O
ur overall goal is to increase strength and power with a little more emphasis on strength during the off-season. Thisthree different workouts. We do not believe in focusing on muscular en-durance rep schemes with distance athletes since they get plenty of this work in the pool. Our goal with them is still the same as the goal with
Swimming is a unique sport, in that we train hard through our season, only backing off or tapering slightly for certain meets. Our taper is four weeks long with the swimmers being totally out of the weight room
for Swimming
This program is a typical 8 week off-season training
program for swimming.
using this program are sophomores, juniors and seniors. Freshmen have a 8-12 week program that focuses on proper technique and positions, to prepare them for the regular program.
Week 1
Monday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set4+ %
Clean 3 50 3 60 3 70 4x3 80
Bulgarian Squats 5ea 55 5ea 65 3x5ea 75
RDL’s 5 50 5 60 3x5 70
Internal/External Rotation
12 each 12 each
Multiple Box Jumps 3x’s 4 Boxes
Pull Ups 8 8 8
Core Bridge 30 sec 30 sec 30 sec
Wednesday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set4-6 %
Power Jerks 3 50 3 60 3 70 4x3 80
“V” Ups 20 20 20
Friday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set4-6 %
Hang Snatch 3 40 3 50 3 60 4x3 70
Back Squats 5 55 5 65 3x5 75
Staggered Stance long Jump
3 3 3
Chin Ups 6 6 6 6
Single Arm DB RDL’s
5ea 5ea 5ea 5ea
Single Arm DB Rows
6 6 6 6
Stability Ball Knee Tucks
20 20 20
Bulgarian Squats 5ea 40 5ea 50 2x5ea 60
RDL’s 5 55 5 65 3x5 75
Internal/External Rotation
12 each
12 each
Multiple Box Jumps 4x’s 5 Boxes
Pull Ups 8 8 8
Core Bridge 35 sec 35 sec 35 sec
Wednesday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4-6 %
Power Jerks 3 55 3 65 3 75 4x3 85
Clean Pulls 3 82 3 92 3 92 3 92
Seated Box Jumps 15
3-Way Pull Aparts 10 10
DB Incline Press 6 6 6 6
Face Pulls (Band) 12 12 12
Back Squats 5 40 5 60 2x5 60 Staggered Stance
long Jump
3 3 3
Chin Ups 6 6 6 6
Single Arm DB RDL’s 5ea 5ea 5ea 5ea
Single Arm DB Rows 6 6 6 6
Stability Ball Knee Tucks
25 25 25
Week 3
Monday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4+ %
Clean 3 40 3 50 3 60 3x3 70
Bulgarian Squats 5ea 60 5ea 70 3x5ea 80
RDL’s 5 40 5 50 3x5 60
Power Jerks 3 40 3 50 3 60 3x3 70
Clean Pulls 3 82 3 92 3 92
Seated Box Jumps 15
3-Way Pull Aparts 10 10
DB Incline Press 6 6 6 6
Face Pulls (Band) 12 12 12
“V” Ups 30 30 30
Friday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4-6 %
Hang Snatch 3 45 3 55 3 65 3x3 75
Back Squats 5 60 5 70 3x5 80
Staggered Stance long Jump
3 3 3
Chin Ups 6 6 6 6
Single Arm DB RDL’s 5ea 5ea 5ea 5ea
RDL’s 5 60 5 70 3x5 80
Internal/External Rotation
12 each
12 each
Multiple Box Jumps 5x’s 6 Boxes
Pull Ups 8 8 8
Core Bridge 45 sec 45 sec 45 sec
Wednesday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4-6 %
Power Jerks 3 60 3 70 3 80 4x3 90
Clean Pulls 3 85 3 95 3 95 3 95
Seated Box Jumps 15
3-Way Pull Aparts 10 10
DB Incline Press 6 6 6 6
Face Pulls (Band) 12 12 12
“V” Ups 35 35 35
Back Squats 3 60 3 70 4x3 80 Staggered Stance
long Jump
3 3 3
Chin Ups 6 6 6 6
Single Arm DB RDL’s 5ea 5ea 5ea 5ea
Single Arm DB Rows 6 6 6 6
Stability Ball Knee Tucks
35 35 35
Cycle 2 Week 1
Monday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4+ %
Clean 2 52 2 62 2 72 4x2 82
Forward Lunge 3ea 65 3ea 75 4x3ea 85
DB RDL’s 4 52 4 62 4x4 72
Cuban Press 12 each 12 each
Hang Power Snatch 2 52 2 62 2 72 4x2 82
Front Squats 3 65 3 75 4x3 85
Alt. Split Squat jumps 16 16 16
Pull Aparts 10 10 10
Close Grip Bench 4 52 4 62 4x4 72
DB Post Raise 12 12 12
Hanging Knee Tucks 20 20 20
Friday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4-6 %
Hang Power Clean 2 52 2 62 2 72 4x2 82
Step Ups 3ea 65 3ea 75 4x3ea 85
Repeat Long Jumps 3 3 3 3
Neutral Grip Pull Ups 6 6 6 6
Stability Ball Leg Curls
10 10 10 10
Forward Lunge 3ea 50 3ea 60 3x3ea 70
DB RDL’s 4 57 4 67 4x4 77
Cuban Press 12 each 12 each
High Box Jumps- Knee tuck focus
5 5 5
Chin Ups 6 6 6
Core Bridge w/ Alt arm reach
40 sec 40 sec 40 sec
Wednesday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4-6 %
Hang Power Snatch 2 52 2 62 2 72 4x2 82
Front Squats 3 50 3 60 3x3 70
Alt. Split Squat jumps 16 16 16
Pull Aparts 10 10 10
Close Grip Bench 4 57 4 67 4x4 77
Step Ups 3ea 50 3ea 60 3x3ea 70
Repeat Long Jumps 3 3 3 3
Neutral Grip Pull Ups 6 6 6 6
Stability Ball Leg Curls
10 10 10 10
Lat Pulldown 6 6 6
Stability Ball Pike Tucks
30 30 30
Cycle 2 Week 3
Monday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4+ %
Forward Lunge 3ea 70 3ea 80 4x3ea 90
DB RDL’s 4 42 4 52 4x4 62
Cuban Press 12 each 12 each
High Box Jumps- 5 5 5
Front Squats 3 7 0 3 80 4x3 90
Alt. Split Squat jumps 16 16 16
Pull Aparts 10 10 10
Close Grip Bench 4 57 4 67 4x4 77
DB Post Raise 12 12 12
Hanging Knee Tucks 30 30 30
Friday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4-6 %
Hang Power Clean 2 42 2 52 2 62 3x2 72
Step Ups 3ea 70 3ea 80 4x3ea 90
Repeat Long Jumps 3 3 3 3
Neutral Grip Pull Ups 6 6 6 6
Stability Ball Leg Curls
10 10 10 10
Lat Pulldown 6 6 6
Forward Lunge 2ea 62 2ea 72 5x2ea 82
DB RDL’s 4 62 4 72 4x4 82
Cuban Press 12 each 12 each
High Box Jumps- Knee tuck focus
5 5 5
Chin Ups 6 6 6
Core Bridge w/ Alt arm reach
50 sec 50 sec 50 sec
Wednesday Set 1 % Set 2 % Set 3 % Set 4-6 %
Hang Power Snatch 2 52 2 62 2 72 4x2 82
Front Squats 2 62 2 72 5x2 82
Alt. Split Squat jumps 16 16 16
Pull Aparts 10 10 10
Close Grip Bench 4 62 4 72 4x4 82
DB Post Raise 12 12 12
Step Ups 2ea 62 2ea 72 5x2ea 82
Repeat Long Jumps 3 3 3 3
Neutral Grip Pull Ups 6 6 6 6
Stability Ball Leg Curls
10 10 10 10
Lat Pulldown 6 6 6
Stability Ball Pike Tucks
40 40 40
Craig Sowers was named assis-tant director of strength & condition-ing in the summer of 2012. Sowers has a broad and diverse background in athletic performance and devel-opment at both the collegiate level and in the private sector.
Sowers will be in charge of the women’s soccer and men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, as well as assist in the day-to-day administrative responsibili-ties.
“Craig brings a wide-ranging coach-ing and administrative experience that will persuade our athletes to raise their performance expecta-tions as athletes and students.
“In my opinion, Craig’s biggest influence will come from his NCAA national championship experience having been directly associated with four NCAA national titles and has been on coaching staffs that have produced 12 additional national championship teams. Exposing
ing for football.
Before returning to Akron, Sowers was the assistant head coach for athletic performance at UCLA (2008-11), where he assisted with training and designed and implemented a speed program for the Bruins’
football team. He also had complete oversight of training for the men’s volleyball and women’s soccer squads.
“I am excited to be apart of the NC
During the four previous years, he was the director of performance at Velocity Sports Performance at locations in Mayfield Village, Ohio, and Irvine, Calif. In that role, he over-saw all aspects of speed, power and strength development for athletes at the high school, collegiate and professional level. He served on the Sports Performance Directors Ad-visory Council during that time and was its chairman in 2006-07.
From 2000-03, Sowers was the head strength and conditioning coach at UTEP. He oversaw all as-pects of speed, strength and condi-tioning for the University’s 17 NCAA varsity sports and approximately 350 athletes. The football team was Western Athletic Conference cham-pions in 2000.
From 1996-2000, he was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at UCLA and was in charge of men’s and women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo, women’s track and field, and men’s and wom-en’s soccer, and also assisted with football. During his tenure at UCLA,