Video:Swimming Workout to Increase Speed

SHARE ON                

Transcript:Swimming Workout to Increase Speed

My name is Alicia Castillas, from the Spanish National Swim Team, for About.com and today, we're going to learn how to increase speed in a swimming workout.

Start With a Warm Up in a Swimming Workout to Increase Speed

The purpose of this workout is to improve stroke efficiency, timing and rhythm. In order to acheive maximum speed, we will take advantage of our warm-up to swim efficiently, in order to effectively accomplish our drills.

Practice a good posture, line and balance, and it's always a good idea to count your strokes frequently and reduce them if you can, without slowing down.

Fist Drills Help in a Swimming Workout to Increase Speed

Doing the fist drill will teach you to use your core muscles to generate power from the center of your body. It would also force you to use your entire arm to get through the drill.

When you swim freestyle with your hands closed in a fist, rather than open, you're focusing on pulling your arms through. This way, you're training yourself not to drop your elbow in recovery.

Improve Kicks in a Swimming Workout to Increase Speed

For a powerful kick, point your toes and relax your ankles. Freestyle kick with a kickboard is a great and simple way of strengthening your legs, and overall swimming faster.

A butterfly kick is one of the hardest to accomplish, but using a kickboard will help you focus on your legs. When doing a butterfly kick, exaggerate the movement on your hips. Your knees should not be doing the kick. You should be moving up and down very fast, in order to increase your speed.

Use a Pull Buoy in a Swimming Workout to Increase Speed

On this set, use a pull buoy between your legs to help you concentrate on your arms. Our aim is to reduce the number of strokes across the pool to make sure your hand reaches as far forward as it can before entering the water, to maximize your underwater pull.

Make sure you take full advantage of the pull provided by the pull buoy, pulling your body through the water smoothly, while you concetrate on faster strokes.

Use Interval Training in a Swimming Workout to Increase Speed

Our main set focuses on short and hard intervals, focusing on a good kick from the hips and recovery phase on the stroke when swimming. These swims are short, so they need 100 percent effort.

Make sure to kick really fast for 12.5 meters, and then rest easy. Do this four times, followed by 15 meters of fast swimming, and then rest easy.

Warm Down to Finish a Swimming Workout to Increase Speed

To avoid muscle soreness, make sure you warm down properly. As your technique improves, you'll find it easier to travel distances in shorter times.

For more information on improving your technique and increasing your speed, visit our Swimming section at About.com.