Core training has become an essential part of a swimmer’s preparation. Here’s a look at how a stronger core improves swimming performance.
Core strength has been one of the buzzwords on pool decks in the past 15 years.
More than just a fad, core strength is something that swimmers from Caeleb Dressel to Sarah Sjostrom have all said are essential cogs in their training wheel.
Strength and conditioning specialist and former Olympic swimmer Nick Folker of Bridge Athletic constantly discusses the necessity of having a strong core often when working with Olympic champion swimmers such as Nathan Adrian, Anthony Ervin, and Natalie Coughlin.
Whether we are talking about improving your underwater dolphin kick, your start, or the amount of propulsion generated through your pull, it all originates from one place – the power plant of your body, the core.
Strong and efficient swimming begins at the core, at the center, and radiates out from there, through the quads, back and shoulders to the arms, hands and feet.
When you rotate side to side while doing freestyle, when you are pulling your heels to your butt during a breaststroke kick; each of these movements uses your core to properly execute.
The benefits of having a strong core go far beyond the pool, as you will learn briefly.
Here are four ways that improved core strength will help you perform better in the water (and in life!)—
1. Improve stability and balance in the water.
A strong core gives you greater stability and balance. This occurs because the core acts as a stabilizer to the pelvis and spine.
And with a stable spine, you are better positioned to complete the chlorinated tasks at hand, whether that’s today’s brutal kick set or doing a long lung-buster set with your pull buoy tucked between your legs.
As mentioned previously, any and all movements – and we are talking non-swimming movements as well such as walking, running, and lifting – pass through the centre of your body.
Core exercises specifically designed for enhanced swimming performance improve stability and balance in the water, which then allow swimmers to exert more power and strength.
2. Keeps you streamlined.
Try streamlining with a loose (unflexed) mid-section. Now do it while sucking in your belly button and engaging your glutes.
Feel the difference? You should!
Having an engaged mid-section puts you in a rigid streamline. Beyond the pool this means that you will have improved posture, something that most swimmers I know could benefit from.
Anti-movement exercises like long lever planks, Pallof presses, and side planks all teach you how to position your body in a way that is long, strong, and streamlined–essential for faster and more efficient swimming.
On a personal note, I suffered from swimmer’s shoulder for years. I saw several different physical therapists and chiropractors, who prescribed painful deep tissue massage, various mobility exercises, and thousands of reps with small resistance bands. Nothing worked. It wasn’t until a grad student at UVic suggested I simply try to have better posture. Sometimes things are that simple.
3. Injury prevention.
Nothing ruins a swimmer’s day faster than a sharp pang in one of the shoulder joints. Having a developed core means the body is straight and aligned, reducing the stress on joints and muscles.
Whether it is providing a stable platform for your pulling motion (to help avoid swimmer’s shoulder, for instance), or helping strengthen your hip movements and thereby helping avoid breaststroker knee issues, as well.
A strong, stable core does more than help you better connect parts of the body and control your bodyline in the water–it supports better posture so that you can kick and pull more and worry less about poor technique and inefficient movement patterns causing injuries.
4. Increased force output.
The benefit that will most appeal to you is this one. A strong core allows greater force transfer to the outer muscles and limbs, including the arms for the pull, and the legs for your kick.
A well-connected core means that you are able to utilize roll, undulation, and the power in your hips and shoulders to shoot power and more speed out of your hands and feet.
Additionally, having increased core strength will come in very helpful for when you become fatigued in your swimming. Over time in the water, whether you are a distance swimmer or a sprinter, fatigue comes for us all.
- In the distance events, force output steadily declines in the erector spinae–the muscles that support the spine–which leads to the hips dropping, drag increasing, and the cost-per-meter exploding.
- In the sprints, we rely on the obliques to help decelerate the powerful shoulder and upper back rotation performed to support higher stroke rates and increased time spent in propulsive phases. The obliques help to control and change roll direction so that swimmers can keep churning those arms and kicking those legs in a sprinty froth.
One of my favorite core exercises is the almighty (and challenging) ab roller wheel. When you think about the full extension required to complete the exercise, the overhead extension, the bracing of the lower back, you can start to see how it transfers to swimming strongly in the water.
Keeping the glutes engaged will keep your kick going, and the improved body position will help you keep your stroke together for longer.
3 Dryland Workouts for Swimmers. No pool? No problem! Here are three dryland workouts for swimmers from beginner to advanced that you can do at home or on deck.
