Swimming is an excellent cardio exercise that builds strength and endurance while toning your thighs and legs. Unlike running, swimming involves no jarring impacts on the ground, so people with knee and leg problems can do it more easily. Swimming is an individual exercise, letting you work at your own pace, improving speed and distance as your endurance builds. Use a kick board or swimming fins to increase drag in the water to help tone the thigh and leg muscles.
Step 1
Walk around the pool deck or in the water for five minutes to warm up all muscle groups before the swimming workout.
Step 2
Hold a kick board with your arms extended in front of you and do the swimming freestyle kick without using your arms for 200 meters. Aim for 10 to 15 minutes of swimming at a slow pace if you're a beginner. Use proper leg form by relaxing the legs and pointing the toes while kicking.
Step 3
Flip to your back and hold the kick board across your chest for flotation. Kick without using your arms for 200 m, or 10 to 15 minutes if at a beginner level.
Step 4
Put swimming fins on your feet to add resistance for thigh toning and swim for 200 m, or 10 to 15 minutes. Use a kick board with your arms extended if you are a beginning swimmer and have low endurance for lap swimming.
Step 5
Take a rest break in the water by standing in the water and holding the side of the pool. Complete 20 front leg lifts and 20 side leg lifts on each leg.
Step 6
Repeat the freestyle swimming with a kick board, then swim while floating on your back with a kick board for 200 m each. Beginners might prefer skipping this step until endurance improves, or swimming for 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 7
Walk around the pool deck or in the water for five minutes after completing the workout to cool down the body.
Tips and Warnings
- The Georgia State University Department of Kinesiology and Health recommends hydrating the body during intense workouts by drinking 8 oz. of water every 20 minutes. Keep a water bottle in the pool deck for easy access during the workout. Swim freestyle and backstroke without a kick board for toning all the major muscle groups in the body.
Things You'll Need
- Kick board
- Swimming fins
- Water bottle
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