How to Train With Swim Fins

Select the swim fins. Swimming fins come in varying lengths from Zoomers, which are just barely larger than your foot, to swim fins we are all familiar with seeing on kids feet at the local YMCA during free swim. If you are new to training using fins select a standard length fin, such as those on kids feet during open swim pictured above.

Wear the fins. When in the water slip your fins on your feet while your feet and the fins are wet. Some fins will cause your feet to cramp since you will be using muscles in your feet that you are not used to using. Other fin hazards include blisters on the tops of your toes where your toes are exposed. Rub Vaseline on this part of your toe to minimize blisters.

Kick with fins. With fins you will propel through the water much faster. It is important to remember technique and use your legs accordingly. See "How to Kick While Swimming Freestyle."

Use fins during kicking sets. During the kick set, slip on fins. Keep your rest interval consistent to what it would be without fins. You can use fins with a kickboard. This will focus the workout primarily on your legs. Using fins this way will increase ankle flexibility and leg muscle strength. Alternate kicking freestyle and backstroke with fins to build uniform leg muscle strength.

Use fins for core strength. One of the biggest advantages to using fins is the ability to tailor the workout to build core strength while also building leg strength. Without a kickboard use fins to do the butterfly kick. For best results, put your arms above your head and kick fly while totally submerged underwater. Experiment kicking on one side and then the other as well as kicking fly on your back and on your stomach. Each of these work a slightly different part of your core. Chances are that your core muscles will fatigue more quickly than your legs.

Use fins to develop stroke technique. Because our legs are the most powerful muscles used while swimming a set of fins can help develop stroke technique by decreasing the effort of the legs to focus just on the arms. This is especially helpful with butterfly stroke because the fins will help to propel you forward more easily, your arms will not fatigue as quickly, enabling you to develop your breathing pattern for the butterfly stroke.

Use fins to develop speed. Just as in running it is important to train your body for speed so that your body knows what it feels like to move fast. With running this is accomplished by running downhill, which speeds up leg turnover. This is similar by using swimming fins, causing arm turnover to increase. Besides, it is fun to pretend you're Janet Evans cruising through the water at incredible speeds as you leave the competition in the wake.