Finning Swimming Exercises

Swimming finning exercises enable you to improve kick strength, body position and ankle flexibility. Because the surface area of fins is larger than that of your feet, they act as resistance or a form of weight training for your legs. To maximize a finning workout, you should kick with the same speed and intensity as you would while swimming without fins, maintaining the optimal six-beat kick, for example. According to Dave Salo and Scott Riewald, authors of “Complete Conditioning for Swimming,” the 'magic marker' is to kick 100 meters with a board in a 65-second period.

  1. Practicing Kicks

    • When you use fins for kicking drills, you can get a better sense of your form in the water, according to Brent Manley and Lucia Colbert, authors of “The Everything Triathlon Training Book.” Use fins with a kickboard to work on speedy turnover of your feet or rapid short kicks. For example, swim two laps, or 100 yards, and practice your flutter kick without using your arms. Another drill alternates arm strokes with kicks. Begin the drill with three freestyle strokes – left arm, right arm, left arm – and then rotate to your right side on the kickboard and kick for six counts. Turn back to your front, executing three more strokes. Rotate to your left side and kick for six counts. Repeat this sequence for 100 yards.

    Vertical Kicking

    • Vertical kicking exercises will encourage you to use correct form for the flutter kick, or kicking with the legs fully extended, the ankles relaxed and the toes pointed. Begin these exercises while wearing fins, starting in the deep end of the pool where your feet can’t touch the bottom. Position yourself vertically in the water and cross your hands over your chest. Begin kicking and focus on keeping your chin just above the water’s surface. Direct your gaze in front of you with your nose pointing forward. Avoid a forward or backward lean, aligning your pelvis directly beneath your shoulders.

    Deep Water Training

    • Finning in an L-shaped seated body position in deep water will build your core stabilizing muscles. Gently hold a kickboard in front of you for buoyancy. Sit in the deep end of the pool as if you were sitting in a car seat. Use a flutter kick to propel you forward with your back pushing against the water’s resistance. Keep your shoulders aligned directly over your hips. This drag position not only works your glutes and legs, it also strengthens the abdominals as you maintain the seated posture.

    Tips and Equipment

    • The traditional length for fins ranges from six to eight inches, according to the WaterART Fitness International website. Scuba fins tend to be longer and wider. If you’re a novice swimmer or your legs aren’t strong enough, you can use shortened fins or fins that are four to six inches long. Avoid fins that are tight or too small, which may cause muscle cramping. Perform a proper warm-up with dynamic leg stretches before undertaking finning exercises. Hydrate often.