dry land core exercising

List of Exercises using stretch cords / surgical tubing The exercises listed below are done with opposing muscle groups. Most of the exercises can be done while lying on your back but alternative methods can accomplish the same outcomes. There are different ways to anchor the stretch cord safely. Our team uses numerous round posts that are located in our pool balcony. The posts are cemented into the floor and cannot move. I personally use a three inch nylon belt that has a knot on both ends. I use the door jam located opposite the door knob and then close the door which exposes a loop that provides the anchor. The pool also has sixty feet of metal rope coated with plastic attached to the wall with a series of eye-bolts (two feet apart from each other). Towels are used as a buffer between the rubber and the plastic coated rope. The resistance of the cord varies but I’ve found that the heavy or large diameter stretch cords don’t hold up very well. We use medium to light resistance stretch cords with soft handles. I suggest that you buy one cord and try it out before you buy a bulk quantity. Most strech cords will hold up very well (a boy’s and a girl’s season of three times per week is about all you’re going to get from a set. The cost of the stretch cords I purchased was approximately seven dollars. 1. LAT PULLS – STRAIGHT ARM, 45 DEGREES, 90 DEGREES 2. TRICEPS – KNUCKLES UP, KNUCKLES DOWN, BUTTERFLY PULL/BREASTSTROKE PULL-OUT, ELBOWS UP PULL DOWNS 3. LAT PULL – OPPOSITE OF A MILITARY PRESS 4. SIT UPS 5. SIT UP ROW – ARMPITS EXPOSED, ELBOWS TO THE SIDE / RIBS, REVERSE FLYS (HIGH, MIDDLE, LOW) 6. REVERSE LAT PULLS – STRAIGHT ARM, 45 DEGREES, 90 DEGREES 7. BICEPS – KNUCKLES DOWN REGULAR CURLS, KNUCKLES UP REVERSE CURLS, ROWING, MILITARY PRESS 8. STANDING CHEST FLYS – HIGH, MIDDLE, LOW 9. STANDING, BENCH PRESS, BENT ARM (NEAR RIBS) PRESS, STANDING TRICEPS PRESS 10. SHOULDER CUFF- EMPTY CAN, FULL CAN, ROTATE KNUCKLES UP, ROTATE KNUCKLES DOWN, ABDUCTOR/ ADDUCTOR (ELBOWS INTO SIDE 90 DEGREE BEND) 11. CORE – HIGH, MIDDLE LOW, OPPOSITE SIDE HIGH, MIDDLE, LOW 12. LUNGE, CALF, SOLEUS 13. BREASTSTROKE SQUAT WITH DIPS 14. ANKLE STRETCHING MANUAL AND WITH TOWEL BEHIND TOES Strech Cord Exercises for your Swim Team, For your family and for You - YouTube Why use tubing as opposed to actual weights? Agree with Jazz, more bang for your buck with squats, deadlifts, etc. For isolated core work, I like the power wheel and some suspended exercises on the TRX.

List of Exercises using stretch cords / surgical tubing The exercises listed below are done with opposing muscle groups. Most of the exercises can be done while lying on your back but alternative methods can accomplish the same outcomes. There are different ways to anchor the stretch cord safely. Our team uses numerous round posts that are located in our pool balcony. The posts are cemented into the floor and cannot move. I personally use a three inch nylon belt that has a knot on both ends. I use the door jam located opposite the door knob and then close the door which exposes a loop that provides the anchor. The pool also has sixty feet of metal rope coated with plastic attached to the wall with a series of eye-bolts (two feet apart from each other). Towels are used as a buffer between the rubber and the plastic coated rope. The resistance of the cord varies but I’ve found that the heavy or large diameter stretch cords don’t hold up very well. We use medium to light resistance stretch cords with soft handles. I suggest that you buy one cord and try it out before you buy a bulk quantity. Most strech cords will hold up very well (a boy’s and a girl’s season of three times per week is about all you’re going to get from a set. The cost of the stretch cords I purchased was approximately seven dollars. 1. LAT PULLS – STRAIGHT ARM, 45 DEGREES, 90 DEGREES 2. TRICEPS – KNUCKLES UP, KNUCKLES DOWN, BUTTERFLY PULL/BREASTSTROKE PULL-OUT, ELBOWS UP PULL DOWNS 3. LAT PULL – OPPOSITE OF A MILITARY PRESS 4. SIT UPS 5. SIT UP ROW – ARMPITS EXPOSED, ELBOWS TO THE SIDE / RIBS, REVERSE FLYS (HIGH, MIDDLE, LOW) 6. REVERSE LAT PULLS – STRAIGHT ARM, 45 DEGREES, 90 DEGREES 7. BICEPS – KNUCKLES DOWN REGULAR CURLS, KNUCKLES UP REVERSE CURLS, ROWING, MILITARY PRESS 8. STANDING CHEST FLYS – HIGH, MIDDLE, LOW 9. STANDING, BENCH PRESS, BENT ARM (NEAR RIBS) PRESS, STANDING TRICEPS PRESS 10. SHOULDER CUFF- EMPTY CAN, FULL CAN, ROTATE KNUCKLES UP, ROTATE KNUCKLES DOWN, ABDUCTOR/ ADDUCTOR (ELBOWS INTO SIDE 90 DEGREE BEND) 11. CORE – HIGH, MIDDLE LOW, OPPOSITE SIDE HIGH, MIDDLE, LOW 12. LUNGE, CALF, SOLEUS 13. BREASTSTROKE SQUAT WITH DIPS 14. ANKLE STRETCHING MANUAL AND WITH TOWEL BEHIND TOES Strech Cord Exercises for your Swim Team, For your family and for You - YouTube

Front squat 225 pounds.

Sure! Here's a few of my favs. 1 - Bicycles with elbows behind head and taking shoulders toward opposite knees on the push. 2 - Medicine ball sideways throws with rotation and core bracing. 3 - Side planks, side BOSU planks. 4 - On all fours reach and crunch (extend right arm and left leg and then draw hand and bent knee in under body, crunching abdomen. Do 12 and then switch sides). 5- Ball Pass on back - pass stablity ball back and forth between hands and feet, extending arms and legs in between.

-ab wheel* -lifting mini-coopers off the ground -volunteer to carry old ladies across the street at busy intersections -become a rick shaw driver in San Francisco -join the circus and wrestle alligators and bears *The ab wheel only costs $10.99 and gives fast results.

Hi everyone Does anyone know of any dry land core strengthening exercises, mainly to help with my body rotation in freestyle, and my general stroke in butterfly. Cheers Andy What's wrong with your body rotation at the moment? Have you been told things? Or do you feel anything wrong with it? Age? (roughly) Already member at some gym? And when you mention the fly, what would you like to improve? For fly, an excellent core exercise happens to be in the pool, simple, kick in all position, favor back. Also do kick on both sides. Arms extended over head. Kicking upstraight position, arms above water, kick kick kick. All good for core. Most people have enough core strength to rotate quite easily when swimming free style, especially at slow to moderate speed. As for fly, hmmmm I'd say you need abdominals which are very nicely trained whilst kicking (fly) on your back (abuse here, like n time 100m of this) and a fair core routine, dryland that targets core muscles, pilates does an excellent job at this. If you take a class, learn some exercises, and do them home you should have a lot of fun whilst improving ability to better feel body rotation and work the fly kicking too. Pure strength, or requirement for more power becomes important as you want to improve your sprinting abilitites. So if you're at the stage of learning to rotate (like early into your 'freestyler' career), then lifting heavy weight won't make any good to you.

Since this thread is about the core, let me ask something to my expert friends here. I often hear the term "engaging your core". I have gotten to the point (I think) where I do use my core without thinking about it. But I was looking at a Thorpe video I've seen dozens of times and noticed something. He seems to pull his shoulders back a bit when swimming. That reminded me of something I read on the Swimsmooth site, so I went back to it and they were talking about engaging the core by tightening the butt and pulling the scapula together a bit, like you would standing with good posture. I have never really thought about that while swimming and am wondering if I should make an effort to pull my shoulders back. It seems like that would make it harder to extend the arm, but maybe not. Anyone ever made a conscious effort to "engage the core" more besides trying to get EVF?

Thanks for all the suggestions, forgot about the ab wheel will have to get one soon as. My body rotation feels ok as does my fly undulation, but I'm trying to cut my free stroke rate down (currently a fustrating 25 per 25M) and I,m let to belive the rotation of the hips is where the power is generated, and I figure a bit of extra core strength will cause a little fatigue when doing butterfly. I'm 35 years old, and only been swimming with proper technique for a few years (not sure if I'll make any podiums in 2012!) but I really enjoy it and am just trying to improve as much as I can. Cheers again Andy

1. I think what you noticed about Thorpe is correct. That's an important part of good pulling technique. High elbows get a lot of attention, but high shoulders are also important. My guess is it puts the large muscles of the upper body in a better position to produce a lot of force. 2. Pulling the shoulder back isn't really a "core" thing as the word is usually used. But I hate that word anyway. Yeah I know, the core thing confuses me with regard to swimming. So should I try to have that good shoulder back posture all the time or just during the pull on that side?

Since this thread is about the core, let me ask something to my expert friends here. I often hear the term "engaging your core". I have gotten to the point (I think) where I do use my core without thinking about it. But I was looking at a Thorpe video I've seen dozens of times and noticed something. He seems to pull his shoulders back a bit when swimming. That reminded me of something I read on the Swimsmooth site, so I went back to it and they were talking about engaging the core by tightening the butt and pulling the scapula together a bit, like you would standing with good posture. I have never really thought about that while swimming and am wondering if I should make an effort to pull my shoulders back. It seems like that would make it harder to extend the arm, but maybe not. Anyone ever made a conscious effort to "engage the core" more besides trying to get EVF? 1. I think what you noticed about Thorpe is correct. That's an important part of good pulling technique. High elbows get a lot of attention, but high shoulders are also important. My guess is it puts the large muscles of the upper body in a better position to produce a lot of force. 2. Pulling the shoulder back isn't really a "core" thing as the word is usually used. But I hate that word anyway.