Core · Bodyweight
Swimming
How to do the swimming, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Timed
- Movement
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Swimming builds full-body endurance, upper and lower body strength, and excellent core control. It is low-impact and activates nearly every muscle group.
- 1Engage your entire body, using your lats and shoulders for each stroke
- 2Keep your hips near the surface and flutter your legs from the hips
- 3Breathe rhythmically and rotate your body slightly with each stroke
Common mistakes
- Don't hold your breath, exhale under water and inhale quickly
- Avoid crossing your arms over your midline during strokes
- Don't let your hips sink or your legs drag
Muscles worked
The swimming works the biceps, triceps, mid chest, lats, lower back, upper abs, lower abs, quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, side delts, forearms, upper traps, and obliques.
- BicepsSupport
- TricepsSupport
- Mid ChestSupport
- LatsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- GlutesSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Side DeltsSupport
- ForearmsSupport
- Upper TrapsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
Kovo programs the swimming for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More abs & core exercises
- How to do the ab wheel rollout
- How to do the ankle tap plank
- How to do the ankle taps
- How to do the resistance band dead bugs
- How to do the resistance band pallof press
- How to do the rollout
Last reviewed April 2026.