It is very easy to think that plowing up and down a pool is the be-all-and-end-al of finswimming training. However, there are other key areas of training that a finswimmer has to take into account. The YMCA () states that total fitness can be considered as a mixture of the following:

• Cardiovascular fitness,
• Muscular strength,
• Muscular endurance,
• Flexibitiy,
• Motor fitness.

 Training in a pool and stretching before a session does cover most of the aspects of this list. However, each section can be enhanced by sessions outside of a swimming pool (usually referred to as "dry-side training"). Before each one of these areas is analysed in depth, below, here are a few help points to help you along the way:

• Cardiovascular fitness (sometimes called "base fitness" or "Level 1 training") can be carried out outside of a pool. If pool time is not easy to get hold of, then run, get on a bicycle or find another sport to help with this,
• Muscular strength (sometimes just called "strength training") must be mostly specific but with some supportive material as well (like doing some upper body strength to support the shoulders),
• Muscular endurance (usually included in "strength training") is key to finswimming training in a gym - a key exercise is squats (lots of squats) and lots of core strengh (the nasty version core stability),
• Flexibiity,  termed "mobility" in sports science, again, is an absolutly vital point of training. Shoulder and ankle flexibility are essential for a finswimmer. Find a good, supportive gym instructor and talk to them about developmental flexibility,
• Motor fitness (also called "motor skills") includes a great range of fitness elements. Again, you can do a lot of things outside of the pool - like plyometrics for explosive strength and speed. Think about your disciplin and work out what areas you need to develop and find an exercise regime to help you.

It was once thought that the key to athletic performance was cardivascular fitness. The term is so loose, that it could still be considered as such. However, in its purist essence (endurance or aerobic fitness), it can only be considered a part of the process. Finswimming races fall into the range of all of the respiratory processes. Most sprint events fall into the Phospho-Creatine pathway and the Lactic anaerobic pathways. Longer distances have elements of these and aerobic fitness. One of the core training principles is "specificity".  In short, this term means "be specific"; i.e. train for your events, not for anyone else's.

Several people have argued that training for the other energy systems (the Creatine and Anaerobic pathways) will train the cardiovascular system anyway. In essence, this is true.

Finswimmers that need high cardiovascular fitness (such as 400m, 800 m and 1,500m finners) should train in the Peak Aerobic Performance Zone. The YMCA () defines this as being exercises where the heart rate is between 80% and 90% of the maximum pulse rate (220 - your age).

An example set for this type of fitness would be:

15 x 100 m Surface, aiming for 90% Personal Best Time, with 30 seconds rest.