When it comes to swimming, your chest, shoulders, and core work hard to keep your body moving and balanced. The best strength training for swimmers includes exercises that help to build up these muscles, which ultimately helps you move faster through the water and protects you from injury.
Incorporate the exercises below into your swim routine to help improve your power in the pool.
More: Strength Training for Swimmers
Plank and Alternating Superman
Your core helps to stabilize you and keeps you from dropping your rear or having your stroke send you from side to side, so it's important you keep it strong.
To strengthen your core, try plank pose. Place your forearms on the floor, hands flat, with your elbows directly below your shoulders, engage your core to pull yourself up and hold on your forearms and toes. Hold like this, engaging your core for 30 seconds to one minute, upping your time as you get stronger.
Another exercise to work your core is the alternating superman. This exercise mimics the way your body moves in the water and challenges your core by forcing you to hold it tight for balance and from rolling one way or the other.
Lie on the ground facedown and reaching your arms out in front of you and your legs straight. Raise your right arm and left leg off the ground. Hold for 10 seconds. Switch and repeat on the opposite side for one full rep. Repeat this 12 times.
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Nicole Morell
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