Upper body workout for swim@gym

Yesterday I met with Beth for the first time after being approached by her in the gym asking for a session to help her with her upcoming sprint tri.

I put some leg stuff in her programme but here will give you just the swim specific upper body stuff. Bite-sized is good.


Warm up and kick in to action the muscle groups we will be using:

Light jog on the spot - 30 sec 
followed immediately by a standing balance on LEFT leg keep RIGHT knee high - 10 sec   
Light jog on the spot - 30 sec
followed immediately by a standing balance on RIGHT leg keep LEFT knee high - 10 sec

REPEAT the above set 2 more times increasing the balance by 10 seconds each time. 

Total time = 5 mins

This gradually increases the heart rate whilst activating the most instinctive core muscles for the balance.  

Mountain climbers 30 sec slow and controlled; focus on keeping the body flat and parallel to the floor in a plank position, squeezing the buttocks and abs, bring one knee at a time as far up to the chest as possible without raising the hips.
Followed by 30 seconds fast and hard maintaining good technique

REPEAT the above set 2 more times taking 10 seconds off the slow and adding 10 seconds to the fast each time. If you're feeling hard core, add another set AND YES the last set is 60 seconds off the back of a 50 seconds!

Total time 3-4 mins

"Suitcase squats"
Squats with a heavy dumbbell in one hand only - use a weight that you can manage to lift 10 times without failing technique. On the lift phase, maintain a vertical upper body - resist leaning to the side of the weight.

2 sets each side, total = 40 squats rest up to 60 seconds if needed between each set.

Single arm lat pull down
Using a top cable, attach a single handle and with one hand, pull the cable back but keep it above your head so the weights are off the stack and with a straight arm pull the handle down to the outside of your thigh.

20 reps on each arm, 3 sets

Front crawl cable 
Move the cable joint to shoulder height, again attach a single handle and pull the cable back to take the weight off the stack. Take a spilt stance and lean forward at the hip with a flat back as if you're lying in the water. Start with the arm extended fully, drop the forearm but keep the elbow high to engage the lats then explosively extend the arm back to the hip, recover low but like you would for front crawl.

20 reps on each arm, 3 sets

Double and single arm roll-outs 
Use dumbbells that allow the handle to roll independently of the weights either side. Kneel on a mat and place the 2 dumbbells (disregard the weight) in front of your knees on the floor. Rollthe dumbbells forward away from the body with straight arms whilst maintaining a plank-like position with the rest of the body. bring the body as low as possible, to a point of tension then return to the upright kneeling position by pressing into the floor and rolling them back, not by leading the hips back.and pulling the body up. keep the arms straight and body rigid.  
To increase difficulty, instead of doing the exercise from the knees, do it from the feet as in a full plank. 

The single arm roll outs are the same, but with arms moving alternately; this increases the use of the core and obliques as creates instability. it mimics the resistance your core should face when going hard through the water.

10 reps double followed immediately by 10 sets single (5 on each side) 3 sets. 

Don't forget to include an all over body stretch at the end of your workout.

Good luck!!!