Dryland Training For Swimmers

How about something for those who want to do just a wee bit of drylands? This summer my "training" is once per week drylands, 20 min on my Vasa, 2 x swims per week and 1 "flex swim" which means that's usually a 50 free race. We bought an office building in late spring! It's totally awesome. I really feel like I have Made It To The Top when I own something that requires 2 handicap spaces and 2 bathrooms to meet code. I have put most of my emotional energy into that, so just maintaining exercise thru the summer.... Sooo......for those of you who are like me these days and working really hard in everything except the water & drylands, here is my Summer of 2011 Drylands When Not Using My Vasa!!! My new thing: with limited time and quite limited energy, I wanted to mix it up and do something fun and but still geared towards Swimming Transference: ROLLS! There is is something just so satisfying and you get that feeling of accomplishement when you GO somewhere. 1. "Core rolls" - lie on your back on a mat that is quite long lengthwise (the direction you will be going). Cross your arms on your chest mummy style. Lift your legs and bend at the knees, like you are going to do a crunch. But instead, amaze your gymmates as you start "shrimping" down the mat sideways. Resist using your elbows, and move in a controlled fashion. Make sure you are going straight - you will tend to veer off the mat as your hips or your upper torso do more work. 2. "Yoga Pulls" - go to the yoga room when not in use. Get a yoga blanket and put it on the floor. Lie on it. Lift your legs (straight or bend) and then put your arms out like you are going to swim. Palms down, your forearms on the ground, too. Now, anchor, and pull yourself across the floor! (Sort of like the army crawl) Intimide everyone doing traditional yoga as you swiftly "swim" across the room! 3. "Mummy Rolls" - this is quite fun! Probably not too challenging, unless you can go fast enough with enough control. Same mat as #1. Lie mummy style again, legs straight. Now, roll, 360 turns! All the way down, with control, using all your core and stabilizing muscles to go perfectly straight, which is not as easy as it looks! Amazing everyone in the gym and you will likely scare most people away from the mats with this one. 4. "Moving Pushups" - this is fun! Get in pushup position, same start as #1 and #3. Do a push up, and as you are pushing up, hurl your body 1 position down in a controlled and even movement. No cheating and lifting or thrusting with your butt! You can add difficulty by adding a clap or going faster, as long as you can control it. In all, make sure to turn around and go the other way to work the other side! And my bonus - in addition to my cartwheels, I have added the crabwalk, alternating the traditional crab and the upside down crab. You can vary this by lifting your bottom more, not sinking into your shoulders, or doing variations of leg lifts with the upside down crab. Totally fun! Practically speaking, it's not always easy to monopolize the entire stretch/exercise mats. I usually can't get them all in one day unless there's really no one there. So for #4, I often do a pyramid of pushups. If you go 1 through 10 and back down, that's 100 pushups (someone check my math). I usually just do 1 to 5 (1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1). Going up are normal pushups, going down I do with a clap. 25 is just right for me. For those who read these forums and think the recommendations are too "elite", I hope you enjoy these! You can start with a small pyramid or a few rolls!

How about something for those who want to do just a wee bit of drylands? This summer my "training" is once per week drylands, 20 min on my Vasa, 2 x swims per week and 1 "flex swim" which means that's usually a 50 free race. We bought an office building in late spring! It's totally awesome. I really feel like I have Made It To The Top when I own something that requires 2 handicap spaces and 2 bathrooms to meet code. I have put most of my emotional energy into that, so just maintaining exercise thru the summer.... Sooo......for those of you who are like me these days and working really hard in everything except the water & drylands, here is my Summer of 2011 Drylands When Not Using My Vasa!!! My new thing: with limited time and quite limited energy, I wanted to mix it up and do something fun and but still geared towards Swimming Transference: ROLLS! There is is something just so satisfying and you get that feeling of accomplishement when you GO somewhere. 1. "Core rolls" - lie on your back on a mat that is quite long lengthwise (the direction you will be going). Cross your arms on your chest mummy style. Lift your legs and bend at the knees, like you are going to do a crunch. But instead, amaze your gymmates as you start "shrimping" down the mat sideways. Resist using your elbows, and move in a controlled fashion. Make sure you are going straight - you will tend to veer off the mat as your hips or your upper torso do more work. 2. "Yoga Pulls" - go to the yoga room when not in use. Get a yoga blanket and put it on the floor. Lie on it. Lift your legs (straight or bend) and then put your arms out like you are going to swim. Palms down, your forearms on the ground, too. Now, anchor, and pull yourself across the floor! (Sort of like the army crawl) Intimide everyone doing traditional yoga as you swiftly "swim" across the room! 3. "Mummy Rolls" - this is quite fun! Probably not too challenging, unless you can go fast enough with enough control. Same mat as #1. Lie mummy style again, legs straight. Now, roll, 360 turns! All the way down, with control, using all your core and stabilizing muscles to go perfectly straight, which is not as easy as it looks! Amazing everyone in the gym and you will likely scare most people away from the mats with this one. 4. "Moving Pushups" - this is fun! Get in pushup position, same start as #1 and #3. Do a push up, and as you are pushing up, hurl your body 1 position down in a controlled and even movement. No cheating and lifting or thrusting with your butt! You can add difficulty by adding a clap or going faster, as long as you can control it. In all, make sure to turn around and go the other way to work the other side! And my bonus - in addition to my cartwheels, I have added the crabwalk, alternating the traditional crab and the upside down crab. You can vary this by lifting your bottom more, not sinking into your shoulders, or doing variations of leg lifts with the upside down crab. Totally fun! Practically speaking, it's not always easy to monopolize the entire stretch/exercise mats. I usually can't get them all in one day unless there's really no one there. So for #4, I often do a pyramid of pushups. If you go 1 through 10 and back down, that's 100 pushups (someone check my math). I usually just do 1 to 5 (1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1). Going up are normal pushups, going down I do with a clap. 25 is just right for me. For those who read these forums and think the recommendations are too "elite", I hope you enjoy these! You can start with a small pyramid or a few rolls!