Does Swimming Build Muscle?

The beauty of any form of training is that over time, your capacity for the work increases. “Practice makes perfect” can refer not only to your ability to play a piano sonata mistake-free but can also refer to your skills in executing a flawless 200-meter freestyle swim race.

It all comes back to muscle memory, and with swimming, building muscle memory—as well as strengthening the muscles themselves to improve strength, speed, and endurance—is the central physical aspect of the sport.

Muscle Engagement

Any physical activity, when engaged in consistently, can build muscle. That includes swimming.

But a key selling point of swimming that sets it apart from other forms of exercise that also build muscle is that swimming engages all the major muscle groups throughout the body in a low-impact way. This means you can build strength and stamina without putting excessive stress on the joints, such as can occur with weight-bearing activities such as running.

From head to toe, swimming works your muscles in ways you may not be fully able to access them on land and can vastly improve your strength, if not muscle size; you may not “bulk up” when using swimming as your primary training protocol, but your muscle tone and strength will increase.

These gains tend to be concentrated in several muscles in the upper body, including the:

• Latissimus dorsi
• Deltoids
• Pectorals
• Triceps
• Biceps

The primary lower body muscles that are engaged in swimming include:

• Glutes
• Quadriceps
• Hamstrings
• Calves

The core muscles—including the abdominals, obliques, and the various muscles in the lower back—provide much of the thrust and balance in swimming, and as such are critical to the proper execution of any of the competitive swimming strokes. Building the strength and capacity of these muscles will make you stronger and fitter while also making you a faster swimmer.

Many of the muscles on these lists are important not only to improving as a swimmer but also to aging well. Muscle loss occurs as a natural consequence of aging, but engaging in regular physical activities such as swimming can help delay or offset at least some of that degenerative process and can keep you more mobile and independent well into your golden years. That alone is a good enough reason to keep getting to the pool each morning for Masters workout.

How to Optimize Muscle Building Through Swimming
Any kind of physical activity can help with muscle building, and to maximize this process with swimming, concentrate on the following tips:

• Make a master plan. Consider working with a coach or trainer to develop a training program that will support your specific aims and goals. This means looking at not only your swim workouts but also other training efforts outside of the pool. Making a smart master plan can help prevent injury and burnout and keep you in the sport for the long haul.
• Ramp up slowly. As with any new approach to working out, it’s important to ease into it to give your body time to adjust. A good general guideline is to increase distance by no more than 10% per week as you progressively build workout duration and frequency. 
• Focus on technique and proper form to maximize muscle activation. A clear focus on technique ensures you’re employing the right muscles at the right time. This will help build up the muscles that are most relied upon in swimming. Even just a few sessions with a Masters coach can help you determine whether your technique is sound or if you need to make some adjustments to get stronger.
• Mix it up. Incorporate interval training and drills with varying strokes and intensities to keep things interesting and to keep your body guessing. Masters swimming workouts are typically structured as interval-based workouts that include a range of drills and strokes all designed to increase fitness and swimming skill. Such workouts are great for building cardiovascular capacity, but they also build strength via the gentle resistance of the water against your working muscles.
• Add toys. Adding training equipment, such as paddles or fins, can increase the level of resistance and may help boost muscle and strength gains but be careful not to overdo it.
• Get consistent. The more consistent you are about training, the more likely you’ll be able to incrementally build upon gains made in previous sessions.
• Get out of the pool. Head to the weight room and adopt a cross-training program with targeted resistance and strength training exercises designed for swimmers.
• Eat right. Consume adequate protein for muscle repair and growth and ensure sufficient calorie intake to fuel workouts and recovery. 
• Consider supplements. Talk with your health care provider or a sports nutritionist about whether supplementing certain nutrients, such as creatine, could help you build more muscle.  
• Rest right. Prioritize quality sleep for optimal muscle recovery. Your muscles can’t grow if you don’t give them adequate time to rest and repair. Getting enough rest and high-quality sleep only becomes more important as you age—sometimes less really is more when it comes to working out.
• Stay well hydrated. Water is life and is a key component of any training regimen.

Follow these tips and see just how strong a swimmer you can become in short order.