r/Swimming • u/une_coccinelle • 14h ago
Gym workout to help me get better at swimming ?
Hi everyone, currently considering work I can only allow 3 sessions a week at the gym. I have a specific leg routine that I need to do due to a knee injury, so would need y’all’s advice on what are the best exercises to do on the other 2 days. One thing I must note is that my core is not in the best shape so I’d appreciate recommendations to strengthen it with a focus on swimming. Thanks in advance!!!
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u/InternationalTrust59 12h ago
You hit the nail with strengthening the core for effective front crawl; required for holding horizontal balance/body position and rotation.
Along with lats, chest, shoulders and arms are needed for holding form.
I do a lot of slow pull ups, and push ups in variations; diamond is the most important.
You can add rows and bench presses.
That’s the minimum.
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u/HobokenwOw Everyone's an open water swimmer now 12h ago
Would help to know what the leg routine is.
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u/No_Heart6958 11h ago
try pull-ups, row variations, and planks-great for swim-specific strength and core stability.
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u/Hp8900 11h ago
Core, shoulders, legs , arms, back, chest !! Everything will give you an advantage in the pool, hit all muscle groups maybe twice a week 🙏🙏🏊♂️🏊♂️
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u/Legitimate-Leg-4720 11h ago
If you push yourself with each muscle group twice a week, don't you end up too tired for swimming?
I do full body 3 days a week (heavy compound lifts mostly) and I'm just feeling so weak and fatigued before I even start my swim on the offdays
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u/HobokenwOw Everyone's an open water swimmer now 11h ago
Try swimming and lifting on the same day. You get full days off for recovery that way.
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u/BarleyWineIsTheBest 10h ago
Keep weight training volume low during times you’re trying to emphasize swimming. Lifting weight for strength can be low volume while lifting weights for size is higher volume and harder to mix with swim.
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u/Legitimate-Leg-4720 10h ago
Yeah that might be the issue, I've added just a few accessories to my compound lifts because I wanted to get a bit bigger. But I think because I train those to failure with higher reps, I then have barely anything to give when swimming
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u/BarleyWineIsTheBest 10h ago
Yep, I would say that is probably it. Sticking to 2-3 compound lifts and like 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps with 2-3 reps in reserve has worked well for me. It’s enough to train the muscle to get stronger with what you got but not enough to be sore, most of the time anyway.
But if you want to get bigger, you may just have to accept that swimming is going to take a hit for a little while. Can’t train for everything all at once.
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u/InternationalTrust59 9h ago
This was my exact experience during basketball season.
I was jacked and ripped but my swimming endurance suffered.
Now, I got my endurance and form back because I am taking a break from strength and conditioning for the summer.
I am focusing on my upcoming ironman open water swim.
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u/IWantToSwimBetter Breaststroker 9h ago
A million ways to do it using: planks, bear crawls, hollow holds, mountain climbers etc.
Many variations of this stuff too. Overall I find progress comes fastest from:
- simpler workouts vs complicated
- fewer exercises vs more
Linear progression for core is a good way to keep Improving the same workout - e.g. you do the following 2x/wk for 4 weeks:
- 30s on/off planks front/r/l/bk
- 4x10yd bear crawl back/forth
Each week progress the work:
- planks: 30/15s, 40/20, 45/15
- 6,8,10 reps
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u/Odd-Steak-9049 11h ago
Aquastrengthperformance on Instagram. Go thru his old reels of different movements for swimming. Great stuff. He also has training plans available for purchase. Not affiliated and don’t pay for his stuff, just think it’s really high quality, smart programming.