Video: Dry Land Swim Exercises You Can Do at Home

Maybe it’s cold outside. Maybe your pool is closed. Or maybe you just don’t feel like diving in today. When you want to hold onto some swim fitness without setting foot in the water, try a dry land workout.These swim exercises and dry land alternatives can help you hold onto your fitness and maybe even make you an overall stronger swimmer. Professional triathlete and coach Laurel Wasser is sharing dry land swim exercises you can do with stretch cords. You can buy them at almost any sporting good stores. You’re looking for something like these stretch cords or these. You want them to be stretchy and not too tight.

Wassner mentions it in the video, but it’s worth reiterating: Don’t think of these dry land swimming exercises as weight training. The movements and pace are different. These exercises mimic both the strength and cardio needed to become a better swimmer. See a list of the swimming exercises below and then watch Wassner demonstrate each movement in the video at the bottom.

Related: Triathlete’s Guide to Indoor Training

Dry Land Swim Exercises You Can Do at Home

Beginners: Do each exercise for 30 seconds with 20 seconds recovery.
Intermediate: 40 seconds on, 20 recovery
Advanced: 50 on, 10 recovery.

Go through each swimming exercise consecutively. Then take a two-minute break to stretch and get water. Do the entire set of exercises up to three times through.

Exercise 1: Double Arm Pull

Exercise 2: Tricep Push-Down

Exercise 3: Chest Fly

Exercise 4: Breaststroke

Exercise 5: Single-Arm Pull

Exercise 6: “The Gorilla”

Exercise 7: “The Windshield Wiper”