The Backstroke Swim is a intermediate-friendly bodyweight strength exercise that targets the lats and middle back, with the shoulders, abdominals, triceps and glutes working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesLats, Middle Back
Secondary musclesShoulders, Abs, Triceps, Glutes
EquipmentBodyweight
LevelIntermediate
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Backstroke Swim
Float face up with your body flat, ears in the water and eyes looking up.
Hold a long body line with hips near the surface and a steady flutter kick.
Enter one arm overhead with the little finger first and the palm turned out.
Roll your shoulders and hips toward the entering arm so the back muscles can pull.
Bend the elbow underwater and press the water toward your hip to finish the stroke.
Recover that arm straight over the surface as the other arm starts its pull.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Trains the lats and shoulders through a full overhead pulling range.
Keeps breathing unrestricted, so effort can be held steady for long sets.
Adds a supine stroke that balances the forward-facing strokes in a swim plan.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Swimming flat with no body roll, which loads the shoulder instead of the back.
Letting the hips sink, so the legs drag and stroke rate has to rise to compensate.
Lifting the head to look forward, which drops the hips and breaks the body line.
Crossing the entry arm past the midline, which forces the shoulder into an end-range position.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Backstroke Swim, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
