Gym Workouts for Swimming Faster and Longer: An Introduction

Do you want to swim faster, longer and improve your all-around fitness? The correct gym training can provide you with the extra strength and muscle conditioning you need to meet your goals. What you need to take care of is to pick  gym workouts routine which works for your swimming and not against it.

In this post we will see: what are the benefits of the right gym workout for swimming and how to design  gym workouts routine to improve your swimming performance.

The benefits to swimming of a workout in the gym.

A gym workout routing focused on increasing strength and endurance, maintaining
flexibility and not largely increasing muscle size is an optimal support for improving swimming performance.
To get the full benefit the gym training needs to be designed to improve strength were it matters most
for the specific stroke you are interested in. For example, for influencing your crawling the training in the gym should focus on triceps
and upper back muscle groups which provide the biggest part of the propulsion while crawling. Dips and pull-ups exercises with repetition number around 15-20 are
an optimal choice. Gym workouts, however can backfire at you if not done properly. Swimmers need to keep the muscles fiber long and flexible to stretch out and get the water far in front at them. Make sure to run your set of repetitions slowly and completing the movement to stretch out the muscle. Never compromise flexibility for strength or you will sink. Whatever short distance you are swimming you will need a certain endurance training so I would not go lower than 10 repetitions per set.
A fundamental step in the swimming workout in the gym is the stretching part, if you want to make use of the newly acquired strength you need to
put it together with well stretched muscles that permits you to keep the swimming technique at its best. When you think strength training in the gym for improving performance in the pool you need to think about a powerful car without tires. Power is nothing without control, and getting stronger at the expenses of your sensibility in the water is a crime! So train your muscles but remember if you will lose your feeling and your track in the water you wont make any progress.

Swimming workouts in the gym to improve performance

As for any workout start up with warming up. You can use a rowing machine, a treadmill or anything similar, but keep it at low intensity. Allow 15-20 minutes to build up your heart rate. This will increase blood flow, body temperature and get your system ready to workout. Workout all the major muscle groups used in swimming your stroke, focus on a balanced strength gain and you will keep away from injures. A unbalanced body is more prone to get injured. As it was mentioned before the best gym swimming workout routine should run on sets with around 20 repetitions, 3 sets for each muscle groups. You should not run the last rep to complete exhaustion, these will help keeping the muscle fiber flexible and you, injures free. So select the weight carefully. Keeping a log of your training is essential to keep track of your improvements and maintain you motivated. Write down the date, time, sets and repetitions, amount of weight for each lift, and other comments for the day, for example general feeling about the workout. You will use this information throughout the program to track your progress. Run your routine two or three times a week starting easy the first couple of weeks as the muscles need time to the new kind of training effort. As you progress through the training plan, you will notice the 20 repetition feel easier. It is time to increase the weight. Do not over do it, smooth progression is the key to not jeopardize your swimming technique, and to not to lose your feeling in the water. After each gym workout session stretch thoroughly but softly all the muscles.

Swimming strength workouts: The bottom line

Working out in the gym to build up your strength is an excellent way to improve your performance in the pool. Swimming faster, though is not only about being stronger, it is mostly about being able to transfer the strength from the muscles to the water. This cannot be achieved if you lose muscle flexibility, get a poorer technique because of increased muscle mass and jeopardize your track. The best way to train in the gym to swim faster is to keep the number of repetition around 20 with an easy weight, built your strength slow throughout the training plan and focus on stretching after working out. Train with your brain and get faster in the pool.
Keep healthy, Keep swimming.

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Tags: gym for swimmers, Gym workout, swim faster, Swimming Training