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My son is 13 and we are looking for ideas to help with dry land developement of strength and endurance for the kicking motion. Which I believe would benefit from hip, glute and posterior chain work. The butterfly kick is the main target here but all kicks I think would benefit.
The swim drills that are most effective are kicking while hanging onto the wall (wall kicks) and letting the wall provide resistance.
I currently have him working out using some medicine ball, shock cord, and bodyweight exercises along with some bike/running cardio.
We are doing bodyweight squats, lunges, burpee's (stand, drop down on hands, feet then kicked back, feet pulled back forward, jump up in air), and underhand throwing the a medicine ball starting in the squat position (driving the hips forward like in a deadlift).
I spent about 12 years as a competitive swimmer and the main thing we worked on for fly kick (and other kicks) was ab based. A lot of leg lifts. Now days I would think that pilates style workouts would be very beneficial.
Try both on the back and on the stomach leg lifts keeping the feet about 8 inches off the ground.
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I would agree the core function in relation to the kicking motions of swimming is vital. However, Pilates style workouts are extremely detrimental to youth development because the isometric holds offer little to no motor neuron recruitment. Whenever designing a training regiment it has to be kept in mind that we aren't just training muscles-we are training movements. A 13 year old nervous system is still developing and that window of opportunity to develop that nervous system must be taken advantage of.
I would also recommend against regular regiments of cardiovascular development. Bill Hartman expressed his opinion in another post relating to the U.S. obsession with cardiovascular exercise. A swimmers conditioning will happen in the pool not on a bike.
A great way to develop posterior chain strength using body weight would be unilateral work involving single-leg balance touches, bulgarian split squats, step ups, etc.
I too was a competitive swimmer and coached. At your sons age, core strengthening will be very valuable. Also, I'm not sure kicking against the wall is the best exercise. It does not give him a "feel" for the water, as though he were swimming.
Other options to consider, beyond what has been recommended already:
squats, lunges, leg presses, etc. -- Use lower weights and focus on repetition at his age.
Also, Medball work outs are a grea way to build strength. There are many interactive exercises you can do with him that will help build strength, keep it interesting and give you a work out too.
Also, look in to water training tools. Rather than having him kick against the wall, look at resistance/"drag" suits and cords/tethers. These will allow him to do kick drills and build up the leg strength. They can also help with overall strength. The tethers I felt were most effective were the rubber bands that allow the swimmer to swim but provide greater resistance w/ distance. They can be fun too.
Originally posted by Will Haskell: I would also recommend against regular regiments of cardiovascular development. Bill Hartman expressed his opinion in another post relating to the U.S. obsession with cardiovascular exercise. A swimmers conditioning will happen in the pool not on a bike.
A great way to develop posterior chain strength using body weight would be unilateral work involving single-leg balance touches, bulgarian split squats, step ups, etc.
Will Haskell
Athletic Development Specialist
Thanks for the information Will!
I hear you on the cardio. What we, (we will workout together) will do is those agility runs that are stop and go, ie: run 5 yards, stop and reverse course, run back to start, stop and reverse course, run 10 yards, etc. The biking will be just riding through our neigborhood with different cadences, speeds, etc. You know like we rode bikes when we were kids (I'm assuming you did that!). The body weight work should be easy to develope a few different workouts with. What rep range would you recommend?
About this "single-leg balance touches" I can think of some exercises from Ian King. What else would you recommend here?
We do workout together and have started with some medball and body weight work. He has done some resistance band work that he is going to show me on our next workout. For me it is a great GPP workout on the days I don't weight lift. It's great quality hang time with my son too! Which is priceless.
He also has said that he was able to do some teather work with what I believe were rubber bands in one of his last workouts. Maybe he can ask to get some extra work in on that. The drag suit is a good idea.
On the leg work, what kind of rep range would you recommend?
The bike riding is fine. I guess many of my experiences with parents and coaches led me to believe you are throwing him on a stationary or recumbent bike for an hour each day so I apologize for that assumption. I'd highly recommend this athlete takes up other sports so that he can learn other movement patters besides what he does in the pool.
As far as the rep range I can't give you an accurate answer because I don't know what we are developing. Now that he is just entering puberty the chemicals are now becoming available to actually facilitate muscle growth, but are we trying to build strength, power, muscular endurance, etc.? It's also difficult to start throwing out exercise regiments and descriptions without an actual assessment of the athlete. Programs that jump right into strength programs without proper assessment and education have the potential to set that athlete up for injury.
The advice I would give first would be to keep him off machines when developing strength. It's very easy for parents and coaches to start kids off on machines because they are easy to use but, the long-term effects are very detrimental to development. Secondly, find a qualified professional that makes teaching a priority.
I see that you are in Indianapolis so I highly recommend talking to Bill Hartman. He is one of the very best in the industry and can help you or hopefully refer you to a professional in the area that specializes in youth development.
I hope I've been able to give you some insight on the complexity of how young kids need to be developed. Education is key and I'll do my best to answer your questions. The wealth of knowledge presented by professionals such as Bill Hartman and Brian Grasso can exponentially increase your own knowledge of the topic so I highly suggest reading their posts.
Glad to be of help. Let me know if I can help any more. I still swim with a Master's swim team and can ask the coach for some tips. He is a former US Olympic Trials Coach and has great techniques for coaching.
The best thing you can do is work out with your son. 13 is a critical age. I don't know too many swimmers that didn't consider quiting at that age. I'm among them. I'm glad I stuck with it.
Originally posted by Will Haskell: I hope I've been able to give you some insight on the complexity of how young kids need to be developed. Education is key and I'll do my best to answer your questions. The wealth of knowledge presented by professionals such as Bill Hartman and Brian Grasso can exponentially increase your own knowledge of the topic so I highly suggest reading their posts.
Glad to be of help. Let me know if I can help any more. I still swim with a Master's swim team and can ask the coach for some tips. He is a former US Olympic Trials Coach and has great techniques for coaching.
The best thing you can do is work out with your son. 13 is a critical age. I don't know too many swimmers that didn't consider quiting at that age. I'm among them. I'm glad I stuck with it.
You can always email me if I can help any more.
Nick
Thanks. Any hang time with the kid is great. Working out with him is priceless.
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