"LAND HO!" Talking about Dryland... what do you guys do?
Former Member
What do you guys do out of the pool to help you go faster faster? I don't mean just the big things like stretch or lift weights or eat this or drink that... but also the LITTLE things that you are convinced do work. But at the same time, do tell about the big things you do too.
I have been swimming for a year and a half now. I have loved it so far. I've dropped my weight from 240 to 166 (oddly enough, I still think I need to lose just a bit more weight). My body fat percentage is 12%. January of '09, I went 1:19.92 in a 100 free. Now I can do 1:03... the really big milestone of going under 60 is soooo close. I would've done it at a walk-on meet last Sunday but I messed up my start (went vertical and had to break out of streamline) and my turns were embarrassingly sloppy as I just completely dropped out of form to make up ground. My first 50 free was a 34. On Sunday, I went 27.72. That was two seconds down from my previous PB. After being placed in distance events all season, it was nice to get back to the shorter stuff, though I've certainly forgotten how to swim them.
For a year and a half swimming, it's been all in the pool. All of this... 99% of it is due to my labors in the watery rectangle we all love. Yesterday, my coach had us do some dryland for the first time since last October or so. It was not fun and it got less fun today as the soreness caught up with me. I felt horrible in the water today and my speed was off. But I know all those lunges and squats and sit-ups are supposed to help me.
So, again, my question to all of you is... what do you do, out of pool, to help you become a faster swimmer? Of course, the biggest part of the equation comes from what we do in the pool at practice, but now I want to start putting some dryland functions in that arithmetic. Because I want to get faster faster. I've tried to start some kind of dryland routine at various points in the last year and a half, but I've only come to understand something now: sticking with a regular dryland routine will require as big a mental ritualization of "you're going to start this at so-and-so date and that's that" as my decision to start swimming back in Nov '08.
So what do you guys do? Specifics would be cool. Help me think up stuff. I'm gonna stitch together a routine and begin it pretty soon.
Other than weight lifting I also jump rope, which I find to be an excellent exercise for breaststroke. It helps to develop explosiveness, quickness and anaerobic capacity and I noticed a significant increase in fitness once I added it to my exercise routine. Now, if I could only jump rope like this guy someday... :)
YouTube- Buddy Lee Power Jump Double-Under
For my flutter and dolphin kick I do these ankle exercises.
What is your jump rope routine? How often do you do it?
I practice with an age group team. Every afternoon practice they do 30 min of stretching and dry land. But I can't attend most afternoon practices (I do dry land with them every Sat, though) so I bought the book Swimming Anatomy. It has a lot of what they do on deck in it to remind me. The book has weights and general dry land exercises to help with the different strokes. They even highlight which stroke and muscles the exercise will help. Most exercises can be done at home with simple weights, exercise balls and medicine balls. I hope that helps.
I weight trained for years and never really felt that it improved my swimming. Over the last couple of months I have become much more serious about stretching. I have really improved my ROM in the shoulders,hips,knees and ankles and as a result my swimming has improved. Especially things like the underwater fly.
Here is a good stretching routine, not swimming oriented, but I like watching it. Can't figure out why :D
YouTube- Fitness - Ultimate Stretching Routine
I believe that functional fitness/core is where it's at. I've started working with a kettlebell, and the fluid motions and total body nature of the exercises complement swimming. As does power yoga, which does wonders to strengthen the shoulder girdle and core. I alternate kettlebell or endurance weight training days (12-15 reps) with power yoga days. I do some plyometric work on my weight training days. I've noticed significant time drops in every event, which is due to increased fitness and better technique, of course, but I know that adding the dryland has helped immensely as well.
I also have the book Swimming Anatomy, but haven't taken the time yet to really go through it. It's on my to-do list.
I read FORT's blog for the newest cutting edge ideas.
Started CrossFit again - late Winter.
Kicks my a**, and probably isn't for the timid - but I do actually "love/hate" it!
Other than weight lifting I also jump rope, which I find to be an excellent exercise for breaststroke. It helps to develop explosiveness, quickness and anaerobic capacity and I noticed a significant increase in fitness once I added it to my exercise routine. Now, if I could only jump rope like this guy someday... :)
YouTube- Buddy Lee Power Jump Double-Under
For my flutter and dolphin kick I do these ankle exercises.
I only mentioned the benefits of jump roping on my breaststroke, but I also noticed a lot of improvement on the pushoff of my flipturn (which makes sense; the motion is exactly the same). I'm also pretty sure that it can benefit other strokes.
What is your jump rope routine? How often do you do it?
I'll alternate between several of these sets:
www.projectswole.com/.../
Sometimes I'll change the intervals to simulate swimming broken 200s and 100s. I'll do this 2 to 3 times a week.
Keep in mind that this is a pretty intense workout for your legs. Before trying high intensity workouts with the rope, you should begin SLOWLY. Start jumping 5 minutes a day and gradually increase the time you jump until you can jump for at least 10 minutes straight without getting too tired. Make sure you also jump with proper form and try to jump on a soft surface that absorbs impact (wood floors, etc). Try to learn tricks, like the double unders, the criss cross, single leg jumps, etc. These will allow you to perform higher intesity workouts.
But, as I said, please start slowly. Otherwise, you'll end up like me: I made the mistake of jumping a lot on my first sessions and got incredibly sore calves. I could barely walk :(
If you have anymore questions, feel free to post them and I'll try to answer them as best as I can :)
