine"; Muscle Power Predicts Freestyle Swimming Performance; J.A. Hawley, et. al.; September 1992
- "European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology"; Relative Contribution of Arms and Legs; V. J. Deschodt, et. al.; July 1999
