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New triathletes are often told that need to “save their legs” in the swim to be ready for the bike and run. The reasoning is that the kick provides a very small percentage of total propulsion in the water, so conserving energy there will help later on in the race. While not kicking at all is a bad strategy (see The Four Functions Of Your Swim Kick on Triathlete.com), I can see where taking it easy in this department will help with the rest of the triathlon, especially with longer distances.

Far too often, however, triathletes believe that because they should hold back a little on the kick during a race, there is no reason to work on it in training. I completely disagree. Here’s why.

Stronger Legs

Kick training strengthens your legs. Not only that, but it helps build complementary muscles not used as much during cycling and running. If you’re “saving your legs” in training, your legs will be weaker than they could be for the other events on race day. Since I began swimming, my stronger legs have carried me to running PRs in 5k, half marathon, and marathon (see my post on Six Reasons Every Runner Should Learn to Swim).

Efficiency

When I jumped in the pool for my adult learn to swim class several months before my first triathlon, the instructor asked me to demonstrate my kick. After a few good pointers on how to do it, I dipped my head into the water and began kicking. Even as a beginner, there was one issue I noticed right off the bat—I was going backward. I suddenly realized why I’d been such a slow swimmer (or dog paddler) my whole life. With several weeks of hard work, I got myself kicking in the right direction. I don’t exert any more effort with my kick now than I did back then. The difference is, it actually helps propel me through the water instead of driving me back. Perfecting your kick technique in training will make you more efficient when racing, thus actually helping to save your legs for the bike and run.

Cross Training Effect

After suffering through the Post Marathon Marathon, a couple of days later, I hobbled to the pool and went for a swim. I found that kicking my legs loosened them up and reduced overall soreness, which helped immensely with the recovery. Since I have started swimming regularly, I’ve had far fewer running injuries than I did previously. Kicking is excellent cross training for runners.

So, if you really want to “save your legs”, be sure and practice your kick in training. Do you agree? Let me know in the comments.