Core training has become an essential part of a swimmer’s preparation. Here’s a look at the benefits of core training for swimmers.
Swimming is a complex, challenging sport that requires just about everything we have each time we hit the water.
Every stroke, kick, breath, turn, start and streamline has to pass through one place first–the core.
The trunk is the link between the upper and lower body, transferring force, controlling body position, and keeping our stroke clean and coordinated as we move through the water. No matter what we are trying to improve in the water, the core sits at the middle of it.
That’s why core training has become so essential for swimmers. The benefits go beyond having stronger abs, but real, measurable improvements in performance as we swim up and down the pool.
Here is why swimmers should add core exercises to their training.
1. Improves swim speed.
Any type of training we do in and out of the pool is obviously in service of one objective–to swim faster!
Ultimately having a chiseled mid-section is nice, but swimmers aren’t looking to win plank endurance contests if it doesn’t lead to faster swimming in the water.
Multiple studies with swimmers (Karpinski et al., 2020; Khiyami et al., 2022; Weston et al., 2015) show that when swimmers add a well-designed core training program to their regular swimming that they see improved swimming speeds. These boosts in speed have been seen in both national-level and age group swimmers.
Why?
Not because the core creates more propulsion on its own. The six-pack doesn’t take strokes or kick harder for you.
But it does allow you to tap into more of the existing strength and force you already have. It protects your stroke from fatigue. And transfers force up and down the body for more velocity when it matters most.
For a more detailed look at how training the core improves swimming speed, and the studies behind it, see this article: Does Core Training Improve Swimming Speed?
2. More stability and balance in the water.
A strong core gives you greater stability and balance. This occurs because the core acts as a stabilizer to the pelvis and spine.
And with a stable spine, you are better positioned to complete the chlorinated tasks at hand, whether that’s today’s brutal kick set or doing a long lung-buster set with your pull buoy tucked between your legs.
As mentioned previously, any and all movements – and we are talking non-swimming movements as well such as walking, running, and lifting – pass through the centre of your body.
Core exercises specifically designed for enhanced swimming performance improve stability and balance in the water, which then allow swimmers to exert more power and strength.
3. Keeps you streamlined.
Try streamlining with a loose (unflexed) mid-section. Now do it while sucking in your belly button and engaging your glutes.
Feel the difference? You should!
Having an engaged mid-section puts you in a rigid streamline. Beyond the pool this means that you will have improved posture, something that most swimmers I know could benefit from.
Anti-movement exercises like long lever planks, Pallof presses, and side planks all teach you how to position your body in a way that is long, strong, and streamlined–essential for faster and more efficient swimming.
On a personal note, I suffered from swimmer’s shoulder for years. I saw several different physical therapists and chiropractors, who prescribed painful deep tissue massage, various mobility exercises, and thousands of reps with small resistance bands. Nothing worked. It wasn’t until a grad student at UVic suggested I simply try to have better posture. Sometimes things are that simple.
4. Injury prevention.
Nothing ruins a swimmer’s day faster than a sharp pang in one of the shoulder joints. Having a developed core means the body is straight and aligned, reducing the stress on joints and muscles.
Whether it is providing a stable platform for your pulling motion (to help avoid swimmer’s shoulder, for instance), or helping strengthen your hip movements and thereby helping avoid breaststroker knee issues, as well.
A strong, stable core does more than help you better connect parts of the body and control your bodyline in the water–it supports better posture so that you can kick and pull more and worry less about poor technique and inefficient movement patterns causing injuries.
5. Increased force output.
The benefit that will most appeal to you is this one. A strong core allows greater force transfer to the outer muscles and limbs, including the arms for the pull, and the legs for your kick.
A well-connected core means that you are able to utilize roll, undulation, and the power in your hips and shoulders to shoot power and more speed out of your hands and feet.
Additionally, having increased core strength will come in very helpful for when you become fatigued in your swimming. Over time in the water, whether you are a distance swimmer or a sprinter, fatigue comes for us all.
- In the distance events, force output steadily declines in the erector spinae–the muscles that support the spine–which leads to the hips dropping, drag increasing, and the cost-per-meter exploding.
- In the sprints, we rely on the obliques to help decelerate the powerful shoulder and upper back rotation performed to support higher stroke rates and increased time spent in propulsive phases. The obliques help to control and change roll direction so that swimmers can keep churning those arms and kicking those legs in a sprinty froth.
One of my favorite core exercises is the almighty (and challenging) ab roller wheel. When you think about the full extension required to complete the exercise, the overhead extension, the bracing of the lower back, you can start to see how it transfers to swimming strongly in the water.
Keeping the glutes engaged will keep your kick going, and the improved body position will help you keep your stroke together for longer.
3 Dryland Workouts for Swimmers. No pool? No problem! Here are three dryland workouts for swimmers from beginner to advanced that you can do at home or on deck.
