By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam
A strong, stable core is the secret weapon of elite sprinters. Here’s how core training powers faster, cleaner freestyle speed.
Sprint freestyle.
Basically, it’s this:
Wind up your arms, launch off the block, plug in maximum power, and make a bunch of white water.
Simple enough, but not easy.
And among the many things that go into high-performance sprinting, nothing is more important than a strong, stable core.
Why the Core Matters So Much in Sprint Freestyle
When you sprint in the water, everything gets turned up to border-line maximum:
- Stroke tempo skyrockets. Stroke tempo is much higher than even the 100 free (never mind the 200, 400, etcetera). When sprinting, the arms are moving much faster. At the Paris Olympics, men’s finalists in the 50 held an average stroke rate of 62.2 strokes per minute. Compare this to the 100 free (51.4) and the 200 (42.3) and you understand just how quickly the arms are rotating.
- Big increase in shoulder rotation velocity. With those higher stroke rates, the speed with which you rotate the shoulders also shoots up. The shoulders twist violently against the hips, creating significant torso twist. The core is a powerful brake during these big and nasty twisting movements, helping sprinters control body roll.
- The full kinetic chain works overtime to coordinate. The arms, shoulders, legs and feet have to coordinate at max velocity. Like trying to box while running at full speed, and without the core, it all falls apart.
- Hip stabilization is working hard. While the shoulders rotate aggressively, the hips stay flatter compared to your regular freestyle stroke. Sprinters use the core to fight to keep the hips stable and reduce fish-tailing and wiggling as they charge down the pool.
And so on.
The core is the glue that links your power sources in sprint freestyle, from the catch to the kick, into one smooth, explosive system.
There is a long list of core interventions with elite and age group swimmers that show serious sprint gains after just a few weeks core training 2-3x per week:
- Karpinski et al. (2020) found that a six-week core training intervention saw sprint times improve by 1.2% in a group of national-level male swimmers.
- Khiyami et al. (2022) observed significant sprint time drops and higher stroke tempo control after a short block of core-focused dryland training.
Core training has also been linked to more explosive starts (Iizuka et al., 2016), cleaner and faster streamlines (Yamakawa et al., 2015), and more powerful underwater dolphin kicks (Yamakawa et al., 2016).
How to Train the Core for Sprint Success
Core training is more than squaring up to a stability ball or yoga mat and wailing away at an endless number of crunches. A complete core training program targets stability, strength, and power.
All three types of core exercises are essential for helping sprinters crank out better results in the pool.
- Losing your bodyline and fish tailing like crazy? Hit core stability exercises like front planks, Pallof presses, and unilateral glute bridges.
- Need to channel more force through your arms and legs when sprinting? Core strength exercises like cable rotations, pot stirrers, and stability ball crunches fire the big global core muscles.
- And how about some straight-up explosive rotation and power? Core power exercises like med ball slams and throws are a great option for increasing rate of force of development.
Programming all three types of core exercises into your dryland workouts over the course of the season will give you a more complete power station for elite sprinting when you step up on the blocks.
The Bottom Line
Sprint freestyle speed is an expression of power, but without a stable, powerful core, you’re going to leak that power all over the place.
Work the core. Work the start. Work the power in your stroke.
And white-water your way to some golden finishes.
Happy sprinting!
ABOUT OLIVIER POIRIER-LEROY
Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer, 2x Olympic Trials qualifier, and author of several books for swimmers, including YourSwimBook, Conquer the Pool, The Dolphin Kick Manual, and most recently, The 50 Freestyle Blueprint.
The book is a beastly 220+ pages of evidence-based insights and practical tips for improving freestyle sprint speed.
It details everything from how to master stroke rate, technique, build a thundering freestyle kick, improve your start and underwaters, and much more.
The 50 Freestyle Blueprint also includes 20 sprint sets to get you started and a bonus guide on how to master the 100 freestyle to complete your sprint preparation.
Learn more about The 50 Freestyle Guide today.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Why Core Training is Essential for Sprint Freestylers
