Swimming Anatomy

1. Position yourself so that when you are kneeling, the high pulley is diagonally behind your shoulder.

2. Reaching up and back, grasp the handle with both hands.

3. Initiate the movement with your abdominal muscles. The arms should act as an extension of the torso.

4. Using an arcing movement, guide the handle downward toward the opposite knee.

5. Reverse the movement to return to the starting position.

Muscles Involved

Primary:Rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique

Secondary:Serratus anterior, latissimus dorsi, pectoralis major

Swimming Focus

Because it starts with the arms and trunk in an elongated and stretched position, this exercise helps swimmers develop confidence and strength in their stroke during the initial portion of the pulling phase of all four strokes. Another key to this exercise is that the actions performed recruit the latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major, which helps to link their activation with that of the involved abdominal muscles. This coordination in muscle activation helps swimmers generate more power with their arm movements by linking them to the core.

When performing the exercise, the head should follow the movements of the hands. This action links the movements of the arms to the movements of the torso, which in turn targets the abdominal muscles. Not doing this poses the risk that the movements will be performed predominantly with the arms rather than the trunk, thus negating most of the benefits of the exercise.

Physioball Prayer Roll

Execution

1. Using your forearms, support your upper body on a physioball. Support your lower body with your knees and toes.

2. Set your abdominal muscles to stabilize your spine in a neutral position.

3. Roll the ball out slowly, allowing your arms to move with the ball and your knees to straighten.

4. Pause in the ending position and then return to the start.

Muscles Involved

Primary:Rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, transversus abdominis

Secondary:Latissimus dorsi, serratus anterior, gluteus maximus, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus

Swimming Focus

This core-strengthening exercise is particularly useful for breaststrokers. It can help them develop confidence when the body is in an elongated position at the start of the pulling phase. Additionally, the exercise targets the abdominal muscles in a way that will carry over to strengthening the undulating body movements that occur during breaststroke and butterfly.

To get the maximum benefit out of performing this exercise, you must stabilize the spine in a neutral position for the entire time. Dropping the hips and arching the back is a sign that this control has been lost. The difficulty of the exercise can be modified by altering the starting forearm placement on the physioball. If the starting position of the hand and forearms is lower on the ball and closer to the floor, the exercise becomes more difficult because you will be able to roll the ball farther away from the body.

Physioball Upper-Trunk Rotation

Execution

1. Sit on a physioball and slide down into a bridge position with your neck and shoulders balanced on the ball. Point your arms toward the ceiling.

2. While keeping your hips straight and your spine in a neutral position, rotate your upper body to one side.

3. Pause and then rotate to the opposite side.

Muscles Involved

Primary:External oblique, internal oblique, transversus abdominis

Secondary:Serratus anterior, rectus abdominis, rectus femoris, gluteus maximus, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus

Swimming Focus

The rotational movements performed during the exercise are useful for strengthening the oblique muscles, which in turn will help to strengthen the linkage between the legs and arms during freestyle and backstroke. This exercise also improves awareness and control of hip position, which can help a swimmer who is having trouble keeping the hips elevated when swimming backstroke.

The degree of rotational movement performed during the exercise depends on the ability to keep the hips straight, meaning that the shoulders should be rotated until the hip position can no longer be controlled. When just learning how to perform the exercise or for those with weak core musculature, the best approach is to keep the rotational movements small and focus initially on maintaining the bridge position for a 60-second hold. As proficiency with the exercise increases, the focus can be shifted toward increasing the rotational movements of the upper body and performing a set number of repetitions.

Physioball Jackknife

Execution

1. Begin with a physioball positioned under your feet, and then walk your hands out to move into the starting position.