Workout of the Week: Swimmers Stroke

Want to be the fastest in the pool?

Photo Credit Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images

Strengthening your lats is key. The latissimus dorsi, meaning ‘broadest muscle of the back’, is the larger, flat, dorso-lateral muscle on the trunk, posterior to the arm, and partly covered by the trapezius on its median dorsal region. The latissimus dorsi is responsible for extension, adduction, transverse extension also known as horizontal abduction, flexion from an extended position, and (medial) internal rotation of the shoulder joint. It also has a synergistic role in extension and lateral flexion of the lumbar spine.

Put simply, your lats are what help propel you through the water.

Using the VMX Rope Trainer:

Double Overhead Pull
(A straight-vertical pull down while sitting, one arm at a time with an underhand grip, isolating rear rotators, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, biceps, triceps, and subscapularis)

Double Fly Overhead Pull
(A straight-vertical pull down in a fly motion while sitting, isolating rear rotators, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, subscapularis, triceps, biceps, and abdominals)

Straight Arm Deltoid Pull
(Standing approximately 2 feet beside the bench, a single arm pulls down on the rope, isolating triceps, latissimus dorsi, deltoids, and abdominals)

Double Underhand Pull
(Bending horizontally at the waist over the bench with the VMX's adjustable carriage in the lowest position, a combined horizontal pull with one hand in a supinated grip and the other in a pronated grip - isolates biceps, triceps, latissimus dorsi, and trapezius)

 

It's a bit like swimming through mud. The extension and abduction as you pull and follow through will engage all the necessary muscles to help you to be the powerhouse of the pool.