Dry land workouts for sprinters

I created my own alternative weight program that is more a compliment to the pool workout than a supplement. Its very targeted and only addresses a few of my needs. I felt the main reason i needed the weight room was just to work on some extra power in my pull. Nearly everything else about my swim is well balanced and doesn't need extra work in the weight room. My weight program is 3 days a week for about 25-30 min and goes like this: Each day Lat pulldowns, close-grip. Seated rows , close grip swim bench (incline bench, lay on stomach facing adjustable cable machine with two handles. Pull backwards similar to a "swim bench" Alot like a standing front pulldown, but laying down) triceps, dumbell overhead. The above are done one of four approaches, use each once on a seperate excercise above, alternate them day to day. 4-5 sets. Increasing weight per set. Reps 20, 15, 12, 10, 8. Last set last rep should get pretty hard to finish. 4-5 sets. Decreasing weight per set. Reps 10, 15, 20, 25-30. 4 sets. Light weight high speed power reps. I try to match my estimated 50 free pace and stroke count over the expected finish time with as high of weight as possible to still accomplish the reps per time. (ex: 22 reps in 22 seconds). Fight through the lactate burn. 4 sets explosive power. Start with medium-light weight. Sets of 10-15 working on explosion of the contraction, then slowly back down. Move weight up each set, but not past the point where you can still explode on the muscle contract. Alternating days pick two of these: Incline dumbell press Dumbell Shoulder press seated bicep curl pullups, close grip (though I have problems doing more than 5-6 reps on the bar). Pick two of the approaches above for these. Core.. the only core ex I do are hanging leg raises, start training(kills the abs for me), and underwater sprint SDK. Legs.. mostly done in kick sets, but occasionally I also do jumps in the shallow end (40 seconds jumping, 20 seconds rest. chest deep water, hands over head, knees come out of the water each jump) So like today I did: 5 sets seated row, increasing weight 4 sets lat pulldown, explosive power 4 sets swim bench decreasing weight 5 sets triceps, speed/power 4 sets shoulder press increasing weight 4 sets pullups, explosive Make sense? As I said, this is very short and targeted, and I ALWAYS swim a warmup, a couple sprints, and some SDK work on "weight days". Very interesting. I did pretty much the opposite last year! Due to small tears in my shoulder and elbow in 2012, I had to lay off most upper body work in the gym. Instead, I concentrated on legs, core and plyometrics. I was, somewhat to my surprise, faster without the upper body work. I postulate that I was able to punch my pool workouts more because the upper body work/soreness was killing my pool workouts. I also postulate, again without any evidence, that upper body work may be more important for long course where SDKs are minimized. I'm currently trying to figure out how much upper body work to add back when my elbow is better. I might just add back explosive pulldowns and med ball slams.

I created my own alternative weight program that is more a compliment to the pool workout than a supplement. Its very targeted and only addresses a few of my needs. I felt the main reason i needed the weight room was just to work on some extra power in my pull. Nearly everything else about my swim is well balanced and doesn't need extra work in the weight room. My weight program is 3 days a week for about 25-30 min and goes like this: Each day Lat pulldowns, close-grip. Seated rows , close grip swim bench (incline bench, lay on stomach facing adjustable cable machine with two handles. Pull backwards similar to a "swim bench" Alot like a standing front pulldown, but laying down) triceps, dumbell overhead. The above are done one of four approaches, use each once on a seperate excercise above, alternate them day to day. 4-5 sets. Increasing weight per set. Reps 20, 15, 12, 10, 8. Last set last rep should get pretty hard to finish. 4-5 sets. Decreasing weight per set. Reps 10, 15, 20, 25-30. 4 sets. Light weight high speed power reps. I try to match my estimated 50 free pace and stroke count over the expected finish time with as high of weight as possible to still accomplish the reps per time. (ex: 22 reps in 22 seconds). Fight through the lactate burn. 4 sets explosive power. Start with medium-light weight. Sets of 10-15 working on explosion of the contraction, then slowly back down. Move weight up each set, but not past the point where you can still explode on the muscle contract. Alternating days pick two of these: Incline dumbell press Dumbell Shoulder press seated bicep curl pullups, close grip (though I have problems doing more than 5-6 reps on the bar). Pick two of the approaches above for these. Core.. the only core ex I do are hanging leg raises, start training(kills the abs for me), and underwater sprint SDK. Legs.. mostly done in kick sets, but occasionally I also do jumps in the shallow end (40 seconds jumping, 20 seconds rest. chest deep water, hands over head, knees come out of the water each jump) So like today I did: 5 sets seated row, increasing weight 4 sets lat pulldown, explosive power 4 sets swim bench decreasing weight 5 sets triceps, speed/power 4 sets shoulder press increasing weight 4 sets pullups, explosive Make sense? As I said, this is very short and targeted, and I ALWAYS swim a warmup, a couple sprints, and some SDK work on "weight days". Very interesting. I did pretty much the opposite last year! Due to small tears in my shoulder and elbow in 2012, I had to lay off most upper body work in the gym. Instead, I concentrated on legs, core and plyometrics. I was, somewhat to my surprise, faster without the upper body work. I postulate that I was able to punch my pool workouts more because the upper body work/soreness was killing my pool workouts. I also postulate, again without any evidence, that upper body work may be more important for long course where SDKs are minimized. I'm currently trying to figure out how much upper body work to add back when my elbow is better. I might just add back explosive pulldowns and med ball slams.