Core Strength Training
VIDEO: Jemma Lowe demonstrates some core strength training exercises for swimmers.
SwimPath Blog — Training & Technique
Summer Exercises
When Summer finally comes around and all the competitions have been and gone, hard working swimmers are mentally and physically ready for a break. Rest and time away from the sport is extremely important for athletes that train at such high intensity through out the year. The body needs to rest and recover to be able to work hard again in the new year ahead. An average summer break for swimmers can be between 2-4 weeks, in this time a lot of fitness and strength can be lost and swimming can feel very difficult at the start of the new season.
Land Exercises for Swimmers
Jemma Lowe demonstrates some important land exercises for swimmers in this video.
RAMP-ing your warm ups
As a coach I have been guilty of setting 400m loosen as a warm up - in fact it became a mainstay to every session. Not that there is much drastically wrong with it, apart from the fact that it didn't really do much other than get the swimmer wet! Once in and the loosen completed we would then go into some building work and actually address 'warming up' (as opposed to the cooling down offered by a slow 400m in water colder than the air temperature on deck!) When I started to look at my warm ups a bit closer, I realised that I was just trying to 'take up' the first 20 minutes or so of a 2hr session, because usually what I wanted to get out of the session didn't require 2 hours...
Ultra Short training - building the qualities
As a swimmer who always struggled to engage with the endless repetitions (300s pull; 400s reducing; T20s etc) and as a coach who has always looked for different methodologies in eliciting training responses (ultra short work; pool circuits; tabata protocols; race pace repeats etc) and achieving success with these models, USRPT is I believe a great way of getting in the pool, getting the job done... and going home!!
