Dryland exercises - advice?

BillieBob

Hey there,

I’m finding that I lack any strength in my shoulders and think that (aside from just getting in the pool and swimming more) some dryland exercises (bodyweight ones) would help me greatly. For example, I struggle to do 20 press-ups and can’t do one full pull-up, in the pool I find that a lot of people in my masters lane seem to swim away from me. It's swimming specific exercises I'm looking for and am therefore not posting this in the health and fitness forum.

So does anyone have any advice or know good links for me to check out? I should say that working full time and with family I’m time short, so exercises that I can fit in to a busy schedule (e.g. 30 mins in the morning) would be more along the lines I’m looking at. Or else does anyone know if there’s such a thing as swimming circuit training aimed at a medium masters level? Maybe a triathlon club?

mad m

I'm no expert,but if using weights you want to gain muscle strength and not mass for swimming...Push ups are good, bent over rows, pull down latts, use light weights. work on your core. But you have to train hard in pool also.

Make sure you eat right, some carbs like sweet potatoes are great, protein etc. and on top of all that make sure your stroke is good. Technique is key. I know it can be soul destroying to see others pull away from you but if you put the work in you will gradually see the gains...

There are other swimmers on here probably more qualified to give you advice..but keep at it.

Oh and another important thing to mention, what you put in make sure you let your body rest. Over training can be detrimental to your body..

agreenyblue

Always look at your technique before looking at strength, there are a lot of strong people that waste their strength/energy due to poor technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU0jqP4radE

These are core exercises. It says ´For faster swimming´ but works great for overall fitness, not just speed. I did 30 mins every two days, 15 mins on plank/press-up related exercises and 15 on sit ups and related exercises, three times a week in addition to my swimming. They´re tough but they work.

2old4dacold

http://loneswimmer.com/category/training/dryland-training/

mad m

2old4dacold wrote: »

http://loneswimmer.com/category/training/dryland-training/

That's a great link, forgot about lone swimmer...l

Burkatron

I'm gonna throw this out there as I use it myself! Crossfit endurance is aimed at swimmers, runners,cyclists & rowers, you can go sports specific or combination!

www.Crossfitendurance.com is the mainsite
12 week plan

mad m

Just as side note, anyone use those resistance bands you get, they range from soft, medium, hard resistance...Or those cords you can buy..

Any good?

Burkatron

mad m wrote: »

Just as side note, anyone use those resistance bands you get, they range from soft, medium, hard resistance...Or those cords you can buy..

Any good?

I use them for prehab & rehab! 8 quid in Tk Maxx & they're invaluable, I posted this a few days ago in the fitness forum.
The links in the post are to do with Man City's use of them & how they had the least injuries in the league this season!

mad m

Burkatron,

What type of strength ones would you go for?

Burkatron

mad m wrote: »

Burkatron,

What type of strength ones would you go for?

For my own home rehab work (I'm a broken down crock)I've never actually looked into the finer details of the 1's I have! I picked up a 3 pack (on the advice of my physio) from TK Maax, he said they're the equivalent to red,green & blue Thera bands!

Strength work in the gym we'd be using Jump stretch/power bands like these, this is where the poundage matters more! We currently vary from Purple (50lbs) to medium green (75lbs),to large blue (up to 150lbs)

mushykeogh

mad m wrote: »

use light weights.

If you want to improve your strength using light weights is a complete waste of time.

OP it certainly sounds like you need to improve your vertical and horizontal pulling strength and most likely some of the smaller stabiliser muscles which are just as, if not more important.
Swimmers are almost always chronically weak in the middle/lower traps and scapula retractors from the amount of anterior dominated work they do in the pool

As mentioned before, rows and pull ups would be of benefit. While the rotator cuff exercises mentioned are very good i would also work on increasing the mobility of the chest and shoulders and improving scapula function.

The scapula essentially control the range of movement available at the shoulder, so include exercises such as y,T,W, L, scap push ups, and scap pull ups, and scapula retraction exercises, band pull apart's are very good for these.

While strength maybe your problem, it is possible that your lack of flexibility around your shoulders and thoracic region may be preventing you from getting in the correct position to execute the stroke properly. Impossible to say without assessing you but generally, where someone is weak, we have a host of flexibility/mobility issues at play as well.

iv worked almost exclusively with swimmers for the last 7 years, so if you want any more advice or have any more questions just ask.

2old4dacold

@mushykeogh
any link to online demonstration of some of these exercises?

@BillieBob
i had a similar problem when i upped my yardage last year, YTWL is excellent for improving mobility but the most important part for me was stroke correction

if building up your yardage, never increase by more than 5% per week and if doing big yardage a visit to a decent sports massage therapist maybe once every two months is money well spent

mushykeogh

2old4dacold wrote: »

@mushykeogh
any link to online demonstration of some of these exercises?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6KoHyRLgw0&feature=plcp

Some other good scap/shoulder stuff elsewhere among will's videos as well.