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Treading water is basically an important swimming technique that every swimmer must learn in their initial training days. While it is commonly used by professional swimmers to rest between laps, it can be used as an individual exercise, too, mainly to boost strength, endurance, coordination, and balance.
Treading in swimming involves working against water resistance by using your limbs to stay afloat. When treading, you have to be in a vertical position and continuously move your limbs, which in turn helps you stay afloat in deep water.
This technique benefits the swimmer by strengthening their muscles and increasing their endurance to withstand pressure underwater.
What muscles does treading work?
Treading water is considered a full-body workout that targets multiple muscles at once.
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Although it primarily works on the core, including the lower back, abdominals, and hip flexors, it can target the lower body muscles as well, including the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.
Moreover, it helps strengthen the shoulders, chest, back, and arms as you use these muscles to propel your body to stay afloat in the water.
Is treading water a good exercise?
Yes, treading in swimming is an effective exercise that offers plenty of health benefits. As cardio, it can reduce body fat and help burn calories and it's also gentle on the knees and joints when compared to other exercises, which makes it an ideal choice for people with joint stiffness, pain, and mobility issues.
What are the benefits of treading water?
Regular practice of this exercise helps you gain confidence and progresses you to master more advanced swimming techniques.
Below we have listed some of the most notable benefits of treading water:
1) It helps burn calories
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, treading water is an effective way to burn calories and lose weight. Treading at a moderate pace can help burn about 3.5 to 7 kcal per minute and treading at a vigorous pace can burn more than 7 kcal per minute.
While the actual rate of burning calories differs from one person to another, treading is in fact, a healthy and a very productive workout to manage weight.
2) It is a low-impact exercise
Another great benefit of treading water is that it’s a low-intense exercise that’s just perfect to get a full-body workout without putting too much stress on your joints. If you are someone with painful or stiff joints, treading in swimming can be an ideal way to achieve a full-body workout that too without worsening your condition.
3) Treading water is good for posture
Practicing this technique requires you to keep your body straight for an extended period of time, which in turn, forces your spine to work hard to maintain that upright position. In addition to the spine, your back, torso, and abdomen also get worked on to provide stability to your body.
4) It helps build core strength
If you want to develop your core strength and stability, water-treading can be a perfect option. The bending of the legs during the treading motion targets the abdominal muscles and helps strengthen the core.
Additionally, trying to maintain your body in an upright position against water resistance also targets the core muscles and helps boost their stability and strength.
5) It helps increase muscular endurance
Since water treading is a moderately intense exercise, you can easily practice it for a longer period of time. This in return will help build muscular endurance and stamina and allow you to workout for even longer.
How long should you practice water treading?
As a beginner, you must start with a few minutes of treading and slowly increase the duration over time. If you want an intense workout, however, aim for treading for about 20 minutes and use different movements and techniques to challenge your muscles even more.
For example, start with a standard treading, and then alternate between your feet and upper body or simply lift both your legs at a time. You can also do dog-paddling on the side or rotate your arms to give yourself an efficient upper-body workout.
If 20 minutes seems too exhausting, divide it into shorter periods and don’t forget to take breaks in between.
Start slowly and stop immediately if you feel severe exhaustion or experience any muscle pain.
