I think swimming is the best aerobic exercise, and there is no one. Especially for people with a large weight base, swimming has basically no pressure on joints, so there is no need to worry about injuries. So whenever a student asks me what aerobic exercise I choose to lose weight, I will definitely push swimming first.

People who often swim will become very compact, such as the famous swimmer Phelps.

However, some students found it ineffective after swimming for a period of time. They also asked me that many middle-aged and elderly people in the swimming pool have been swimming for many years, but their bodies are still very loose.

In fact, if you want to get a tight figure by swimming, you must reach a certain intensity when swimming. You can't swim a few hundred meters every day and become Phelps' figure.

Low-intensity aerobic training will quickly adapt to the body, and swimming too much will inevitably have no effect. And if you want to improve the intensity of swimming, you must have a certain strength foundation. Therefore, if you want to lose weight by swimming, corresponding strength training is essential. It will make you swim faster and longer, get twice the result with half the effort and improve your swimming skills.

Below I will specifically talk about the breaststroke that most people know, and how to improve their swimming skills through targeted strength training to achieve better weight loss.

As for the technical essentials of breaststroke, there is a jingle: don't move your legs, close your hands and then close your legs, extend your arms and then kick your legs, and float together for a while.

According to this formula, we divide breaststroke into three stages: paddling stage, kicking stage and streamlined floating stage. Every stage has targeted strength training movements to improve the quality of movements.

The arm stroke stage is mainly the adduction of shoulder joint and the extension of elbow joint. Strength mainly comes from the chest and back, followed by shoulders and arms. So we must first develop the strength of the chest and back.

Strength development-chest

1. table press

There is no doubt that the first choice to develop chest muscle strength is bench press. Strong chest muscle strength will make your stroke produce stronger propulsion. Action essentials: slowly lower the barbell to the chest, ensure that the forearm is vertical to the ground, and the included angle between the big arm and the trunk is 60-75 degrees, and push the barbell up to just above the shoulder.

2. Dumbbell bench press

Different from barbell bench press, dumbbell bench press needs two arms to move independently, which makes it closer to the movement of two arms when swimming in water, and this action can make the muscle strength on both sides more balanced. When doing movements, remember that dumbbells should form an A-shaped trajectory.

3.dumbbell bird

This action uses the horizontal adduction of the shoulder joint to develop the strength of the chest. This action simulates the stage of elbow adduction after paddling. When doing the action, pay attention to the slight flexion and locking of the elbow joint.

Power development-retreat

1. Barbell rowing

Barbell rowing is undoubtedly the most classic training action for back muscles. Strong back strength can help you in the second half of breaststroke. Pay attention to the whole process, keep your back straight, fully retract your shoulder blades, and don't shrug your shoulders.

pull-up

When your back has a certain strength foundation, you can carry out pull-ups and develop the strength of shoulder adduction, which can greatly enhance the arm stroke strength. Pay attention to your chest when you move. It is wrong to bow your chest.

3. High pull-down

The action mode of high-position pull-down and pull-ups is the same, but the difference is that the load of high-position pull-down can be constantly changed, instead of relying on its own gravity to pay attention to the same points as pull-ups and hold out its chest.

4. rowing with dumbbells in one arm

The independent movement of the arm is closer to the state of swimming, which can make the strength of both sides of the back more balanced. Pay attention to your movements, keep your back straight, and don't twist your torso too much.

Land paddling simulation

In addition to strength training, you can also simulate breaststroke stroke on land, which will increase the resistance and make you stroke more freely.

In the kicking stage, the strength of forward movement mainly depends on the extension and adduction of hip joint and the extension of knee joint. The main sources of strength are the hips and legs.

Strength development-lower limb squat

1. Uneven bars squat

There is no doubt that uneven bars squat is the trump card of lower limb strength training, which can fully develop the strength of hip and knee extension. Strong hip and knee strength helps breaststroke to gain more motivation when kicking. Pay attention to your movements, keep your back straight and your knees always pointed at your toes.

Squat forward

As we all know, in breaststroke, the calf should be as close to the hip as possible, and the thigh should not be too much, otherwise it will produce greater water resistance. In this process, knee extension will dominate. Therefore, the front squat with knee extension is more in line with the action requirements of breaststroke. When moving, keep your torso upright, don't lean forward, and always aim your knees at your toes.

3. Bulgaria squats with legs apart

The advantage of Bulgaria's squat is that it can make the muscle strength on both sides more balanced, and the balance of lower limb muscle strength will greatly increase your kicking efficiency. When paying attention to the action, always aim your knees at your toes.

Strength development-lower limb stretching

1. hard graph

The development of hip joint strength plays a great role in the kicking stage of breaststroke, and hard pulling is the best training action to develop hip joint strength. Keep your back straight when moving, bending over will bring great risk of injury.

sumo

In breaststroke, adductor muscles need to participate in the leg clamping stage, and sumo wrestling can develop the strength of adductor muscles well, so that your water clamping can produce stronger propulsion. Like hard pulling, sumo wrestling needs to keep its back straight and its knees always pointing to the toes.

3. Pull hard with one leg

This action is mainly used to develop the stability of unilateral hip joint, and also has a good effect on improving the imbalance of muscle strength on both sides. Pay attention to hip flexion as the leading action, and don't bend your knees too much.

Simulation of kicking leg

In addition to lower limb strength training, yoga balls can be used to simulate breaststroke leg closing exercises. The instability of yoga ball well simulates the state of people in water.

This stage is the stage where people have the least resistance in the water. If you want to swim breaststroke efficiently and effortlessly, the streamlined floating stage is very important. You will find that those who can swim for a long time will make good use of this stage to restore their physical strength. This stage requires high core stability, and the training serving this stage is mainly some core training movements.

Strength development-core

1. Plate bracket

As the most classic core training action, its value is beyond doubt. However, not everyone can do this. Plate support needs to pay attention to the backward inclination of pelvis, and collapsing will bring great pressure to the waist, which is a wrong action.

2. Abdominal chakra

When the flat support is no longer stressful for you, we can try to practice abdominal chakras, which is a good core anti-stretching training action. Pay attention to tighten the hips and abdomen when moving, push the barbell to the limit and keep it for as long as possible.

Land Simulation-Simplified

In order to simulate the streamlined floating stage in water on the highway, it is a very good choice to use bosu ball to provide an unstable environment similar to water. Lie on the Bosu ball and keep a streamlined posture as long as possible.

Finally, make a training plan to help you improve your breaststroke, so as to help you improve your breaststroke level.

All right, that's it. Let's practice. I hope everyone can get the figure they want through swimming and strength training!

Graphic /CommonStrength coach? Xie Ning, Xu Ruqi