Lindsey Rock Fitness

Coach Lindsey started with me towards the end of last season.  She began helping me with my Blue and Gold groups as an assistant and was an integral part of our 10 & under success at J.O.s as she was put in charge of managing warm ups and warm downs at the big meet.  She also helped with the dryland work that we did at practice.  She is a personal trainer when she isn't on the pool deck so she has a great deal of knowledge and really helped with the technical side of the dryland exercises.  I was so impressed with her fun and effective style that I gave her full control of the design and implementation of the 10 & Under Gold and Blue dryland for the new season.  She handles M-Th dryland routines and I get to have a little fun and be as crazy and creative on Fridays as I can be.
So far we have seen a huge increase in core stability in push ups and plank-type exercises as well as an increase in overall strength and muscle endurance.  One of the most impressive aspects in this new plan is that the kids are learning about their muscles and how to safely execute actions that were not performed with the precise and proper movements in the past.  They are checking their own form and maintaining better positioning and posture during dryland exercises and actions.
I was curious to see how this improved dryland combined with all of the technique work we have done would transfer over to race-pace swimming at our first meet.  Well, we had over 90% improvement and the kids swam MUCH faster than anticipated.  I don't get surprised easily when it comes to my own athletes, but I have to say I was a little shocked at the technical endurance the kids were showing.  The first meet of the short course season is always a good one but the fast times were very unexpected.
Another GREAT IDEA that Coach Lindsey had was to have a family fitness day to get the parents involved and show them what the kids are doing.  We had over 50 parents and swimmers out in a field and Coach Lindsey ran a great boot camp style workout for the parents and the kids....and myself.  I had so much fun watching the kids interact with their parents.  There was laughing, joking, and a lot of hard work.  We did a push up contest and the kids and parents received awards for their overall fitness.  It was a ton of fun and I can't wait for the next one.
If you have access to a personal trainer I highly suggest you use them as a way to increase your own knowledge of dryland exercises.  It can really improve your program if you have a highly experienced expert to guide you through the process.  I am lucky enough to have one working right here with me! You can check out Coach Lindsey's website at lindseyrockfitness.blogspot.com.