AustrAliAn triAthlete | 85coAchEs coRnER
Training TOOLBOX
JULIe TeDDe
Julie is Head Coach of TRG Triathlon and
Multisport, with 20 years coaching
experience working with Junior
Development all the way through to
Kona Ironman athletes.S TreNGTh GAINS IN
The GYM
or The PooLPositives of strength work
in the pool:
This includes swimming with bands/pull
buoy/drag pants and paddles or doing
drills such as catch up, one arm
swimming, kick sets.
• Time efficient and cheaper to
incorporate strength work each week
• Incorporate the correct technique
when loading the muscles for
strength gains.Negatives of strength work
in the pool:
• Poor technique could mean you
overload the smaller muscle groups
and end up with injuries
• Hard to progressively overload as
limited with the actual load of the
resistance. For example - most people
only have one set of paddles, not three
different sizes.SWIMMING
101
The ToP Three
SWIMMer LIMITerS:1
for many beginners or less
experienced swimmers, this
is dropped hips - this results
in very poor body alignment
through the water and
therefore high drag. The focus must be
getting your head/butt and heals all in
a line. Kicking drills, swimming with a
snorkel, so you don’t lift your head, and
exercises that engage your core are a
few drills to include.2
Spinning your arms/no catch.
ever feel that your arms are
entering and just going
through the water and not
getting you anywhere. They
talk about this as not catching and
pulling the water. A good catch
technique will have you entering the
water, locking on and pressing the
water back behind you. You do not want
to press the water down at the front of
the stroke rather than back. Pressing
water down creates a lot of pressure on
the palm because you are changing the
direction of the water flow (from
towards you to downwards). When you
change to a good technique and start to
pull the water back behind you, will
move more quickly and become a more
efficient swimmer.3
Swimming your arms in
recovery and dropping your
elbow on entry across the
midline of your body. once
again this has a fair bit to do
with setting up the hand for a good
pull though under the water.
As your hand enters the water, take
care to make sure it does so, fingertips
first, lengthening forward in front of
the same shoulder with the middle
finger pointing the way to the far end
of the pool. Avoid crossing over the
centre line - this is critical to keeping a
high elbow catch and pull through
later on.If you have a gym membership or a few
weights at home, it is very easy to
incorporate a few swim specific exercises
to help develop the extra strength in your
swim-specific muscles.A few swim specific exercises are:
• Plank row with or without dumbbells
• Kettlebell swings
• Push ups
• Superman on a fit ball with
or without weights
• Upright row
• Bands or cable pull simulating
swim action.Positives of strength work
at the gym:
• Periodisation of strength within your
training program
• Loading of specific muscles that are
weak, especially after injury Rehab
work can also be included
• Great for injury prevention.Negatives of strength work
at the gym:
• Another cost
• For those that are time poor, it is just
another session to add into an already
busy schedule.correcT
TechNIQUe
Finally, how important is technique and
how can you address technique issues
while still training and expecting to
maintain fitness? This is a common
question by athletes wanting to take the
next step but not wanting to let go of their
cardio fitness. Unfortunately, there has to
be a trade-off. While you train your brain
and muscles to work in a different
patterning, you cannot expect to be
pushing as hard as you would when
peaking for a race.
A sensible strategy: identify your
biggest limiter or what is slowing you
down the most.S TreNGTh : don’t discount the benefits of
regular strength and core to improved swim
performance.