What is the Best Swimming Stroke for Toning?

What is the best swimming stroke for toning your abs? People will always have different reasons for swimming.

For some, it is to enjoy the overall daily benefits of swimming. These benefits include cardio, a full-body workout targeting different muscle groups, and, for others, swimming, which is therapeutic.

A great many other people like to swim to tone their muscles and, you know, tighten the skin some more, especially after losing weight.

If you are swimming to tone your abs, you should not embark on it blindly. It is best to know the best swimming stroke to help you in that regard.

So, what swim stroke is best for toning the abs? The butterfly stroke is the best swimming technique for losing belly fat. To swim with this technique, you keep your face down and thrust both arms out and in front of you, pulling the water towards you and making almost complete circular motions. Meanwhile, the legs move in an up-and-down motion.

Just remember that all strokes will help you to sculpt the abs, because the strength to power those moves comes from the core.

The abs muscles are part of what we refer to as the core muscles. Therefore, whatever swimming stroke you use, your abs are going to get a serious tone.

How do I tone my abs while swimming?

Swimming generally is not really going to tone your abs fast enough. If you really want to target the abs, you will have to be very deliberate about it.

First, get it right in your mind; abs are hard to sculpt

In this blog, we are not in the business of being politically correct. We say it as it is, and the truth is that abs are so hard to tone!

If you have read our article on does swimming lose belly fat? You will remember that we said it was hard to target the belly while swimming. Taking regular dips in the pool will help you lose weight as a whole.

If you aim to tone those abs by swimming, you will have to do a few things, which are as follows:

• Swim using the best stroke that can fully engage the core
• Swim harder, longer and more often
• Engage in some swimming exercises that can help you burn belly fat
• Keep to a healthy lifestyle daily like diet, working out and so on

The good thing is that while swimming targets the entire body, it will help you shed fat in all body areas, including the belly.

If you are fat, you will lose belly fat fast. However, after burning most of the fat, you will hit a plateau stage since muscle is harder to burn.

Swim with the butterfly stroke

The butterfly stroke is one of the hardest to master when swimming. However, the good thing is that it is one of the most engaging swim strokes.

When you swim using this technique, you will be forced to engage your torso fully, which in turn will engage the muscles related to the core.

First, you have to stay balanced in the water as you do the circular moves with your arms and the up-and-down kicking with your legs.

Secondly, you are going to have to “propel” your torso out of the water, well, not exactly out of the water, but that is the attempt. You will have to engage the core fully to propel your core so that you can move forward with your swim.

Hands-down, the butterfly is the one stroke that is going to give you the biggest core engagement when swimming.

If you are yet to learn how to swim with this technique, you can try the others since they will also help. However, they will take longer.

In case you are wondering just how many calories you can burn with the butterfly swimming stroke, you can burn between 400 and 500 calories swimming for just 30 minutes.

Try freestyle swimming stroke

When it comes to burning calories, the freestyle swimming stroke comes second to the butterfly one.

In 30 minutes of swimming using this stroke, you can burn up to 300 calories. You could actually burn more than 300 calories when you swim harder and faster.

Also, swimming in this style is going to tone your shoulders. In another article, we saw why swimmers have broad shoulders.

When you swim using this style, you have to swim fast. It is the fastest swimming style. When you swim faster, you work harder, so your body burns more calories.

Eat a snack, such as a banana or a protein bar, before swimming in the morning. That way, your body will have to burn the reserves of fat to get the energy that it needs to power your swim.

The freestyle swimming technique is also great for toning the buttocks and the shoulders. This is also not a hard style to execute.

In this style, the elbow goes above your hand, and then you pull your arm forward while you roll your body to the side. To finish the move, your shoulder blades roll back, and then you repeat.

The most important thing to remember is that, as the name suggests, with this style, you are free to swim using any style you want.

You can choose to use the front crawl, dog paddle, butterfly, breaststroke, and others. As long as you are not swimming in a competition, you can choose the most appropriate style.

Using backstroke to burn belly fat

Using the backstroke swim stroke can also burn you a good number of calories. In 30 minutes of swimming backstroke, you can burn up to 250 calories.

Since all five basic styles of swimming impact the body in different ways, it is best to vary your swimming strokes from time to time.

When swimming using the backstroke method, the most important thing is to keep a straight posture in the water.

This style is very good for toning the legs, shoulders, arms, and buttocks. However, if you need to lose weight, your body loses weight as a whole.

It might not be great for abs, but it helps. The breaststroke method is a slow calorie burner, so you might want to avoid it if you want to concentrate on toning the abdomen. However, try it from time to time because it has its benefits too.

FAQ: What is the best swimming stroke for toning your abs?

By now, you know that the butterfly stroke is a superb fat burner and the most core-engaging swimming style. However, there is more to toning the abs with swimming than just knowing the right style. These frequently asked questions might help you:

Does swimming give you a flat stomach?

If swimming can help you tone your abs, it can definitely give you a flat stomach by burning belly fat. Swimming using the butterfly method for 30 minutes can help your body burn 400 to 500 calories.

If you are fat, you will record fast weight loss at first, but you also have to control what you eat. As soon as most of the fat is burned, the progress plateaus a bit.

Can you get toned abs from swimming?

Consistent swimming using techniques that target the core muscles helps your abs pop. If you want this to be fast, work harder and do on-land exercises that can help burn all the belly fat. Simple exercises, such as sit-ups, can help a great deal with this.

How long does it take for swimming to tone your body?

It can take you six, eight, or ten weeks, depending on your effort. Swimming for 30 minutes using the butterfly stroke can help your body burn 450 calories.

If you swim for 30 minutes five days a week, you can burn more than 3000 calories. Of course, you also need to eat more nutritious food with fewer calories so that you can compel your body to burn fat for energy.

Will swimming 3 times a week tone me up?

Swimming three times in a week is going to help you build your strength so that you can swim longer and harder.

However, to start seeing the toning results of swimming, you will need to consistently spend time in the pool for about 6 to 8 weeks.

Conclusion

What is the best swimming stroke for toning your abs? This is definitely the butterfly stroke because it engages the core muscles the most.

However, you should also swim using the other strokes because they too have many benefits. It takes more than just swimming to tone your muscles.

Swimming in the ocean can help you lose more weight because the ocean waves create more resistance. Thus, if there is a sea, lake, or ocean nearby, you can take your dips there regularly, at least for 6 weeks.

Be patient with yourself, because some bodies take time to burn fat. Others work super fast. If you do not see the results you expected after six weeks of consistent swimming, continue with your regimen. Watch your diet, too.

The most vital thing to tone your body with swimming is consistency. Stay true to the course for the first 8 weeks, by swimming for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 or more days a week.