Member Question: Upper Body Strength for Swimming.

author : Michael Silva

comments : 1

I don't really strength train (because I never have and don't really know much about it) and feel like my lack of upper body strength is the reason why I'm not getting faster.

Question from snipkos:

I'm busting a gut in swim training and although I'm improving in the sense that I feel I have more energy when exiting the swim for the bike, my times aren't getting any faster. I don't really strength train (because I never have and don't really know much about it) and feel like my lack of upper body strength is the reason why I'm not getting faster. I would love a list of swim-specific upper body exercises to help improve my swimming (preferably with descriptions and/or pics, if at all possible). I know a few basic exercises, but would like to learn more.

Answer:

As you may or may not know, strength training will make you a faster, more efficient swimmer, all while lessening your chance of injury. For triathletes, leg strength and endurance take precedence over upper body condition. However, most people don’t realize that during the crawl stroke, the most common stroke for triathletes, your arm stroke accounts for approximately 90% of your speed. [.....]

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date: July 5, 2005