Ramp up your strength with dryland training.

While there’s nothing as essential for swimming as water, there are plenty of ways you can improve your swimming performance without getting wet. For those athletes who have trouble getting to the pool as often as they might like, effective dry-land training can be a helpful fallback.

Optimal body position and stroke technique are crucial for a fast swim, but they’re not the only key elements. Applying more force to the water throughout each stroke—while maintaining correct technique and body position—will also make you go faster. By building power and the endurance to deliver that power efficiently, you will be able to swim faster with no increase in exertion.

Dry-land training with ergometers and stretch cords is very effective for developing power and muscular endurance, because both ergometers and stretch cords deliver consistent resistance throughout an exercise set. You can also develop the muscles responsible for stroke recovery by changing your position relative to the stretch cords, which is particularly vital to athletes unaccustomed to swimming in a full wetsuit.

Read more about the exercises you can do to ramp up at SwimSwam.com…