Dryland Exercise to Engage Your Lats

If your coach has ever told you to speed up your turnover but when you try it just feels like you’re slipping through the water without getting any propulsion, you might be losing lat engagement. The lat muscles run along the outside of the upper back and are important for generating forward propulsion in swimming. Losing lat engagement can make you feel like you're spinning your wheels in mud instead of achieving meaningful forward progress in the water.

This simple dryland exercise can help you keep and build lat engagement to help you power through, even when you pick up the pace.

Speed Skiers

For this exercise, attach two resistance bands to a pull-up bar or other sturdy anchor point above your head. Stand up straight facing the bar with your feet hip-width apart, and grasp the handles of the resistance band, one in each hand.

Hinge forward at your hips while engaging your core and keeping your spine straight. Your head and neck should be in alignment with your spine, as they would be when keeping good body position in the water. As you hinge forward, you should begin to feel your hamstrings engage.

Bring one arm down in a controlled movement toward your hip, as though you’re powering through a freestyle stroke. As you bring the arm down, focus on engaging the lat muscle on that side. Once your hand has reached your hip, as quickly as you can, return the arm to the start position while pulling the other hand down and back to the hip. Continue switching back and forth from left to right, pulling on the resistance bands quickly, as though you’re swimming with a super-fast turnover.  

Keep your arms strong and don’t wiggle from side to side. Engaging the core and the lats will help you keep your spine straight and your hips level. Maintain control throughout the movement. Continue stroking as fast as you can for 20 seconds while maintaining control. Take a short break and complete two more sets.