Swim Strokes to Try in San Diego Swim Spas

Swim spas San Diego are great alternatives to full-size swimming pools. They’re compact and take up far less space, they’re less expensive, and they have dozens of different uses, from relaxing to exercising to relieving muscle pain. Of course, one of the best uses for a swim spa involves a key feature of this unit: a continuous current of water lets one swim against it and get a good workout for practically the entire body, including arms, back, shoulders, legs, and especially lung capacity.

One Swimming Workout for Swim Spas in San Diego

Warming Up: Freestyle Swimming

Freestyle swimming, also called the front crawl or the Australian crawl, is a great way to warm up the body and get ready for more vigorous movement. Keeping the swim spa at a slower current also helps one ease into the workout.

Freestyle swimming is performed by moving the arms and legs in any manner that feels comfortable in order to propel forward. Generally, one arm is raised above the water, scooping in for the next stroke, while the other pushes. The legs can scissor-kick or dolphin-kick, or even kick intermittently.

Arms and Legs: Breaststroke

The breaststroke is a basic swim stroke that involves moving the arms and legs in concert while keeping the chest stationery. The arms and legs do all the work. This stroke lets the swimmer focus on technique and form, but isn’t too complicated to pull off.

The breaststroke will also work the heart and lungs to a healthy degree, as part of the stroke involves plunging underwater, so swimmers will need the proper lung capacity to hold their breath while going under, and then taking a breath when surfacing.

Shoulders: Butterfly Stroke

The butterfly stroke is more vigorous than either the front crawl or the breaststroke, and it is a good exercise for the shoulders, as the arms are the main propeller. However, some people may need to work up to doing a full butterfly stroke for an extended length of time.

In these instances, beginners can alternate their butterfly stroke with freestyle swimming to prevent fatiguing too fast. Once they get more comfortable with this stroke, they can work on swimming with it for longer and longer periods.

The butterfly stroke session should be the shortest while exercising in the swim spa, since it’s so taxing on the shoulders.

Cool Down: Backstroke

For the final leg of the workout, a cool down will help gradually lower the heartrate and wind the body down. The backstroke is the perfect low-impact exercise for this final part, as it is very similar to the freestyle or front crawl, except it is performed on the back.

Keeping the nose above the water and remembering to breathe regularly, swimmers should lay on their backs and float in the current, using their arms and legs to keep themselves moving in whichever way is most comfortable. Some people prefer to kick intermittently while mainly using their arms; others prefer the opposite way.

Once the cool down is complete, swimmers can relax in their San Diego swim spas.