dryland workouts?

a routine i've done on and off for a while. when its on i get good results. 2-3 times a week 't reach muscle failure you won't gain much strength, so you need to use heavier weights or increase intensity. start off with the largest muscles moving to the smaller ones. I recomend a book or web research to make sure you do the exercises right and don't hurt yourself. squats calve raises roman dead lift - pulled this one out of a men's mag. bench press - i don't have bench anymore, but you can do one arm at a time lying on the side of a bed - just don't fall off. rows shoulder press standing curls - both arms at the same time forget what their called - you lie on back. hold dumbells above your chest. leave your elbows stationary. lower dumbells to your temples and back up to starting position - like a pull over. weighted crunches or your choice of ab-work - i like to mix em up to get different parts

I'm no expert...and Justin, I don't want you to take this personally but, this goes against everything I have been told and taught. don't be such a downer. my post was not meant to be a perfect weight training workout for swimming. your type of dryland workout should reflect you personal fitness or swimming goals. i'm not trying to set records. my goal is to improve overall fitness. i personally feel fitter when i've been lifting and have felt stronger in the water. hard to say if this translates into faster swimming times. they probably do for short distance swimming. i don't swim in meets. i was trying to give an example of a dryland workout that doesn't take a long time and works most major muscle groups. sometimes its hard to devote enough time at the pool or at the gym. between sets i can talk with my wife, play with the dog, open mail, check email, watch tv, fold laundry........list goes on. i'm 6' and weigh 165-175lbs. a little bulk probably wouldn't hurt me. 10 reps wouldn't make you bulk huge- this is, i think somewhere in the middle. i also think its a good plan to maintain strength. low reps 2-6 are heavy and will make you bulk with a proper plan.

a routine i've done on and off for a while. when its on i get good results. 2-3 times a week 't reach muscle failure you won't gain much strength, so you need to use heavier weights or increase intensity. start off with the largest muscles moving to the smaller ones. I recomend a book or web research to make sure you do the exercises right and don't hurt yourself. squats calve raises roman dead lift - pulled this one out of a men's mag. bench press - i don't have bench anymore, but you can do one arm at a time lying on the side of a bed - just don't fall off. rows shoulder press standing curls - both arms at the same time forget what their called - you lie on back. hold dumbells above your chest. leave your elbows stationary. lower dumbells to your temples and back up to starting position - like a pull over. weighted crunches or your choice of ab-work - i like to mix em up to get different parts I'm no expert...and Justin, I don't want you to take this personally but, this goes against everything I have been told and taught. If you do heavy weights, you will add bulk. Bulk is not good for swimming. You want long, strong muscles. I was more successful personally when I did low weight with lots of repetitions. When I tried heavy weights, I got bulky and never swam well. Find what works best for you. I swam my best when I did sets like this.... bench press for 30 seconds with 15 lbs as fast as you can (with good form) rest 30 seconds repeat 10 through This builds strength, muscle endurance and works your "fast twitch" muscles This is just my opinion based on my experience. Please feel free to disagree and tell your story.

don't be such a downer. Didn't mean it that way.....:dunno: I'm definitely not a "downer". Just giving my opinion based on my experience....reread my post and you will see that.

Justin, I'm actually a sprinter. 50 free and 100 free are my best events.

Hi, I've been using dryland workouts to help me get faster in the water for a while now. Like a few people have eluded to, there's a different workout for everyone, depending on your goals, and how much you're going to focus your training on swimming alone, or for general health and fitness. As a rule, I've been told that lifting VERY heavy, for short bursts (low reps) helps strength, lifting fairly heavy for 10-12 reps is for adding bulk, and lifting lighter weights for 20-25 reps is best for toning muscles and for muscular endurance. I'm basically a sprinter, so I do use heavy weights for very few reps. I find it's pretty hard to add size when you're swimming 3-4 days a week. I also do a lot of core exercises (sit-ups, planks, swiss ball stuff, etc). I'm no expert, so take this advice with a grain of salt.

I swam my best when I did sets like this.... bench press for 30 seconds with 15 lbs as fast as you can (with good form) rest 30 seconds repeat 10 through This builds strength, muscle endurance and works your "fast twitch" muscles your probably a slow twitch muscle person. that type of workout will maximize and build your slow twitch muscles.

More important then the bulk versus long muscles is power versus strength. Power is how much you can lift once. Strength is how much you can lift over a give period of time. Strength is more useable muscle in everyday activities to include swimming. I got this workout from some SEALs I used to work with: Pick about 7 exercises (flat bench, incline bench, decline bench, seated row, lat pull-down, curls, tricep curls) Lift the weight as many times as you can in 2 minutes (should be 20-40). When you get to 40, add weight to get back to the 20-40 reps before muscle failure. You can rest as often as you like. You need to get about two-thirds of your goal before your first rest. You only do each exercise once. No resting between exercises except to set-up the bar/machine. Whole workout will take about 20 minutes. A great workout and should NOT be done everytime; mix in circuit training and some other form of resistance training. Keep shocking your body to see strength improvements.

I personally enjoy running: 10 min warmup @3.3mph, gradually switching to 5-10 incline 5 min warmup @6.0mph 2 min @ 9.0mph 1 min @ 3.3 2 min @ 9.1 1 min @ 3.3 2 min @ 9.2 ... continue to 10.0mph Of course if that is easy for you, then I suggest starting at a faster pace. Similarly, if it's a little fast, then start off with something a little slower. It should be arduous, but I think it's the best 30 minutes (excl warmup) spent on a treadmill. (as opposed to 30 min of running at X-mph pace) I do this workout Mon, Weds, Thurs, Fri. long distance run on Sunday (8 miles or so) Tues (legs) / Saturday (arms) weights - 25 reps of everything for muscle endurance I've been doing this workout for a bit before starting swimming again... and after 10 years of NOT swimming, I'm pretty proud to say that it was pretty painless.

Ok, so here's my dryland. Usually done every Tue. and Thu., occasionally I'll add a Sat. if I'm bored. I devote one session to the following bodyparts, back, shoulders, chest, legs, and arms. For example, Tue. - back, Thu.-shoulders, Sat.-chest, Tue.-legs, Thu.-arms. This allows for 11 days of rest between bodyparts. I've found that for me I need the extra time to get stronger. I'll swim MWF, and do stroke work, short stuff after weights on Tue. & Thu. The exercises are as follows; Back - chins with weight (3 sets, 6-12reps), dumbell rows (3 sets, 12-14reps). Shoulders - standing shoulder press (3 sets, 6-12reps), barbell shrugs (3 sets, 6-30reps), dumbell lateral raises (3 sets, 8-14reps). Chest - incline bench press (3 sets, 6-10reps), rotator cuff exercise (4 sets, 15-20reps), dumbell presses on swiss ball (3 sets, 8-12reps). Legs - box squats (4 sets, 6-12reps), good mornings (3 sets, 6-12reps), box hops (4 sets, 5-8reps), standing calf raises (3 sets, 10-14reps). Arms - barbell or bicep curls (3 sets, 6-12reps), close-grip bench press (3 sets, 6-12reps). My dryland work is usually completed in 30-45min. I also work abs and obliques on each dryland day.:wiggle: