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Swimming is a very satisfying and enjoyable form of exercise. In addition to providing a low resistance, full body workout, you may immediately begin to notice the results of your swimming sessions. Everything becomes simpler with each session, and you'll be able to swim distances you never imagined possible.
However, if you feel like you've reached a plateau, the enjoyment in swimming may begin to wane. To maintain constant progress or to enhance your general speed and strength in the water, swimming-specific strength training is essential.
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Exercises to Get Better at Swimming
The following exercises can help you increase your strength, stamina and muscle endurance, which play an important role in swimming. With greater endurance, you'll be able to swim long lengths without needing to stop.
Check out these six exercises that can help you get better at swimming.
1) Mountain Climber
Mountain climbers are a terrific strength training exercise for swimmers, as they engage the entire body. Your shoulders, glutes, triceps, legs and core are all worked out in this exercise. It also increases your cardio endurance, as you are constantly making swimming-like movements throughout the activity.
Mountain climber increases your swimming strength, endurance and overall swimming stance. You'll develop a stronger kick for swimming strokes like freestyle, butterfly and backstroke. You can perform mountain climbers two to three times per week for optimal results.
2) Squat Jump
Squat jump works out the hips, knees and ankles. The jump is a power-generating exercise and as you perform more reps, your stamina will increase.
Here's how you can perform squat jumps:
- Stand with your feet just outside your shoulders and your back straight.
- Keep your knees behind your toes when you squat.
- After two seconds of retaining this position, leap vertically.
- In midair, pull your toes towards your shins to prepare for landing.
- Return to the starting squat position, hold for three seconds, and repeat ten times.
- Make sure to land lightly, even feline-like, with your hips down and back.
3) Reverse Fly
This workout strengthens your upper back and shoulders, which can prevent shoulder injury. The reverse fly can be performed with dumbbells or a resistance band.
Strengthening your upper back and shoulders will increase the power of your strokes and improve your posture.
Here's how you can perform a reverse fly:
- Begin by placing your feet hip-width apart.
- Holding a dumbbell in each arm, extend your arms in front of you in a straight line. Maintain parallel arms at shoulder height.
- Spread your arms slowly into a T-shape. Move slowly and carefully. The slower you move, the more your back and shoulder muscles will burn.
- Bring your arms back to their parallel position with control. Repeat the workout.
4) Lateral Lunge
Lateral lunge opens up the muscles of your hips and groin and improve hip rotation, which is essential in swimming. An advanced variation of this exercise - walking lateral lunge - can improve your stamina and muscular endurance.
Here's how you can perform a lateral lunge:
- From a standing position, move to the right with your feet flat on the ground and toes pointed straight forward.
- Squat onto your right leg; maintain your left leg straight, and place your weight on the midfoot to heel of your right leg.
- Maintain the left leg straight while squatting as low as possible for two seconds.
- Return to the standing posture, and perform ten repetitions before switching sides.
5) Plank
Plank is one of the best strength training exercises for swimmers, as they're easy to perform, have numerous variants and strengthens the core.
Another key aspect of the plank position is that you can reproduce superb form when your body is submerged in water. You must maintain a straight back as though there's a straight line running from your ankles to your head.
To maintain this straight posture, you must clench your core and glutes, maintain a straight neck, and look forward, not down.
A firm plank can also assist in preventing injuries, enhancing your position while swimming and increasing the pace of your freestyle stroke.
If you're new to planks, start by holding a proper plank position for 30 to 60 seconds. You can gradually work up to five minutes, or even add weight to make the exercise more difficult.
6) Pull-up
A correct swim stroke extends the lats, back, shoulders and wrists to their fullest extent. A pull-up replicates this movement and can help you develop the same muscles that work while you're swimming.
Here's how you can perform pull-ups:
- While hanging from a bar with an overhand or reverse (underhand) grip, pull your shoulder blades back and down to raise your body.
- To conclude, pull with your arms.
- The aim is to return to a position of full extension after each repetition.
- Otherwise, you'll not accomplish a complete extension, which is the desired movement in water.
Takeaway
Try to incorporate the aforementioned exercises in your regular workout routine for a more fulfilling and energetic swimming session.
