Water Treatment

Most people learn to swim at an early age, but never truly improve their stroke after that. The good news is it’s easier than you think if you actually focus on what you’re doing in the water. “Swimming is just like any other discipline,” says the appropriately named Matt Wetter, a fitness manager at the Auburn, Washington 24 Hour Fitness. “You have to go in with your brain turned on and a goal in mind. If you have no idea what you’re aiming for beyond the wall at the far side of the pool, you won’t see results.” Looking to squeeze a little more progress out of your own flipper time? Check out Wetter’s wet and dry prescriptions for the perfect pool program.

In the Water
“The best Olympic swimmers make freestyle look effortless because they’re extremely focused on not getting in their own way,” says Wetter. Most swimmers are only a few key changes away from adding more glide and speed without any more effort. Run through this checklist in your head the next time you take to the lanes:

The Head
“You’ve got to be comfortable with your face submerged,” says Wetter. Swimming with your head out of the water causes your hips to shift downward, creating more resistance in the water and slowing you down. Need to practice? Grab a kickboard, and kick with your face submerged, so that your nose is pointing toward the bottom of the pool.

The Chest
The torso is the one part of the body you want to allow to sink, says Wetter. Imagine that your weight is pooled in your chest; the rest of your body will stay closer to the surface.

The Arms
“Focus on alternating your breaths from side to side to avoid developing an inefficient windmill arm movement on the side you always breathe on,” says Wetter. And underwater, let your arms move water in an s-shape, moving across your chest then back to your same-side hip. “If you pull water in only one direction—say, straight down the center of your body from your head to your thighs—you’ll be moving water that’s already moving.”

The Legs
“Kick from your hips, not your knees,” says Wetter. You’ll generate more power and reinforce the rhythm of your stroke by churning your hips back and forth.

On Dry Land
Looking to boost your swim power out of the pool? Try these two strengthening and stretching moves. The first will help build every upper-body muscle you use in the pool, and the second will help that newly pumped upper-bod stay loose and injury-free.

Standing cobra resistance-band pulldown Stand with your feet a little more than shoulder-width apart. With both hands gripping a resistance band over your head, contract your shoulder blades, and pull the band down toward your hips, keeping your arms stiff. Draw in your belly button and keep your hips steady. Do two sets of 10.

Windmills Six-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps doesn’t twirl his arms in circles before a race because he likes helicopters. The rotator cuff (a group of four tendons that stabilize the shoulder joint; each tendon hooks up to a muscle that moves the shoulder in a specific direction) is a focal point of lap swimming, since it allows the shoulder to rotate. Loosen up the tendons by swinging your right arm forward and in circles for 15 to 30 seconds, then switch direction and swing the same arm backward for 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat using your left arm.