Dog Walking – Blue Wave Swim Team

Our morning workouts during the week start at 4:45 AM, and I try to be as creative as possible most mornings to make our workouts special and worth waking up for.

I like getting as much work as I can out of my athletes without them really thinking its too hard or boring.

We use stretch cords during our morning workouts and I have come up with a few ways of making it fun. We don’t have alot of high tech equipment at the pool, and I am a big believer in resistance training, especially with power racks, and bucket systems (Randy Reese style). So, I came up with another way of getting that type of resistance but with stretch cords. We call it “Dog Walking”.

Basically, the swimmers are put in pairs and one swimmer is the “dog”, the other is the “walker”. This drill works best in a long course pool, but we did it short course this morning. The “dog” pushes off the wall, and the “walker” can either float, ball up, or walk behind the “dog” holding the cord at about 2 feet back. To make it harder, the “walker” can walk slowler to create more resistance therefore re-creating the power rack sensation.

Here is how we set it up:

Warm Up:
REC/EN1 2 Times:
1 x 400 Free
1 x 300 Pull (25 scull/75 Free pull)
1 x 200 IM drill
1 x 100 Kick

EN 2 2 Times:
6 x 75 Kickboard Tap Drill 1:10
6 x 75 DPS Free 1:05
6 x 75 Free 1:00 (second round FAST!)

REC 1 x 25 Easy (strecth cords were on the other side of the pool)

EN2 4 x 25 “Dog Walking” each (25 gets harder)
Switch Roles

SP2 1 x 75 ALL OUT!! (go in heats/if you were the “dog” first, you go first)

REC 1 x 200 Easy

WORKOUT TOTAL: 5100

Additional Comments:

• Kickboard Tap Drill – swimmers place their kickboard between their legs and swim free, they have to tap the kickboard with every stroke cycle. Good rotation drill and helps them finish their stroke past their hips.
• DPS – Distance Per Stroke. Count strokes per 25 and get the least number possible.

This free workout was provided by Blue Wave Swim Team Head Coach Justin Correia.