The Swimmer’s Secret to Success – 2 Kettlebell Drills That Would Even Impress Aquaman!

As a strength and conditioning specialist it is obvious that swimmers need a significant amount of strength and endurance. As a swimmer one must have a powerful core, strong shoulders, explosive hips, and lats that can pull hard enough to create one serious wake in the pool! I don’t know if Aquaman had a land-based program, but if he did I bet it was with kettlebells! Read on and apply the following 2 drills to your current program and I guarantee you will improve your time in the water.

1. The Double-Arm Swing: This is the base lift of the kettlebell. You will need a flat open space to execute this particular drill. To start, you will want to perform a squat to pick the bell up from between your legs. Your feet should be about shoulder width distance apart in length. From here you should be standing erect with the bell hanging at your waist with your arms straight. Next, you must perform the “hip snap” motion. This involves you basically performing a quarter squat movement double flexing and extending at the hips and knees. This “back and forth” hip snap motion is the key to allowing the kettlebell to build momentum into a swinging motion from between your legs and progressing up to your chest level. Make sure that you keep your arms straight, shoulders back, and head up. Perform a couple of hundred of these with a moderately heavy weight and you will quickly see how this will help your water skills!

2. The Single-Arm Swing: Just like the double-arm swing you will want to execute the single-arm swing in the same exact way with one obvious difference. You will be executing this drill with only a single arm adding even more intensity to the exercise. To start, you can perform the double-arm swing and simply let go with one arm leaving you lifting the bell with only a single arm. You will want to make sure that you are gripping the kettlebell with your “palm” and not your “fingers.” This is called a hooking grip. You will also want to make sure that you allow your hand to rotate “thumbs down” at the bottom of the swing between your legs and rotate back to a “palms down” position at the top of the swing. This is great strength training for swimmers and will also yield a high level of cardiovascular and core strength to help you dominate in the pool. Like I said this would even impress Aquaman!