Why do swimmers have dryland workouts?

We are a swim team, so why do dryland workout at all?  There are lots of reasons to create and maintain a strong dryland program as part of our overall conditioning at CCAQ.  First, understand we are not trying to turn CCAQ into a track team. Cardiovascular conditioning is the same whether you run, swim, kick a ball or shoot a hoop.  The overall condition of our athletes is observed and tracked by the coaches of the team regardless of the activity.  Many of the exercises we perform as part of the dryland program are designed to further our overall conditioning of the team.

Flexibility is increased through specific activities including stretching, and certain plyometric activities.  There is a wealth of evidence that more flexible athletes (i.e. Dara Torres) are better suited to maintaining proper posture in the pool, full extension of arm and leg motions, and balance in the water. Flexible swimmers are better able to articulate their bodies in the water reducing resistance thus increasing speed.

Core strength is enhanced. While proper execution of the swim motions in a pool will serve as a tremendous core strength program, the addition of dryland core work will help to develop slightly different musculature than in the pool, and also allow athletes to strengthen secondary and tertiary muscles in a gravity environment that may not happen in the buoyant water environment.

Finally, development of opposing muscle groups is particularly important for swimmers. With the upper body serving as the primary muscles for propulsion in the pool, swimmers have a tendency to over develop lateral muscles of the back and front pectoral muscles. This often causes swimmers to curl their shoulders forward into the familiar swimmers slouch. This over development can be a root cause of some shoulder injuries. A good dryland program (like that at CCAQ) will help swimmers develop opposing muscle groups that are not used in the pool. This will help prevent injuries, and help rehabilitate those that have already occurred.

 

Todd Brinker
Interim Head Coach