Lower Body Strength – Day 1

Lower Body Strength – Day 1

"PVC" Squat & Forward Lunge "Superset"

Cues:

  1. Heel as shoulder width – toe slightly out
  2. Hold the “PVC” or a towel directly out front of the chest
  3. The hips go back first, knees bend second
  4. As the hips go down, keep the stick out in front and the chest up
  5. Hips to knee depth
  6. Explode out of the bottom
  1. Hands on the waist to start – chest up shoulders back
  2. Cue “lunge as long as you are tall”
  3. Step in front of the hip with the core tight,
  4. Let the hips sink
  5. Drive the ground away.

What to look for:

Outside of the cues from above. The main areas we want to focus on are keeping the feet flat, pushing the hips back first, then allowing the knees to bend second and lastly keeping the knees out the entire time. Teaching our swimmers to squat is one of the most important things that we can do for them.

I try to keep the teaching process for a lunge, as simple as possible. Stepping, sinking, driving the ground away will cover a lot of bases for us. Keep an eye on their knee position when they step forward and sink into the bottom. We want the knee to stay in line with the hip, and then not “track” forward as their hips are sinking. We want a vertical shin the entire time. This will keep the knee in proper alignment.