How To Get A Swimmer’s Body – Why it is NOT about the swimming!
As a personal trainer and nutritional coach I will always ask a new client what their goals are. A lot of men do not want the massive bulk of a body builder and prefer the more athletic look of a male swimmer.
I would define a swimmer's body as the classic V-shape back, broad shoulders, defined abdominals and an overall toned shape. A lot of swimmers do not have the "classic look" as their body fat percentage is too high (for insulation and buoyancy in the water). My clients want the attractive athletic shape of a swimmer's body rather than a body for swimming faster. So how do you get a swimmer's body?
Do you just swim a lot?
If you are a young teenager and genetically gifted, then maybe you can get a swimmer's body shape just from swimming. Their shape will have developed as the testosterone was pumping through their body in their formative early teenage years. Even then, male professional swimmers spend 4 – 6 hours a day in the pool plus do other resistance training (weights) and cardiovascular training. This is because swimming only develops the pull muscles.
With any stroke you pull yourself through the water which does not develop the push muscles. Muscles want to grow in pairs - bicep and tricep; otherwise the muscle growth will plateau quite quickly as this is your body's natural way of protecting against imbalances and injuries. Young male professional swimmers will ensure they develop their push muscles with weight training.
What if you are over 18?
Shape advancement depends on challenging the muscles with enough resistance to make the muscles grow back bigger. Unless you are a young teenager doing hours each day in the pool, you will only get limited muscle growth from swimming as you need to increase the resistance to further stimulate growth. Using the right type of exercises you can increase muscle in key areas using resistance training (weights). If you are over 18, to get the swimmer's body shape your primary means of adding muscle should be through weight training.
Get a swimmer's body – not a good body for swimming
To reveal the muscle definition of the classic swimmers body shape you must follow the right nutritional principals and reduce the covering layer of subcutaneous fat with cardiovascular exercise. Swimming is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercises you can do (but you can choose other types of cardiovascular exercises and still get the swimmer's body shape!).
How to get a swimmer's body is as simple as increasing muscle and reducing fat. But this must be taken a step further if you want the "high level of muscle tone with a lack of bulk" of an athletic swimmer as opposed to just being muscle bound. You must have a clear goal of what overall shape you are aiming for as it is the proportions of toned muscle that makes the attractive shape of the swimmer's body.
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I would define a swimmer's body as the classic V-shape back, broad shoulders, defined abdominals and an overall toned shape. A lot of swimmers do not have the "classic look" as their body fat percentage is too high (for insulation and buoyancy in the water). My clients want the attractive athletic shape of a swimmer's body rather than a body for swimming faster. So how do you get a swimmer's body?
Do you just swim a lot?
If you are a young teenager and genetically gifted, then maybe you can get a swimmer's body shape just from swimming. Their shape will have developed as the testosterone was pumping through their body in their formative early teenage years. Even then, male professional swimmers spend 4 – 6 hours a day in the pool plus do other resistance training (weights) and cardiovascular training. This is because swimming only develops the pull muscles.
With any stroke you pull yourself through the water which does not develop the push muscles. Muscles want to grow in pairs - bicep and tricep; otherwise the muscle growth will plateau quite quickly as this is your body's natural way of protecting against imbalances and injuries. Young male professional swimmers will ensure they develop their push muscles with weight training.
What if you are over 18?
Shape advancement depends on challenging the muscles with enough resistance to make the muscles grow back bigger. Unless you are a young teenager doing hours each day in the pool, you will only get limited muscle growth from swimming as you need to increase the resistance to further stimulate growth. Using the right type of exercises you can increase muscle in key areas using resistance training (weights). If you are over 18, to get the swimmer's body shape your primary means of adding muscle should be through weight training.
Get a swimmer's body – not a good body for swimming
To reveal the muscle definition of the classic swimmers body shape you must follow the right nutritional principals and reduce the covering layer of subcutaneous fat with cardiovascular exercise. Swimming is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercises you can do (but you can choose other types of cardiovascular exercises and still get the swimmer's body shape!).
How to get a swimmer's body is as simple as increasing muscle and reducing fat. But this must be taken a step further if you want the "high level of muscle tone with a lack of bulk" of an athletic swimmer as opposed to just being muscle bound. You must have a clear goal of what overall shape you are aiming for as it is the proportions of toned muscle that makes the attractive shape of the swimmer's body.
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