Resistance training in the winter months will become more important than ever as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge through the United States and the rest of the world.
With the threat of closures and additional quarantines, at-home resistance training is one of the most important tools an athlete can have. Resistance training products require little storage space and allow for a wide variety of exercises while helping you to reach your goals and maintain a routine. Here are our tips for a strong winter season.
Set Goals
In order to set your goals, take a close look, and assess where you’re currently at. Progress can be hard to see when you don’t set those initial benchmarks. After those are set, take a look at what could be improved. Do you hope to increase your strength, decrease your time, increase flexibility, or perfect a technique? Maybe your goals aren’t rooted in improving, as much as they are in maintaining a routine or preventing injury when you return from an off-season. This is particularly important for swimmers who may not have pool access. There are a variety of dryland StrechCordz® products to allow swimmers to keep up their training when homebound. Check out our exercise guide with illustrations. Athletes that can no longer get into the gym or field house should try the TurfCordz® Squat Cordz to work your legs, glutes, quads, and even your shoulders. You can use this product anywhere, anchoring the cord under your feet, or with a step bench or box for additional resistance. When you perform a squat, remember to keep your chest up with your weight back on your heels or balls of your feet. Avoid allowing your knees to track together, and keep them in line, directly over your feet.
Claim Your Space
Working out from home has lots of benefits, from cutting down on drive-time to being able to focus without external distractions. Find a place in your home, whether it’s a room or tucked away in a corner that you can set up everything you need. Many of our resistance products can be anchored around a leg of sturdy furniture. Make sure you have enough space to move freely and access your full range of motion. Flexibility is just as important as strength in accessing that full range of motion through rehabilitation. The MediCordz® Bungie Upper Body & Back tools are great for shoulder rotation and many other mobility drills. From a standing position, grasp the handle of one tube end and hold at waist level with elbow close to side. Begin with your arm extended outward and slowly move your forearm internally toward your midsection. Hold. Return to start position and repeat. The addition of resistance in this move allows the joint to strengthen, preventing future injuries.
Check Your Form
Recording your workouts may seem like something only for social media, but it’s a great way to check your form. You may think you are performing an exercise with the proper stance, alignment, or extension, but upon review you might find areas in your existing routine to improve, making a big impact in your workout. Check-in with your form every couple of weeks, or when you start a new program. By checking early, you’ll avoid having to unlearn bad habits.
Mix It Up
We know how important cross training is, which is another reason resistance programs are so great! Resistance exercises can be easily paired with, or incorporated into, cardio exercises, yoga routines, and strength work for more dynamic results. Avoid plateaus by changing up your routine every 3-4 weeks. Those changes could be in the type of workouts you’re doing, or also in the level or resistance used. Increasing (or decreasing) the level of resistance in dryland exercises will keep your muscles guessing and your body engaged. Our Original StretchCordz®
have 5 different resistance levels, and are great for tricep extensions, curls, flies and lat pulldowns. These dryland exercises can help swimmers enhance speed, endurance and swim stroke in the off season or in addition to in-water drills.
