What are some of the best workouts that will increase strength that will (hopefully) help my swimming? I am taking lessons, and working on the form side of swimming, but my upper body is pretty weak so i figured it could only help.
You’ll probably get a lot of “just swim more,” but most high level swimmers do a good deal of dry land training. A good start would be:
A variety of Push ups
Hand stand push ups
Dips
Pull ups, and
Your choice of ab/core exercises
There are also band/tube exercises that a lot of people seem to like
Tubing, straight arm pull downs, vasa trainer or total gym, med balls, dips, narrow push ups, pull ups (wide grip palms face away).
Tubing, straight arm pull downs, vasa trainer or** total gym**, med balls, dips, narrow push ups, pull ups (wide grip palms face away).
.
Stuff to strengthen rotator cuffs 
and wide grip pull ups.
Why push ups? Those work chest and biceps, triceps a little. Stuff that hits lats = more ROI methinks
Narrow push ups elbows in are great for the triceps.
Stuff to strengthen rotator cuffs
and wide grip pull ups.
Why push ups? Those work chest and biceps, triceps a little. Stuff that hits lats = more ROI methinks
It is all about balance to prevent injury TC, especially with age-groupers who don’t have the strength of years of school swimming behind them.A big yes on the rotator cuff work and I never travel anywhere without my stretch cords.
pull ups - you should be using your lats a lot when swimming, and these muscles are a lot bigger and more powerful than your shoulders or triceps.
Incidentally, a piece of advice that helped me a lot: your hand entry width when swimming should feel a lot like a medium-to-wide grip pull up if you want to maximize the power of your initial catch and pull phase.
Stuff to strengthen rotator cuffs
and wide grip pull ups.
Why push ups? Those work chest and biceps, triceps a little. Stuff that hits lats = more ROI methinks
Push ups hit the shoulders and have always been sort of a go to upper body exercise for me. Regular, hands in, narrow, diamond, etc. There are a lot of variations. We did a ton of push ups way back when and I think they were useful.
Bench dips/buttsweeps are another good one.
I guess one of the reasons I’m anti-push up is that with a ton of swimming your shoulders often end up with an anterior tilt that can cause problems. (Less likely to happen to backstrokers, but certainly a problem for freestylists). Not interested in adding muscle there… I’m always trying to work on my back muscles to pull shoulders back a bit.
I guess one of the reasons I’m anti-push up is that with a ton of swimming your shoulders often end up with an anterior tilt that can cause problems.
I agree with the principle and in fact was one of the folks with a lot of anterior tilt / kyphosis, got that straight and haven’t had neck problems since.
However, in your typical triathlete with no pre-existing issues, then I can see pushups counterbalanced with back exercises to be beneficial.
My folks do push / pull pairs in three directions.
- Shoulder press / lat pulls
- Bench press or pushups / low rows
- Assisted dips / full can scaption.
Full can scaption isn’t exactly the opposite of assisted dips but it’s close and the tends to be something that gives out.
Masters class.
Like seated rows!
Like seated rows!
I’m not sure the reason for the enthusiasm (!).
But yes, low rows, seated rows and cable rows are all words I use for the same exercise.
sounds like i’m on the right track. already do push ups, pull ups, dips.
You’ll probably get a lot of “just swim more,” but most high level swimmers do a good deal of dry land training. A good start would be:
A variety of Push ups
Hand stand push ups
Dips
Pull ups, and
Your choice of ab/core exercises
There are also band/tube exercises that a lot of people seem to like
Most high level swimmers first do 3-4 hours of pool training a day, seven days a week. At that point, more yards doesn’t add much, but dry land training can add that one percent more.
So, yes, “just swim more.”
If you have the ability to join a dry land training class I’d highly recommend. I joined one led by a guy who has done a lot of camps/clinics for Dave Marsh at Swim Mac and USA Swimming, but currently works with a local university and a club team. It was huge for injury prevention this past year. He knows more about the muscular/biomechanical demands than any swim coach I have ever worked with it’s awesome to be around his knowledge. Chances are great if you have some local club teams they have someone they use as well.
I have been off my routine the past month or so with travel and I can feel some scapular instability creeping in…have not felt that in 18 months since being in a dry land class.
As far as making me faster? I’m certainly faster this year than I have ever been with several PR’s, but I attribute that to no time off due to injuries more than getting stronger. In point of fact I weigh about 8 pounds less than I did when I was ‘gym strong’ doing dry land on my own.
Anyone have an opinion on a book called Strength Training for Faster Swimming (Blythe Lucero)? He specifically says to avoid push ups, but I can see how narrow push ups would be beneficial.
I think the best strength work you can do is to actually swim doing VERY hard short sprints with high rest. Many people don’t swim fast enough to actually feel the power and work those muscles hard. Long swims are what many triathletes do, however you will get stronger and faster by very hard short sprints (try 25s or even sprint 1/2 length).
What are some of the best workouts that will increase strength that will (hopefully) help my swimming? I am taking lessons, and working on the form side of swimming, but my upper body is pretty weak so i figured it could only help.
I think the best strength work you can do is to actually swim doing VERY hard short sprints with high rest. Many people don’t swim fast enough to actually feel the power and work those muscles hard. Long swims are what many triathletes do, however you will get stronger and faster by very hard short sprints (try 25s or even sprint 1/2 length).
Ya, that’s what all the little kids do growing up swimming, and they gradually progress from 25s to 50s to 100s to 200s and on up. One of my earliest memories is swimming my first 25 at around age 4 or 5. It seems like such a long way at the time:)