Fitness for Water Sports: How your gym program should support your water sport goals

Water sports demand a unique combination of strength, agility, endurance, and balance, requiring athletes to harness both explosive power and sustained stamina. Whether you’re swimming, surfing, or wakeboarding, your performance on the water can be significantly improved by adopting a targeted gym training program. A well-structured regimen not only improves strength and endurance but also boosts recovery, mobility, and resilience against injury. This article explores how your gym routine can support your water sport goals, with a specific focus on swimming, surfing, and water skiing or wakeboarding.

We’ll cover the types of strength and recovery work beneficial for each, along with some functional workout examples to incorporate into your training.

General Gym Training Principles for Water Sports

While each water sport has its own specific physical demands, some universal principles apply across the board:

• Core Strength: A powerful core is essential for maintaining balance and control in the water. It also helps generate power and transfer energy efficiently through the body, from the limbs to the torso.
• Full-Body Strength: Water sports are rarely dominated by one muscle group. You need total body strength, particularly in the legs, back, shoulders, and arms, to handle the unique challenges of the aquatic environment.
• Mobility and Flexibility: Water sports demand fluid, dynamic movements, and tight muscles can limit your range of motion. Incorporating mobility work is critical for better performance and injury prevention.
• Explosive Power and Endurance: Sprinting for waves or exploding out of the water requires explosive power. However, you’ll also need endurance to sustain performance over long periods.
• Recovery and Injury Prevention: The repetitive motions and high-impact nature of water sports make recovery strategies essential. Adequate rest, flexibility training, and active recovery exercises can keep you performing at your best.

Training for Swimming: Endurance, Efficiency, and Power

Swimming is a sport that engages nearly every muscle group while demanding cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, and optimal biomechanics. A well-rounded gym program should focus on improving overall body strength, maintaining posture in the water, and enhancing propulsion through better coordination.

Key Muscle Groups:

• Shoulders and Upper Back: Swimmers rely heavily on their lats, deltoids, and traps to power their strokes.
• Core: A strong core helps swimmers maintain alignment in the water and transfer force efficiently from the upper to lower body.
• Legs: The quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves contribute to kicking and maintaining propulsion.

Strength Training Focus:

1. Pull-Ups and Lat Pulldowns: Strengthening the latissimus dorsi and upper back muscles is critical for enhancing pulling power during strokes like freestyle and butterfly. Aim for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps.
2. Core Exercises (Planks, Dead Bugs, Russian Twists): Incorporate isometric holds and rotational core exercises to develop better trunk stability. Perform 3 sets of 30-45 seconds for planks and 15-20 reps for rotational movements.
3. Leg Press or Squats: Since the legs generate much of the forward motion through kicking, developing quad and hamstring strength is crucial. Include 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps with moderate to heavy weights.

Functional Swimming Circuit:

• Med Ball Slams (30 seconds): For explosive upper body power.
• Pull-Ups (10 reps): To build upper back and arm strength for stroke power.
• Box Jumps (10 reps): Develop leg power for push-offs and turns.
• Plank Hold (1 minute): To enhance core stability and posture in the water.

Recovery Work:

• Stretching and Foam Rolling for Lats, Shoulders, and Hips: Target areas prone to tightness, which can impede your swimming technique.
• Shoulder Mobility Drills (Banded Pull-Aparts, External Rotations): Keeping the shoulders mobile and healthy is crucial for preventing swimmer’s shoulder, a common overuse injury.

Training for Surfing: Balance, Explosiveness, and Stamina

Surfing combines balance, agility, strength, and explosive power. The ability to catch a wave, pop up on the board, and maintain balance while riding requires a mix of upper and lower body strength. Agility and reaction time are equally important as surfers must quickly respond to unpredictable conditions on the water.

Key Muscle Groups:

• Core and Hips: Surfing relies heavily on the core for balance and stability when riding waves.
• Legs and Glutes: Paddling out requires strong legs, and the explosive pop-up movement needs powerful quads and glutes.
• Shoulders and Back: Paddling is essential in surfing, making shoulder and back endurance critical.

Strength Training Focus:

1. Single-Leg Deadlifts: These work on balance and hip stability, essential for controlling your body on a moving surfboard. Do 3 sets of 8-10 reps per leg.
2. Plyometric Push-Ups: Mimic the explosive pop-up movement with plyo push-ups. Perform 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps.
3. Bulgarian Split Squats: Develop lower-body strength and stability by focusing on single-leg movements. Do 3 sets of 8-10 reps per leg.
4. Cable Woodchops: This rotational core exercise mimics the twisting movement required when turning and carving on waves. Do 3 sets of 12 reps on each side.

Functional Surfing Circuit:

• Burpees (30 seconds): Simulates the explosive pop-up onto the board.
• Single-Leg Box Jumps (8-10 reps per leg): Enhances leg power and balance.
• Renegade Rows (12 reps): Builds core and shoulder strength for paddling endurance.
• Russian Twists with Medicine Ball (30 seconds): Strengthens the core for balance and turning movements on the board.

Recovery Work:

• Hip Flexor and Hamstring Stretching: These areas are often tight in surfers due to the pop-up and crouched riding position.
• Foam Rolling for Shoulders and Upper Back: Paddling can create significant tension in the upper body, so regular rolling can alleviate this.
• Ankle and Hip Mobility Drills: Improved mobility in these areas will enhance your balance and movement on the board.

Training for Water Skiing/Wakeboarding: Power, Control, and Stability

Water skiing and wakeboarding both involve gripping a handle while being towed by a boat, requiring tremendous grip strength, balance, and core control. You need to maintain stability against the pull of the rope while adjusting to the forces created by the wake and the water beneath you. Explosive power and lower body strength are crucial for accelerating out of the water and handling the high-speed demands of these sports.

Key Muscle Groups:

• Forearms and Grip: Holding onto the handle for long periods requires significant grip endurance and forearm strength.
• Core and Lower Back: You’ll rely heavily on the core for stabilisation and control when navigating the wake.
• Legs: The quads, hamstrings, and glutes are essential for the explosive movements required to get out of the water and for maintaining stability.

Strength Training Focus:

1. Deadlifts: This movement builds posterior chain strength, which is essential for getting up and maintaining stability on the skis or board. Aim for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps.
2. Farmer’s Carry: Grip strength is vital for holding the rope, and this exercise also strengthens the core. Perform 3 sets of 30-60 seconds walking with heavy weights.
3. Cable Rotational Pulls: This movement simulates the torque experienced during turns and jumps. Do 3 sets of 10-12 reps on each side.
4. Box Squats: Box squats develop the leg strength and power required for jumping off the wake. Perform 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps with moderate to heavy weight.

Functional Water Skiing/Wakeboarding Circuit:

• Kettlebell Swings (30 seconds): Builds hip explosiveness and core strength for powerful starts and jumps.
• Deadlifts (8 reps): Develops lower body and back strength to counteract the forces of the boat’s pull.
• Hanging Leg Raises (10-12 reps): Strengthens the core, crucial for stability on the water.
• Farmer’s Walk (1 minute): Builds grip and core endurance needed for holding the rope.

Recovery Work:

• Forearm and Hand Stretches: Prevent strain and overuse injuries from gripping the handle.
• Lower Back and Hip Stretches: These areas take significant strain in water skiing and wakeboarding, so regular mobility work is essential.
• Foam Rolling for Hamstrings and Glutes: The explosive movements required can leave your legs tight, so post-training rolling will aid in recovery.

The Role of Breathwork in Water Sports

Breathwork is a crucial, yet often overlooked, component of water sports training. Whether you’re holding your breath underwater during a swim lap, controlling your breathing between waves while surfing, or managing your breath during the physical exertion of wakeboarding, the ability to regulate your breath can enhance performance and endurance. Breathwork training improves lung capacity, increases oxygen efficiency, and helps maintain calm under pressure, which is vital in high-stress water environments. [1] Diaphragmatic breathing exercises, as well as breath-hold training, can build mental focus and resilience, allowing athletes to perform at their peak for longer. Incorporating breathwork into your gym routine—through practices like yoga, pranayama, or simple breath control drills—will enhance your stamina and help prevent exhaustion, making it a valuable addition to any water sport fitness program.

Conclusion

A balanced gym program designed to support water sports should be comprehensive, combining strength, endurance, mobility, and recovery. Incorporating functional exercises that mimic the movements of swimming, surfing, or wakeboarding ensures your training transfers directly to improved performance in the water. Be mindful of recovery, as watersports often involve repetitive motions and high forces that can lead to overuse injuries. With the right program, you’ll develop the physical capacity to not only excel in your sport but also enjoy it for many years to come.

Please Note: The information provided in this article are the opinions and professional experience of the author and not all activities are recommended for the beginner or participants with underlying health conditions. Before following any advice or starting any fitness, health and wellbeing journey please consult with an Allied Health Professional and / or General Practitioner.

Reference

Respiratory Muscle Training and Aquatic Sports Performance

• Bio

Steve Irwin

Steve has spent the last 19 years in the Australian Fitness Industry as a Group Fitness Instructor, 1-1 Coach, State Manager, Business Owner and is currently an Educator for the Australian Institute of Fitness. A lifelong fitness enthusiast he started his working life in the Military which guided him into the fitness industry where his passion for helping others on their health and fitness journey has been realised. Steve believes that for anyone thinking about getting fit or healthy they should “just get started” as “doing something is better than doing nothing”.