By Olivier Poirier-Leroy
For the land-locked swimmer, dry land workouts provide a way to complement the training they have done in the water.
The goal with dry land training is pretty simple: to provide a foundation of strength and mobility to improve performance in the water.
These workouts provide a solid starting point for doing dry land workouts at home. They are also structured in generally the same way as your swim practices.
As the workouts increase in difficulty, there is more dry land equipment required for each. The staples include a skipping rope, a medicine ball, and a pair of trusty StretchCordz.
Bodyweight exercises are a great, equipment-free way to get a sweat and build strength.
For swimmers who are just getting into doing dry land, or who are restricted with equipment, this simple bodyweight dry land workout targets your shoulders, posterior chain, quads, core and chest.
Things you will need:
A solid playlist that is 40ish-minutes long.
A can-do attitude.
Warm-Up/Activation:
10 arm swings in each direction (front, back, monkey, double front, double back)
10 leg swings (front-back, side-to-side)
30 jumping-jacks
10 dead-bugs
:30 hip bridge hold
:30 front plank
:60 jumping rope
Main Set:
The workout is set-up in the same manner as a set of 50s you would do at practice. Think of it as doing 32x50s @1:00. Try to perform as many quality, technically sound reps in the time allotted.
8x :20 push-ups + :40 rest
8x :20 bodyweight squats + :40 rest
8x :20 mountain climbers + :40 rest
8x :20 lunges + :40 rest
Too easy? Increase the number of reps per :20 and/or add :05 to the work (i.e. :25 push-ups + :35 rest).
This workout features an emphasis on using StretchCordz and doing squats.
Squats are a swim-specific exercise that will help you power off of your turns. After all, each time you do a flip-turn or push off the wall, you are performing a squat.
Because this is the fastest you will go during a race (with the exception of when you are flying through the air after the start), powering up your ability to push off the wall with more force and speed has tangible benefits.
The pull part of the main chunk of the work is a contrasting set that alternates the use of StretchCordz with maximal power (or pull-ups) or maximal speed (medicine ball slams).
Things you will need:
A banging playlist, around 45 minutes long
Resistance band
Skipping rope
StretchCordz
Medicine ball or pull-up bar
Warm-Up/Activation:
10 arm swings in each direction (front, back, monkey, double front, double back)
10 leg swings (front-back, side-to-side)
2×10 band pull aparts
20 dead-bugs
:30 banded hip bridge hold
:30 front plank
:60 jumping rope
Main Set:
Part 1: 10 rounds, each round @2:00…
:30 StretchCordz freestyle pull
:30 rest
5 pullups or 10 single arm med ball slams
Take the rest of the minute rest
4-5 minutes rest. Shake it out. Drink some water. Add a couple tasty licks to your playlist.
Part 2: 5 rounds, each round @2:00…
:30 bodyweight squats + :30 rest
:15 squat jumps + :45 rest
Core:
3×30 flutter kicks on your back
3×30 russian twists
3×30 mountain climbers
Recovery
15-minute stretch
Ready to hit beast-mode with your dry land workouts?
This advanced dry land workout is specific to developing speed endurance and power. Like the intermediate workout, this one relies on the use of StretchCordz and squats.
The main set features :30 of work that is meant to simulate doing a 50 with maximum effort in the water, with enough rest (1:00) that you can keep your effort and power output at a high level.
Things you will need:
An aggressive, up-tempo playlist; around an hour long
Resistance band
Skipping rope
Medicine ball
Skipping rope
StretchCordz
Foam roller
Warm-Up/Activation:
10 arm swings in each direction (front, back, monkey, double front, double back)
10 leg swings (front-back, side-to-side)
3×10 band pull aparts
3×20 dead-bugs
2x :30 banded hip bridge hold
2x :30 front plank
:60 jumping rope
2×10 med ball slams
5 squat jumps max height
Main Set
3 rounds…
8x :30 FAST + 1:00 rest
Round 1: StretchCordz – butterfly pull
Round 2: Goblet squat jumps with medicine ball
Round 3: StretchCordz – freestyle pull
3:00 break between rounds. Grab some water, shake it out, tinker with your playlist.
Too easy? Step further back with the StretchCordz to increase resistance and/or try adding more reps to the :30 of work.
Core:
3×30 flutter kicks on your back
3×30 russian twists
3×30 mountain climbers
3×20 banded glute bridge marches
Warm-Down
15 minutes stretch and foam roll
StretchCordz. One of the old-school dry land training tools that never goes out of style, StretchCordz are available with paddles or with handles. They come in different levels of resistance (blue is the hardest one). Click here to buy StretchCordz.
Medicine Ball. Not all medicine balls are made alike, and when it comes to performing medicine ball slams, few are tough enough to take the punishment, usually splitting. The TRX Slam Ball is made specifically to take all of the slamming you can muster. Amazon also makes their own version.
Pull-up bar. Another standard in the dry land exercise repertoire, pull ups target your back, and more specifically your lats, which are fundamental to pulling yourself through the water. There are plenty of different at-home pull up bars you can set-up to be able to do these foundational exercises at home.
Exercise bands. (Great for shoulder strength and stability) and performing various glute and hip stability exercises. Available in a variety of different resistance levels. This pack of resistance bands are well rated and relatively cheap.
About the Author - Olivier Poirier-Leroy
Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer and the author of the books YourSwimBook and Conquer the Pool. He writes all things high-performance swimming, and his articles were read over 3 million times last year. His work has appeared on USA Swimming, SwimSwam, STACK, NBC Universal, and more. He's also kinda tall and can be found on Twitter.Another Great Article on Dry Land Gear for Swimmers