Why swimmers need to train for power outside the water
Former Member
Bottom line is that we can improve our power more on land than we can just doing sprint sets and power racks in the water. Training for power in the water is essential for swimmers but should be complimented with a solid dryland/strength program.
Strength training does not have to include heavy lifting (in fact if you go to heavy, you move to slow and that is not ideal for increasing power output). Try simple bodywieght exercises such as squatting, lunging, pull - ups and of course a lot of core and rotational work. Once you master the basics you can progress to more explosive movements such as squat jumps, split jumps, and explosive pull - ups.
Of course there is much more to get into on this topic. It is just my opinion that to many swimmers and coaches use the "high rep to increase muscular endurance" philosophy in the weight room. Don't you think we get enough muscular endurance from all the volume we do in the pool?? I feel it is better to use our dryland time focusing on explosive movements, power is something that to many swimmers lack.
What are you thoughts out there?
Former Member
. Drylands are fun but not the sole answer to better swimming. They do alleviate some of the boredom of swimming.
In my own personal case (for what it's worth), it's little (just a little) more complex than this.
I can not improve my swimming power without dryland work. This dryland work is solely aimed at preventing injuries that (again, in my own personal case) will undoubtedly pop up. So in this context, dryland indirectly improves my swimming power by allowing me to log more mileage injury free.
It is true for free, and absolutely crucial for fly.
I'm not convinced. I thought this thread was supposed to tell me why I need to train for power outside the water, but it seems like that's sort of the going in assumption. Please explain why I can't increase my swimming power adequately just by swimming.
Yeah, I'm just seeing a bunch of assertions and no arguments.
I agree with this to a certain extent, but I think "muscular endurance" formed by doing exercises with 12-20 reps is much different than the type of endurance forged by doing repeat 1000s. Or even repeat 100s. Totally agree. In fact, I think that there aren't much difference for a swimmer between doing 8-10 or 12-20 reps in the gym. Both are very remote from the sort of endurance a swimmer needs to maintain fast pace.
