January 9, 2011

This dry land swim training workout is for you swimmers out there who live in cold climates, and know you're supposed to be at the pool doing your workout, but it's just too chilly outside to put a few layers of clothes on, go warm up the car, drive the slip n' slide road to the pool, run inside, change in a frigid locker room, then stand staring at the pool for 5 minutes before finally mustering up enough courage to jump into the icy waters.

Yesterday, I experienced just such a conundrum, when my triathlon training program dictated that I go to the pool to swim a 1-hour set.

But instead of getting tough, braving the icy elements of Spokane, Washington and going to the pool, I invented the Official“Baby It's Too Cold Outside to Drive to the Pool” Dry Land Swim Training Workout.

Here's what you need (yes, pretty much just 2 things):

1. Elastic bands
2. Stability Ball

OK, now that you're ready, here is the Official “Baby It's Too Cold Outside To Drive To the Pool” Swim Workout:

Time: 45-60 minutes

Warm-Up – get the heart rate churning and pre-activate the core:

• 100 Jumping Jacks
• 50 Crunches
• 25 Side Crunches per side

Main Set – 5x through the following exercises:

• 25 Flutter Kicks per Side
• 25 Alternating Band Chest Press per Side (kneeling or standing)
• 25 Alternating Band Rows per Side (kneeling or standing)
• 15 Superman
• 15 High Elbow Band Pulls (standing, bent over)

Core Set – 5x through the following exercises:

• 50 Jumping Jacks or 25 High Knee Skips (standing in one place) per side
• 10 Stability Ball Pikes
• 10 Push-Up Position Corkscrew Twists per side

Metabolic Set: 5x through the following exercises

20 Speed Squats
10 Squat Thrust Jumps
25 Mountain Climbers
25 High Knee Skips (standing in one place)

In case you hadn't noticed, a little side bonus of this dry land swim training workout is that you get just a bit of lower body work too.

Anyways, I'm not about to claim that this workout will make you a faster swimmer, but it will…

1) Get you warm on a nice cold day;

2) Keep your swimming muscles stimulated and strong;

3) Burn some serious calories;

4) Significantly bump up your lung capacity; and

5) Make you feel considerably less guilty that you didn't go to the pool.

Leave your questions below, and if you try the workout, let me know by leaving a comment below!