Anyone have any experiance with dryland prep for swimmers? I’m looking for some new ideas to use with my kids in the gym. any swimmers, ex-swimmers, coaches???
I’ve just spent the last few weeks trying to find a weight training program that would carry over into swimming performance. Jason Lezak (World Record Holder for the 100 Free) put up his routine here…
//www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jasonlezak1.htm
Right now I’m following this routine
Monday/Thursday
Incline Barbell Bench Press
Bent Over Reverse Grip Barbell Row
DB Flat Bench Press
Seated Narrow Grip Cable Row
Power Squats
Leg Press
Leg Press Machine Calf Raises
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises
Tuesday/Friday
Standing Barbell Military Press
Pull-ups
Dips
Lat Pull-downs
Bicycle Crunches
Human Arrows
Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curls
Barbell Pullovers
I vary the reps that I do based on what my goal is for the month.
Let’s say the first and third months of the season I want to build pure strength. I’ll pyramid weight and do a larger amount of sets. For squats I might do 4 sets of 12, 10, 10 and 8. For Incline Bench Press I might do 5 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8, and hopefully 6.
Once the second and fourth months of the season come around I begin to focus on endurance. Each exercise gets 3 sets. The first week you begin with a weight that you can do 3 sets of 12 reps with. Next week you want to do 3 sets of 15, then 20, and finally 25. This month won’t help you with size or power at all but will build the kind of muscle endurance that swimming demands.
Whatever you do for your abs make sure you do exercises that strengthen your Rectus Abdominous for short axis strokes like the Butterfly and Breaststroke and make sure you do twisting motion exercises that strengthen your oblique that will help you twist faster and balance on your side more effectively for strokes like the backstroke and freestyle.
Make sure you find some stretch cords or super wimpy uber light dumbbells to strengthen your rotator cuff if you don’t do bandwork already with your team.
And don’t worry about making massive strength gains for your squats this season. Having huge leg muscles is fantastic for bodybuilding and powerlifting but the extra muscle tissue robs your upper body of the oxygen it needs to move you through the water. This is the only time you’ll read on a T-Nation thread that the number one body part isn’t your legs but your lats.
I didn’t see that you were a coach.
Sorry if I sounded condescending.
Thanks ptarleton,
That was just what I was looking for. I was wondering weather to use weights. The head coach was worrying about them getting to big and unable to move properly in the water. I was using bodyweight stuff, you know press ups, chins etc etc. but if there are people using weights then I’ll follow suit. Are you a swimmer yourself?