Strength Exercises for Improving your Swimming Technique

Weights and strength training can’t act as a substitute for actually being in the water, but using it to supplement your swim training can reap big rewards. When I swam for the University of Texas, we did strength training two to three times a week and did core work most days.Perhaps even more beneficial than building your upper and lower body strength is focusing on building your core strength and flexibility. So, if you do add a strength component to your training, don’t overlook your core workouts and your flexibility.

Common Roadblocks

{1} Not Enough Time When trying to juggle all your workouts, it’s hard to fit in strength training without sacrificing your other training.

{2} Not Knowing What To Do Learning what the most effective exercises are to reaching your goal.

{3} Motivation It’s hard to do it on your own.

{4} No Access Don’t have access to a gym and weight equipment.

Reasons To Jump Those Roadblocks

{1} Injury prevention Regular strength training can help prevent many of the most common swimming injuries.

{2} Technique Building your “swimming muscles” will play a big role in helping you to maintain proper technique.

{3} Endurance Technique will often begin to fail as you swim longer and will result in slowing paces. Increasing your overall muscular strength will help you hold form over the longer distances.

{4} Speed Build those muscles for greater power!

Below are some of my favorite strength and core exercises for building your swimming-specific muscles.


Traditional Strength Training Equipment (Weight machines you will find at most gyms):
Lat Pull | Leg Press | Leg Extension | Chest Press | Hamstring Curl | Shoulder Press

Alternative Equipment (balance balls, resistance bands, medicine balls)
You can buy many of these things to use at home and you’ll also find them at most gyms:
• Decline push-up with feet on the balance ball
• Bent over lat pulls with resistance bands
• Side-to-side obliques with medicine ball
• Hamstring Curl with balance ball

No Equipment (using your body weight) – can be done anywhere, anytime:
Pike Reach | Alternating Leg Lunge | Push-ups, Plank and Side-plank | Squat Jump (5 squats + 1 squat jump — repeat!)

SAMPLE WORKOUTS
Here are some ideas on how to get started today! A good goal is to aim for one to three times per week. And with all your workouts, be sure to start with a good aerobic warm-up of at least 10 minutes.

NO TIME (15-30 minutes) & NO GYM:
Make it simple and quick! Easy to do first thing in the morning or while you watch the evening news. (TIP: Add more rounds as you progress and limit rest)

• 3 to 6 x {1 min lat pulls w/ resistance band; 20 alternating leg lunges; 5-10 push-ups; 20 pike reach crunches}

LIMITED TIME & ACCESS TO A GYM:
Use that gym membership you’ve been paying for each month. With only limited days to devote to strength training, make your workout more efficient and purposeful by covering all the muscle groups. I’ve always found doing exercises “for time,” versus repetitions, tests my muscular endurance and keeps things simple. You’ll know you’re at the right weight if you’re starting to struggle a bit at the 45-second mark. (TIP: Decrease rest between exercises to keep it more aerobic and a greater overall challenge.)

• 1 to 3 x 1-minute Leg Press
• 1 to 3 x 1-minute Lat Pull
• 20 to 30 Basic Crunches
• 1 to 3 x 1-minute Leg Extension
• 1 to 3 x 1-minute Chest Press
• 20 to 30 Pike Reach Crunches
• 1 to 3 x 1-minute Hamstring Curl
• 1 to 3 x 1-minute Shoulder Press
• 20 to 30 Oblique Side Crunches

LIMITED TIME & NO GYM:
So you want to devote some time to increasing your strength, but you don’t have access to a gym. Here’s a sample routine that you can do easily at home (TIP: Adding some hand weights to many of the leg exercises can help make it more challenging and you can also increase repetitions as you progress):

1 to 3 Reps through the following: (limit rest between exercises)

• 1 x 20 Alternating Leg Lunges (each leg)
• 1 x 5 Push-ups (full push-ups or on your knees)
• 1 x 20 Pike Reach Crunches
• 1 x 1-minute Bent-over Lat Pull with Resistance Band
• 1 x 1-minute Plank
• 1 x 20 Squats (do 4 squats + 1 squat jump, repeat!)
• 1 x 5 Decline Push-ups Using the Balance Ball
• 1 x 20 Oblique Crunches with a Medicine Ball
• 1 x 1-minute Bent-over Lat Pull with Resistance Band
• 1 x 1-minute Side Plank (30 seconds on each side)
• 1 x 20 Hamstring Curls Using the Balance Ball
• 1 x 5 Push-ups
• 1 x 20 Crunches on the Balance Ball
• 1 x 1-minute Bent-over Lat Pull with Resistance Band
• 1 x 1-minute Plank

Still Need Help?
Finding a strength/core training program or a personal trainer will help you gain a better grasp of the best exercises and guide you to proper form. And, you’ll automatically find an increase in motivation and accountability by training with peers and having someone push you.