How can I set up a home gym as a swimmer?

Wanting to build strength and improve technique outside of the pool? Try these simple and inexpensive pieces of home gym kit

When you want to spend all your spare time in the water, it can be hard to make time for regular gym sessions – setting up a home gym with a few simple and inexpensive pieces of kit can make it easier to fit in, allowing you to improve your strength, enhance your stroke and help your recovery after training. Here’s our pick of the best pieces to invest in for a simple home gym set up.

Using resistance

Perhaps the most basic but effective piece of kit you can buy is a set of resistance bands. Either made of latex or fabric, these bands provide tension to help build strength, improve flexibility and aid in injury rehabilitation. Resistance bands are highly effective for targeting the lower body because they provide constant tension through a full range of motion. For swimmers, this builds the specific powerhouse strength needed for propulsion and stability. Try banded squats (placing the band above your knees) to strengthen quads and glutes for explosive starts and flip turns; glute bridges (lying on your back with the band above your knees and lifting your hips) to wake up the glutes, helping you drive your flutter kick from the hips rather than the knees; or clamshells (lying on your side with the band above your knees and lifting your top knee while keeping feet together) to improves hip mobility, which is critical for the wide, powerful kick in breaststroke.

Stretch cords

Similar to a cable machine at the gym, stretch cords (or dryland cords) can mimic the movements and forces of swimming, allowing you to build strength and refine technique out of the water. You simply anchor the cords to a fixed point like a fence post or a door handle, then as you pull on the rubber tubing, it stores potential energy that increases the further it’s stretched, allowing your muscles – specifically the lats, shoulders and triceps – to work harder to complete the stroke. A good set of stretch cords can be really versatile; you can do all kinds of exercises, working on rotations, pulls and extensions. Most sets come with a choice of handles or paddles, which force you to keep your palms flat, simulating the feel of water pressure; the paddles are particularly useful as they simulate the position used in real swimming, transferring the force throughout the hand and finger flexors.

Weight training

A pair of dumbbells is a great choice for a home gym set up as they allow you to build stroke-specific strength, shoulder stability and core control. Try plank rows (holding the dumbbells in a high plank and rowing one to your ribcage while keeping your hips level) to build the unilateral back strength needed for a powerful freestyle or backstroke pull. Or reverse flys (bending forward at the hips, lift the weights out to your sides) to target the rear delts and upper back, helping to protect against common swimmer’s shoulder injuries. They’re also good for lower body strength training, like streamline squats (holding the dumbbells at your shoulders while squatting), to build the leg power required for explosive starts and turns.

A swim trainer

For something a little more involved, the Zen8 Swim Trainer is a clever way of creating a swim movement on dry land. It was very simple to set everything up and, once inflated, there’s no need to deflate the bench. The set also comes with an online starter video, which helps you to setup the equipment. Online coaching ensures you make the best use of the Swim Trainer. It promises to significantly improve your swimming speed, so for those interested in racing or shaving off seconds in the pool, it’s well worth the investment.

Don’t forget conditioning

Conditioning is also important. A simple piece of kit such as a foam roller can be a highly effective tool in terms of mobility, injury prevention and recovery, ensuring your body can handle the repetitive, high-volume demands of swimming. Swimmers need extreme flexibility in the shoulders, hips, and ankles; a foam roller can help reset tight fascia, allowing for a more hydrodynamic streamline and a more powerful kick. We can also develop imbalances from repetitive overhead strokes; rolling out the lats and chest can prevent swimmer’s shoulder by reducing tension that pulls joints out of alignment. Finally, it can help reduce muscle soreness so you can return to training sooner.

What kit do I need to set up a home gym as a swimmer?

Our favourite pieces of home gym kit…

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All products were chosen independently by our editorial team. This review contains affiliate links and we may receive a commission for purchases made. Click here to subscribe to the magazine. Read more Outdoor Swimmer gear reviews.