SWIMMING
Strength training for swimmers: what to lift and how often
Swimmers can add two dry-land lifting sessions a week for pulling strength, a steady trunk and leg power. A meta-analysis of 13 studies and 267 competitive swimmers found that resistance training improved upper-limb strength and 25 to 200 meter front crawl, and a systematic review found that low-volume, high-velocity work transferred best. Most of that research is on sprinters and young swimmers, so treat it as a lead if you swim for fitness or in open water. Complete starts from your long-term goals and counts the swims that reach Apple Health.
Where lifting fits in swimming
You build your swimming engine in the water. Lifting adds strength that you carry into the pool. Most of the force that drives a swimmer forward comes from the upper body. A systematic review of competitive swimmers with an average age of 16 or older found that upper-body strength had a strong link to sprint performance (Crowley and colleagues, 2017).
Read the research with its limits in mind. The studies we found cover sprint distances, junior and youth swimmers, and small groups of elite sprinters. We found little on adult recreational or open-water swimmers. The reviews also say the long-term effects are not yet well studied.
Pulling strength and power
A meta-analysis of 13 studies and 267 competitive swimmers found that resistance training improved upper-limb strength and 25 to 200 meter front crawl. The gain appeared to come from stroke rate. Stroke length did not explain it. Two of the methods, concurrent resistance training and power training, improved swimming by raising upper-limb strength (Jin and colleagues, 2024). The systematic review above found that specific, low-volume, high-velocity work transferred best.
In 10 national-level male swimmers, lat-pulldown power was the dry-land test most related to swimming speed. That study measured swimmers and did not change their training (Morouço and colleagues, 2011). So the pulls to train are pull-ups and pulldowns, rows and straight-arm pulls, with fast reps in some sets.
A steady trunk
A strong middle helps you hold a straight line in the water while your arms and legs work. In 20 national-level junior swimmers, 12 weeks of added core training may have improved 50 meter front crawl, and the groups were not randomized (Weston and colleagues, 2015). A meta-analysis of 16 trials and 438 youth swimmers found that core stability training improved swimming, with the clearest gains in the 50 meter sprint and in backstroke (Liu and colleagues, 2025). Both studies are of young swimmers.
Leg power for starts and kick
In 11 international male sprinters, faster start times went with greater squat strength, jump height and jump power (West and colleagues, 2011). In the 10 national-level swimmers above, jump work related to leg-only tethered force, the force you pull against a cord while kicking (Morouço and colleagues, 2011). Both studies compared swimmers with each other. Neither tested a training program. If you swim long distances, starts matter less to you.
What the research says about shoulders
Shoulder pain is common in swimmers. A systematic review of 22 studies found no strong evidence for or against any of 80 risk factors, though the best study linked sudden jumps in training load and weak posterior shoulder strength endurance with injury (McKenzie and colleagues, 2023). A 6-week strengthening program in 44 college swimmers made no difference to shoulder strength or shoulder-blade motion compared with the control group (Hibberd and colleagues, 2012). So this page makes no claim that lifting protects your shoulders.
A swimming week with two dry-land days
Keep your pool sessions as they are. This page does not coach swimming. Add two dry-land sessions on days when your swim is short or easy. This weekly shape is general training advice, so move the days to fit your life.
| Day | Session | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Swim | Your usual pool session. |
| Tuesday | Dry-land pull: the session below | Pulling strength is the quality with the most support in the research. |
| Wednesday | Swim | Your usual pool session. |
| Thursday | Dry-land legs and trunk, 30 to 40 minutes | Squats and hinges for leg power, and planks and anti-rotation work for the trunk. |
| Friday | Swim | Your usual pool session. |
| Saturday | Long swim or open-water swim | You build your aerobic engine in the water. |
| Sunday | Rest | Your body adapts to the work while you rest. |
A pull session from Complete’s workout library
Complete’s library holds strength sessions and no swims, so this is a strength session. It is Pull Day, the Tuesday session above: a loaded pull-up, a heavy barbell row, then rows paired with a carry, closed with swings and a hang. It takes about 53 minutes.
A weighted pull-up is a pull-up with extra weight on a belt. A gorilla row means you hinge over two weights and row one to your hip with a fast, hard pull. A farmers carry means you walk holding a heavy weight in each hand. A kettlebell swing snaps your hips to float a bell forward. A dead hang means you hang from a bar. To failure means you stop a set when another rep would not go up. A superset is two moves done back to back, then a rest.
This session builds strength with heavy pulls. The research that found the best transfer used fast, low-volume sets, so move the weight fast on the way up. That cue is our advice. The library does not carry it.
| Block | What you do |
|---|---|
| Warm-up | Rowing (erg): 5 minutes at effort 4 out of 10. Band Shoulder Dislocate: 2 sets of 10 reps. Weighted Pull-Up: 2 sets of 3 reps, starting at body weight and ramping up to your working load. Stop short of fatigue. |
| Main | Weighted Pull-Up: 3 sets of 5 reps, 150 seconds rest, to failure by about 5 reps. Bring your chest to the bar and add load once five reps stop being a fight. Barbell Row: 3 sets of 6 reps, 150 seconds rest, heavy, with your chest down and the bar to your sternum. Reset the bar on the floor every rep, with no bounce. |
| Accessory: superset, 3 rounds, 75 seconds rest between rounds | Gorilla Row: 8 reps per side, heavy. Farmers Carry: 40 meters, heavy. Keep your shoulders packed and down. |
| Finisher | Kettlebell Swing: 3 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest, heavy. The hips do the work and your arms are ropes. Dead Hang: 3 sets of 30 seconds, 45 seconds rest, with your shoulders relaxed. |
Scaling the session
If you are new to pulling, stop each working set a rep short of failure, and swap weighted pull-ups for assisted pull-ups or lat pulldowns while you build the pulling base. If you have lifted for a while, do the session as written: ramp in the warm-up, then three working sets to true failure. If you want more, take all three working sets to true failure and finish the last gorilla row set as a drop set, where you cut the weight at failure and keep going.
How Complete fits a swimmer who lifts
Complete starts from your long-term goals: build muscle, lose fat, improve cardio, get stronger, general health or become an athlete. For a swimmer who lifts, get stronger and improve cardio often fit together. They steer what Complete recommends every day, and you do not need a plan to use it.
Cycling and triathlon training come in 2027. Until then, your rides and swims already count toward your score, your training load and the recommendation for each day. A swim counts toward training load from 10 minutes. Swimming has no Road and no sport-specific training in Complete today, and Complete does not write swim workouts. Lifts count too, whether you log them in Complete or your watch sends them through Apple Health.
If your watch records HRV and resting heart rate, Complete scores your recovery against your own baseline after about a week of data. If your recovery is red, today’s session turns into rest or an easy session.
Start with your goal. Complete is an iPhone app, free to download, and logging and sharing your workouts on it stay free.
Frequently asked questions
Should swimmers lift weights?
The research supports it for short and medium distances. A meta-analysis of 13 studies and 267 competitive swimmers found that resistance training improved upper-limb strength and 25 to 200 meter front crawl. Most studies are of sprinters and young swimmers, and we found little on recreational or open-water swimmers.
Which exercises matter most for swimmers?
Pulling moves: pull-ups, pulldowns, rows and straight-arm pulls. In 10 national-level swimmers, lat-pulldown power was the dry-land test most related to swimming speed. Add squats and jumps for starts, and planks and anti-rotation work for the trunk.
Does core training help swimmers?
In young swimmers, yes. A meta-analysis of 16 trials and 438 youth swimmers found that core stability training improved swimming, with the clearest gains in the 50 meter sprint and in backstroke. We found no comparable study of adult recreational swimmers.
Does lifting prevent shoulder injuries in swimmers?
We found no strong evidence that it does. A systematic review found no strong evidence for or against any of 80 risk factors, and a 6-week strengthening program in 44 college swimmers made no difference to shoulder strength or shoulder-blade motion.
Does Complete coach swimming?
No. Swimming has no sport-specific training in Complete today, and cycling and triathlon training come in 2027. Your swims already count toward your score, your training load and the recommendation for each day.