Let's kill the biggest myth in swimming:
"Lifting will make me bulky and slow me down."
This belief has kept swimmers away from the weight room for decades - especially young women. When the reality is the opposite. The fastest swimmers in the world are elite strength athletes. Strength training improves force production, which means better starts, more powerful turns, more efficient stroke mechanics, and faster split times. More strength equals better efficiency in the water. That's not just my opinion - it's physics.
What strength training actually does for swimmers:
Improves power output for starts, turns, and underwater dolphin kicks
Builds structural resilience - stronger muscles protect tendons, ligaments, and joints
Corrects the postural and muscular imbalances that swimming volume creates over time
Builds the kind of confidence and body awareness that carries into competition
For female athletes: improves bone density, reduces ACL and shoulder injury risk, and supports long-term hormonal health
For youth swimmers specifically:
Build a stronger foundation for long-term athletic development. Youth strength training isn't about bulking up - it's about developing coordination, movement quality, body awareness, and confidence. Learning proper lifting technique early gives swimmers the tools to become stronger, more resilient athletes as they progress through high school and beyond.
Reduces injury risks - there’s lots of repetitive movements and at a young age that can create overuse injuries that last a lifetime. Research has found that shoulder pain affects a substantial proportion of competitive youth swimmers, with some studies reporting shoulder pain in up to 91% of adolescent swimmers over a 12-month period. Strength training helps build the muscular support, joint stability, and movement control needed to better tolerate high training volumes and reduce injury risk.
For masters swimmers and triathletes specifically:
After age 35, adults lose 3-8% of muscle mass per decade without resistance training. For masters swimmers and triathletes who depend on power output and structural integrity, strength training isn't supplemental - it's essential maintenance.
Triathletes often skip strength work to protect run and swim volume. But strength training reduces injury risk across all three disciplines - hip, knee, and lower back problems that sideline triathletes are largely preventable with consistent lower body and core work.
Masters athletes respond to strength training at every age. Studies show athletes in their 60s and 70s making significant strength and muscle mass gains. The stimulus is slightly different, but the adaptation is real.
The top strength exercises for swimmers:
Lower body:
Squats and split squats: foundational lower body power that translates to starts and turns
Romanian deadlifts (RDLs): posterior chain development for kick strength and structural balance
Jumps and plyometrics: explosive power that directly transfers to start reaction and push-off force
Upper body:
Pull-ups and rows: the pulling strength that drives your catch and pull-through phase
Landmine press: shoulder-friendly pressing without overhead impingement risk
Pushups: foundational, scalable, and deeply underrated
Core:
Anti-rotation work (Pallof press): rotation resistance is what holds your stroke together at the hips
Carries: farmer, suitcase, and overhead carries build full-body stability under load
Hollow holds and body rocks: the core control behind streamlines and underwater phases
For masters and triathlete exercise selection:
Masters athletes should prioritize single-leg and unilateral work (split squats, single-leg RDLs) over bilateral movements - they expose and correct asymmetries that accumulate over decades of one-sided sport.
Triathletes: hip hinge patterns (RDLs, deadlifts) and hip flexor-opposing work (glute bridges, hip thrusts) are especially important given how much time is spent in the flexed-hip bike position.
For athletes over 50: increase reps, reduce peak load, and prioritize tempo control over maximum weight. The goal is tissue quality and joint health, not a new PR.
In-season vs. off-season - two different goals:
Off-season is your window to BUILD. Increase volume, work heavier, develop new movement patterns, try things you don't have time to practice mid-season. This is when real structural changes happen.
In-season, the goal shifts to maintenance. You're not trying to get significantly stronger during taper week - you're trying to keep the strength you built so it's there on race day. Two focused sessions per week on the big movements is all you need to maintain gains through a full competitive season.
For the female athletes reading this:
Strength training is not about looking a certain way. It's about being able to do more, for longer, with less breakdown. The fear of getting bulky is a cultural narrative with zero basis in what actually happens to female swimmers who train with weights consistently. What actually happens: faster splits, better posture, fewer shoulder and knee problems, and a level of physical confidence that carries into competition!
QUICK TIPS
Start with 2 strength sessions per week (consistency beats frequency when starting out)
Master the movement before adding load (form always before weight)
Pull-ups are one of the best investments a swimmer can make. Work toward them!
Masters athletes: strength work 2-3x per week, year-round, is non-negotiable
Triathletes: don't skip legs!!! Your run and bike both get faster when your legs get stronger
Tracking your progress is one of the best confidence builders there is aka write it down
Free Download: 3 Day Full Body Swimmer Workout Program
A 3 day strength training program built specifically for competitive swimmers to improve power, strength, stability and conditioning - with progressions for teens, masters athletes, and triathletes.
Next month: Sleep, Recovery & Burnout - why recovery is training, and what happens when you ignore it.
