WPH Press
Each Wednesday the WPH features the WPH Wednesday Workout, designed to help you become a stronger, fitter, faster, and better handball player. From leg and shoulder strengthening exercises to HIT Training, biking, balance, footwork, agility, coordination, first-step explosiveness, hydration, cooling down, upper body strengthening, circuit training, and much more, the WPH Wednesday Workouts focus on the areas that every handball player needs to reach their peak form.
To view all WPH Wednesday Workouts, go HERE
On this WPH Wednesday Workout, we’ll discuss swimming for cardiovascular handball health.
Benefits of Swimming
According to healthline HERE, swimming is ideal for working out your entire body and cardiovascular system, while burning nearly as many calories as jogging without the impact on your bones and joints.
Healthline lists the benefits of swimming as working your whole body: increasing your heart rate without stressing your body, toning muscles, building strength, building endurance, and making your heart and lungs strong – all requirements for playing great handball!
Swimming is also ideal for rehabbing an injury, reducing the stress of high-impact exercises that may delay or stall recovery. Add torching calories, improving your sleep, boosting your mood, and improved stress management and swimming becomes a must for serious handball players seeking to take their games to the next level.
Developing your Swimming Routine
According to SHAPE HERE, intervals are ideal for alleviating the boredom of swimming laps and to challenge your body.
Beginner Swimming Workout for Handball
- Warm-up: 100-yard swim
- Interval 1: 50 yards on side kicking from the hips
- Interval 2: flutter kick with kickboard – keep head in water and breathe to both sides
- Interval 3: 5 x 50 yards swimming at moderate intensity – take 50 to 60 seconds to swim each 25 yard lap
- Interval 4: 2 x 50 yards – 1:15 per lap
- Interval 5: 100 yards at moderate intensity
- Interval 6: Cool down moderate pace swim
To complete the beginner routine, you must be able to swim freestyle, sidestroke, and use a kickboard
Give yourself 20-30 seconds between each interval
Swimming Workout Videos to Build Cardio Strength for Handball
MySwimPro HERE
Global Triathlon Network 1 HERE
Global Triathlon Network 2 HERE
David Fink
WPH Fitness Director