Best stroke to swim?

My doc recommended the breast stroke when I indicated that I exercised in the pool. She said it was the best stroke because you were using my energy lifting your body out of the water during each stroke. Right now I'm more of a doggie paddle swimmer than anything though.

What are your long term goals? The consensus is that Crawl burns the most calories, and its also the best for you from a posture/ injury perspective (breast stroke isn't great if you have back problems): its also the recommended stroke for Triathlons as its predominantly arm based as oppose to breast stroke which is leg based - as are running and cycling.

On the other hand - I suck at crawl and so I cant do as many lengths or as long a swim as I can doing breast stroke.

Also - if you do it right back stroke is as good from a fitness & posture perspective (assuming you do it right) - its just that I crash into other people when I do it

I do laps of many strokes (not fly), breast, free, back, side, inverted back and I practice my breathing. I also tread water for 15 minutes just for fun... I think crawl is my favorite to 'feel' the work out and breathing practice. Breast is the easiest because I 'thick' in the leg muscle area. I usually do 5 to 10 laps each depending on if it is my only workout.

You should do what is comfortable for you, work on breathing well because that will improve your swimming so much and increase your enjoyment. Breast is an easy one to start generally, but side stroke can be nice too!

I was a competitive swimmer all the way until I went to college, and am actually looking at taking it back up as my cardio exercise.

If you're swimming breast stroke correctly its actully NOT all legs, most of your momentum and power should come from you're core. Its a combination of a butterfly kick with a frog kick, but thats really more advanced than most people get when they swim it. It is however the most gentle on joints, especially if you have should problems.

Basic free style (crawl as everyone else is calling it I think?) is a good whole body workout, but does put some strain on the shoulders and if you aren't able to do side breathing can be really difficult.

Backstroke... I hate it so I avoid it at all costs, but unless you're really good at it or able to have your own lane, I would say avoid it, oh and you need to know your turns and such, or else you'll nail your head in the wall, which isn't fun. (I don't avoid this stroke because its hard, I avoid it because I've popped my shoulder out of joint while swimming it 3 different times in races)

Butterfly - probably the best whole body workout, however not really realistic to swim for extended periods of time, really rough on the shoulders, and takes a LOT of upper body/core strength to pull yourself out of the water.

All swimming is ultimately a full body workout, and if you want to switch it up, you can always add in just kicks and just arms to your routine, depending on your swimming ability. You can probably google swimming workouts

See if there is a Masters Swimming program in your area. If you join a club, you basically get an exercise group and a coach - in some cases for free. The club I swim in has two practices a week and is no additional charge over the fee I pay to use the fitness center.

US Masters Swimming has a website with more information, but not all clubs are listed, so you may just ask around.

I typically do free-breast-free-breast-back as a rotation and spread that out over 25-45 laps (up and back) in a 25 yard pool. It keeps me from getting bored and it helps me keep track of my lap count. Sometimes I do mostly breast as it is the highest calorie burner according to the exercise tracker on here.