Lower back exercise
SwimmingHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Lower back, Glutes
- Also works
- Upper back, Rear delts
- Equipment
- Yoga mat
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Swimming?
- Lie face down with your arms straight overhead and your legs long, toes pointed.
- Draw your belly in and lengthen to lift your chest, arms and legs off the mat.
- Flutter your right arm and left leg up as your left arm and right leg lower.
- Keep switching in small, quick beats, breathing in for five and out for five.
- Do 2–3 rounds, then rest in child's pose.
Cues
- Reach long through your fingers and toes.
- Neck long, eyes down.
- Small, quick beats.
Common mistakes
- Lifting too high: length matters more than height.
- Cranking the neck: keep your gaze on the mat a little ahead.
- Holding your breath: count the beats with your breath.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
The classical mat Swimming (Joseph Pilates, Return to Life; Balanced Body mat manual): face down, chest, arms and legs lifted, the opposite arm and leg beating up and down in small quick flutters.
Starting position
Face down, arms straight overhead a little wider than the shoulders, legs straight and together, toes pointed.
The movement
Lengthen and lift the chest, arms and legs off the mat, belly drawn in and the pubic bone pressing down. Flutter the right arm and left leg up as the left arm and right leg lower, then swap, in small quick beats, breathing in for five and out for five.
Breathing
In for five beats, out for five.
Tempo
Six beats in 3 s (three right-left cycles). Real practice: 2–3 rounds of ten beats (in for five, out for five).
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Pelvis on the mat and still (0.0 cm); spine extended 14°, the chest 18–20 cm up; neck long, gaze down and a little ahead.
- Arms straight (elbows 10°), hands 25–36 cm up through the beats.
- Legs straight (knees 4–5°), ankles 16 cm apart, toes pointed, lifted 9° (ankles 11–29 cm up through the beats), knees off the mat.
- Beats: ±6° at the shoulders and hips, opposite arm and leg together.
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Swimming is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- J. Pilates and W. J. Miller, Return to Life through Contrology (1945), "Swimming".
- Balanced Body, Pilates Mat instructor manual
