My Legs Burn After Swimming

Swimming provides an all over body workout, but if your legs burn after swimming you might need to tweak your style. Because swimming is a low-impact sport, you can exercise hard without stressing your knees or ankle joints. A vigorous workout might leave you tired and refreshed at the same time.

Energy Expended

The large muscles of your legs are energy hungry, so intense kicking tires you quickly. You depend mostly on your upper body during freestyle swimming, but you need at least a slow kick to keep your legs from sinking downward. Kicking also help keep your hips high in the water, which minimizes drag. Achieving an optimal body position in the water takes practice and patience.

Energy Conservation

Freestyle is a front-quadrant stroke, meaning you rely less on your legs than other swimming strokes. You swim on your side to streamline your profile in the water and minimize the effort you use overcoming water's resistance. When you tire kicking, you can use a pull-buoy or a small float placed between your thighs to help keep your legs afloat, eliminating the need to kick.

Strokes

You can glide further per stroke in freestyle than any other stroke, and the longer you glide per stroke, the more efficiently you move across the pool. Ideally, when you swim long distances, you let your legs trail behind, kicking slowly and rhythmically only to keep yourself afloat and providing gentle propulsion. In breaststroke, you rely mostly on the power of your kick, so swimming long distances fast is difficult.

Strengthening

Even if you save your legs during long distance swims, you need leg strength during sprints, for race starts and for pushoffs against pool walls. Building explosive leg strength with specialized legs squats or plyometric exercises done in the pool helps you build your leg power with less risk for injury than routines performed on dry land. Ask a swim coach for her recommendation about which exercises can help you the most.

Considerations

If you are an experienced swimmer and develop a burning sensation in your legs after swimming, make sure that you are drinking enough fluids prior to, during and after your workouts. Dehydration and lack of electrolytes such as sodium can cause leg cramps or discomfort. A low-sugar sports drink can help alleviate symptoms. If you experience a sudden change in fitness or if you have any concerns about your lower body fatigue, visit your doctor and tell her about the exact nature of your problems.