Strength training for swimmers: what dry-land training did in the trials, the lifts, and a week beside the pool

Strength training for swimmers is usually called dry-land training: the work done out of the pool. A 2017 systematic review of competitive swimmers starts from two observations: most of the propulsive force in swimming comes from the upper body, and upper-body strength is strongly correlated with sprint performance. Its conclusion for the gym: specific, low-volume programs lifted with high force or speed transferred most to the water.¹ That review left out studies whose swimmers averaged under 16 and masters swimmers, so it describes competitors averaging 16 or older.

A 2022 review of 27 training studies in youth and older experienced swimmers found that swimming plus strength training seemed to do more for swimming performance than swimming alone, and that the three main kinds of strength work, resistance in the water, swim-like machines on land and ordinary gym lifting, brought similar gains of 2 to 2.5%. It found no clear answer on which kind is most useful.² The reviews favour adding strength work, and in the 2022 review no one kind clearly came out ahead.

Heavy or light: what the trials compared

Heavy, low-rep work came out ahead where it was tested. In 27 high-level university swimmers, men and women averaging 20.2 years, three groups trained twice a week for six weeks: heavy lifting at 80 to 95% of a one-rep max, plyometric jumps, or light weights for many reps as the comparison. Every group improved, but the heavy group beat the light-weight group on start distance, the time to 15 meters, 25 meters of kick only and of arms only, and the 25- and 50-meter freestyle; the jump group beat it on several of those too.³ That matches the 2017 review's low-volume, high-force conclusion.¹

Not every trial found a carry-over. In 24 college men, one group added eight weeks of dry-land training that copied the arm action of front crawl, three days a week; they lifted 25 to 35% more weight by the end, but their swimming didn't improve more than the group that only swam. The authors suggest the reason may be specificity: the strength gained on land didn't carry into force in the water.⁴ So the swimming stays hard alongside the lifting.

The core work that was tested

In 16 national-level male swimmers averaging 21.6 years, half added a core session three times a week for six weeks: flutter kicks, single-leg V-ups, back extensions on a ball and Russian twists, 4 rounds of 40 seconds on and 20 off, under 25 minutes. Both groups kept the same pool and gym training. The core group's 50-meter front crawl improved by 0.3 seconds (1.2%), and its time over the 5 meters after the turn improved by 0.1 seconds.⁵ The moves: flutter kicks, V-ups, back extensions and Russian twists.

Jumps for the start

In 23 women who swam but didn't compete, averaging 19.9 years, nine weeks of lifting built to improve the vertical jump, three times a week, improved their land tests and the take-off speed and angle of one start technique (the track start), but not the other two. They practised the dives weekly; the authors suggest the dives need practice for the new strength to show.⁶ So the jumps go in the gym, and the starts go in the pool. The jumps themselves: box jumps and plyometric exercises.

The lifts for swimmers

The reasons come from the reviews above; the picks inside each row are practical.

Lift the main pulls and squats heavy, for 3 to 6 reps once you know the movement; that's the practical version of the trial's 80 to 95%.³ How much weight to lift covers picking the load, and pull-ups vs lat pulldown covers which pull to start with.

A sample week

A practical layout, not a protocol from a trial. Two gym days match the university trial's twice a week,³ and the core session runs three times, as in the core trial.⁵

Put the gym after the swim or on an easier pool day, and keep the hardest pool session away from the morning after heavy legs. Cardio and lifting covers the order.

Common questions

Can swimmers do strength training at home?

Partly. The core session above needs the floor, a gym ball and, as the trial progressed, light weights such as dumbbells or a medicine ball,⁵ and the jumps need nothing. The heavy pulling that the trials favoured needs a bar or a band: a pull-up bar in a doorway, or the band pulls on the resistance band workout.

Should swimmers lift heavy or light?

Heavy and low in volume: in the university trial the 80 to 95% group beat the light, high-rep group,³ and the 2017 review reached the same conclusion across studies.¹

Does dry-land training make you faster in the water?

In the 2022 review, all three kinds of strength work came with gains of about 2 to 2.5%,² though one trial in college men found no carry-over.⁴ Swimming itself stays the main event.

How many days a week should swimmers lift?

Two, in the university trial,³ with a short core session three times a week in the core trial.⁵

If you'd rather have the week planned

Gym days beside a pool schedule are a scheduling problem as much as a training one. Coaching here is general strength and fitness coaching, not swim coaching: your workouts are built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at the week you just had and rebuilds the next one around what's coming. How coaching works explains it, and apply is the first step. Otherwise: add the core session after your next three swims.