3 Swim Dryland Exercises for Improved Overhead Range of Motion

Swimming requires its practitioners to spend a lot of time reaching overhead, but sometimes that can cause your mid-back to tighten up. This in turn can force the lower back to take over in managing that overhead reach, which can cause further pain and discomfort. 

To prevent that from happening, try these three dryland exercises that support more efficient and pain-free overhead range of motion. 

These exercises are intended to be simple, not strenuous, and you should focus on quality form when performing them.  

Quadruped single-arm reach 

Start kneeling on all-fours (quadruped position) with your hands stacked under your shoulders and knees under your hips. 

Slowly and steadily, bring your left arm out to the side, keeping the elbow bent, while driving your shoulder blade toward the middle of your body. Then, while focusing on good core engagement, reach overhead by slowly driving the hand forward in a straight line. Straighten the arm along that path until you’re fully extended. 

Pause for a moment at the full extension point then drive the elbow back toward your hip, keeping the forearm parallel to the floor, down toward your side. Complete 10 repetitions on each side. 

I like this exercise because it teaches core engagement to control your low back. Keep your back and hips steady and still as you perform the arm movement and focus on achieving a full range of motion. Don’t rush the movement or crank out reps; the goal should be to keep your core engaged while moving slowly and steadily through the exercise. 

Floor angels + knees bent 

For this exercise, lie on your back with your knees bent and heels flat on the floor. Anchor your lower back to the ground. Open the chest and place your arms on the floor, with palms up and elbows bent so that your shoulders and elbows are aligned, and your forearms are at a 90-degree angle to the upper arm.

Once you’re settled into that starting position, slide both arms directly overhead as far as you can while keeping contact between your lower back and the ground. Slide the arms slowly and steadily in the full range of motion while focusing on driving your shoulder blades toward the middle of your body on the way down. 

Complete 10 repetitions while focusing on keeping your low back anchored to the floor. 

Elbow touches 

For the final exercise you’ll start in the same position, with feet on floor, lower back anchored to the floor, but this time, bring your hands up to your temples with elbows bent out to the sides. Bring the elbows together in front of your face so that they’re pointing straight up toward the sky. Then drive the elbows back down to touch the ground while keeping your lower back anchored to the floor. 

While performing this motion, focus on getting your shoulder blades to pull apart, especially as you bring the elbows together. The closer you can get them to touch, the more you should feel a stretch across the back as the shoulder blades pull away from each other. 

Complete 10 slow repetitions while focusing on good-quality movement. Take your time and don't hold your breath. 

Complete three rounds of these exercises to help free up more overhead range of motion.