Swimming (Freestyle)
What Is the Swimming (Freestyle)?
Swimming (Freestyle) is a cardio exercise that improves cardiovascular endurance and overall fitness. It is considered an intermediate-level activity, depending on intensity and personal capabilities, because it asks for a coordinated stroke and controlled breathing as well as fitness. In practice freestyle means the front crawl: a face-down stroke with alternating arms and a continuous flutter kick. It is the fastest of the competitive strokes and the one most swimmers spend most of their pool time on.
The water supports the body, so freestyle trains the heart and lungs with no landing impact. That makes it a useful conditioning option for clients whose knees, hips or feet do not tolerate running, and the effort scales easily. Slow recreational laps are moderate work, while fast continuous laps are vigorous. A review of controlled swim-training trials in non-competitive swimmers found that pool swimming raised maximal oxygen uptake by about 6 mL/kg/min more than no training, along with modest drops in body mass and body fat.
Unlike running or cycling, freestyle is driven mainly by the upper body. The latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major pull the body past the hand, the deltoids lift the arm out of the water and place it for the next stroke, and the serratus anterior and upper back muscles keep the shoulder blades moving with the arm. The trunk rolls from side to side to link the arms and legs, and the flutter kick, driven mostly from the hips, keeps the legs high and adds propulsion. A slow two-beat kick is the more economical choice for longer swims, while a six-beat kick gives more drive and is typical of sprinting.
Freestyle suits anyone who is already comfortable swimming in deep water. Breathing is usually what limits a newer swimmer, so short lengths with rest between them are a better starting point than struggling through long swims. Kickboard kicking and swimming with fins help a client learn to keep the hips up before adding full distance. Non-swimmers need lessons first, and the Rowing Machine is a low-impact, whole-body cardio option on land.
Muscles Worked
- Latissimus Dorsi
- Primary
- Pectoralis Major
- Primary
- Deltoid
- High
- External Oblique
- Medium
- Gluteus Maximus
- Medium
- Rectus Femoris
- Medium
- Rhomboid Major
- Medium
- Upper Trapezius
- Medium
Instructions
- Push off the wall face down with both arms stretched forward and your body long and flat near the surface.
- Keep your face in the water, eyes on the pool floor just ahead, and your neck in line with your spine.
- Kick continuously from the hips with your legs nearly straight, knees soft and toes pointed, keeping the kick small and mostly underwater.
- Reach one hand into the water in front of its own shoulder, fingertips first, and extend that arm forward.
- Bend the elbow and press your hand and forearm back under your body toward your hip, keeping the elbow higher than the hand.
- As the hand passes your hip, lift the elbow out of the water and swing the relaxed arm forward over the surface to the next entry.
- Alternate arms so one pulls while the other recovers, and let your body roll from side to side with each stroke.
- To breathe, turn your head to the side of the recovering arm as your body rolls, inhale through your mouth, then turn your face back into the water.
- Exhale steadily through your nose and mouth while your face is down, so you are ready to inhale on the next turn.
- Breathe every two or three strokes, and rest at the wall whenever your breathing or stroke starts to fall apart.
Common Mistakes
Lifting the head to breathe
Raising the head forward instead of turning it to the side drops the hips and legs, adds drag and makes each breath harder to take.
Holding the breath
Keeping air in while the face is down leaves too little time to both exhale and inhale on the turn, so breathlessness builds within a few lengths.
Crossing the center line
Letting the hand enter in front of the head or across the body makes the body snake side to side and puts the shoulder in an awkward position at entry.
Dropping the elbow in the pull
Pulling with the elbow sunk below the hand pushes water down instead of back and loses the help of the large back and chest muscles.
Kicking from the knees
Big bent-knee kicks that break the surface add drag and tire the legs without adding much speed.
Swimming flat
Staying flat instead of rolling with each stroke makes the arm recovery tight at the shoulder and turning to breathe more difficult.
Injuries
Swimming (Freestyle) is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. There is no impact and no external load, so most problems come from repeating the same overhead stroke too many times rather than from a single bad rep. The shoulder takes most of that repetition, which is why shoulder pain is the most common complaint among competitive swimmers, who swim the most volume. The neck and lower back can also get sore when the head is lifted forward to breathe instead of rotated to the side.
Build distance gradually instead of jumping to long swims, warm up with a few easy lengths, and break sets into shorter swims with rest when technique starts to slip. Keep each hand entering in front of its own shoulder rather than across the center line, and roll the body with each stroke so the arm recovers without forcing the shoulder. Land work for the rotator cuff and shoulder blade muscles, such as the Band Face Pull and Dumbbell Side-Lying Shoulder External Rotation, is a common part of a swimmer's training.
To make a session easier, use a kickboard for kicking lengths, add fins, swim single lengths with rest, or lower the pace. To progress, lengthen the continuous swims, shorten the rest or add faster intervals. Swim where a lifeguard or another person is present, especially in deep or open water.
Stop if you feel a sharp or pinching pain in the shoulder at hand entry or during the pull, pain that lingers after the session, chest pain, dizziness, or breathlessness that does not settle when you rest at the wall.
- Primary Focus
- Cardio
- Equipment
- Body weight
- Modality
- Cardio
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Alternative Exercises
Other Names for the Swimming (Freestyle)
The Swimming (Freestyle) is also known as:
- Front Crawl
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Is freestyle the same as front crawl?
In practice, yes. Freestyle is a race in which any stroke is allowed, and nearly every swimmer chooses the front crawl because it is the fastest, so the two names are used interchangeably.
- Q: Should I breathe to one side or both sides?
Breathing every third stroke alternates sides and helps keep the stroke even, which makes it the usual starting point. Breathing every second stroke to one side is fine when working hard, as long as the stroke stays balanced and you can comfortably breathe to either side.
- Q: How should I log a freestyle swim?
Record the total time and distance, using the pool length to count lengths. Pace per 100 meters or yards is the simplest number to compare between sessions, as long as rest breaks are handled the same way each time.
- Q: How hard a workout is freestyle swimming?
It depends on pace. Slow recreational laps are moderate effort, while fast, continuous laps are vigorous work, so the same stroke can serve as an easy recovery session or a hard conditioning set.
- Q: Does swimming freestyle strengthen your bones?
Not much on its own. A review comparing swimmers with non-athletes found similar bone density at the lower spine and hip, so clients who want to build bone should pair swimming with strength training or impact work on land.
- Q: Can I swim freestyle if running hurts my joints?
Usually, yes. The water supports your body weight and there is no landing impact, so freestyle is often comfortable for clients whose knees or hips flare up with running, though a sore shoulder may need less volume or kickboard work instead.