Looking to get more from your resisted swim sets? Here are four ways to use chutes and racks for faster swimming.
Resisted swimming looks simple enough: Tie an anchor to your waist/ankles (figuratively) and swim your little chlorinated heart against it.
Whether you are using a drag chute, resistance tubing, power rack, or DragSox, the goal with resisted swimming tools are generally the same…
Stronger, faster swimming.
Resisted swimming has been shown to improve swim performance in a variety of ways, from increasing stroke length, boosting stroke rate, to straight-up faster sprint velocities (Matus et al., 2018).
But like most forms of training, the explosive progress is in the details. Doing endless repetitions at max resistance will help you get stronger in the water, but there are some smarter ways to go about implementing resisted swimming to improve all aspects of your race day performance.
Below are four types of sets that swimmers can use with resisted tools.
They vary in resistance levels and goals, giving you a more complete set of approaches to becoming a more powerful, stronger swimmer in the water.
Let’s get our resistance on.
Post-activation potentiation
Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is a training concept that combines a heavy, high-tension effort with an explosive sprint. The heavy effort primes your nervous system, making you feel light and fast for the unresisted sprint right after.
See also: Post-Activation Potentiation for Swimmers: How to Unlock Power and Speed in the Water
Studies have shown that PAP interventions can increase arm-pull power (Barbosa et al., 2020), get swimmers off the blocks faster (Cuenca-Fernandez et al., 2020), and boost 100 freestyle performance (Hancock et al., 2015).
- 4x15m swim fast with medium chute
- 2-5 minutes rest
- 50 fast off the blocks
PAP training gives you a short term boost, and transitioning from the resisted to unresisted sprinting will make you feel like someone shot you out of a canon. Make sure to add enough rest (>2 minutes) between the two parts of the set to reduce fatigue while retaining potentiation.
Build raw strength
Heavy resisted sprints—where swimmers are using maximal load/tension on the power rack or tubing—increases force production. Like hitting a max lift in the gym.
Example:
- 3x15m swim all-out against a tether
Keep rest long. The goal isn’t conditioning, it’s maximal effort and clean mechanics under full load.
Increase power
When it comes to improving sprint velocity, power is essential. While strength is being able to move something heavy, power is being able to move it fast. Sprinters in particular want to be able to exert high amounts of power and do it repeatedly, stroke after stroke.
To improve power, which is force x velocity, it’s important to make resistance or load light enough so that you can still maintain a decent degree of velocity and forward movement. Use moderate loads at maximal effort.
- 6x15m swim fast with medium resistance
Sufficient rest is very important with this kind of training. Too little rest and it becomes an endurance set and not a power-development set. Swimmers should aim for >60s rest between repetitions so that power doesn’t fall off a cliff.
Maximum velocity
Finally, we dial down the resistance to low and crank up the speed. Velocity time! Lower resistance sprinting—with a small drag chute or low load on a power rack—dials in body position and stroke mechanics at near-race velocities.
Example set:
- 5x15m swim fast with a light chute
Light resisted sprints are great for acceleration, frequency, and sharpening sprint technique without compromising form.
The Bottom Line
Using chutes, racks, and other resisted swim tools are more than just making things harder for yourself in the water. It’s about matching the right resistance and form of resistance to the right goal.
Heavy resistance builds swim-specific strength and improves your ability to exert force. Moderate resistance is best for power, bridging that strength and speed. Light resistance sharpens sprint technique and gets you closer to race-pace velocity. PAP brings it all together, priming your nervous system for lightning-fast swims that feel effortless.
Mix and match these methods throughout the season, and you’ll be the swimmer who trains hard and smart.
Happy sprinting!
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