You can use them on race day, too (or in fact before any swim training session, either in the pool or in open water), to warm and activate the muscles and to send blood to these key areas of the body – which is the reason you’ll see many pros doing a quick swim cord warm-up before the race starts.

One note of caution – use a lighter set of cords with less resistance on race day. You just want to get the blood moving and muscles activated without overloading them.

Great way to train when you can’t get into the water

The other main benefit of swim cords can be if you’re unable to get in the water for any reason.

For example, not having a pool close to hand (people working in the armed forces or overseas often struggle to get swim training in the water), having an injury on another part of your body, which means you can’t get in the water, or recovering from an illness that rules out the pool.

Having a simple set of swim cords allows you to get a good, swim-specific workout that will translate better than weight training when you come to get back to swimming. This is because you’ll have worked muscles such as the lats in exactly the way you need to for front crawl.

When using the cords, think about replicating the kind of drills you would do in the water to keep things simple.

Things like doggy paddle, single arm and broken arrow, as well as some replication or breaststroke arms and fly arms (if you do those strokes) are a good way to get started. For more simple ideas, see our article about simple land exercises you can do to improve your pull.

Best stretch cords for swimmers

The good news is, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a good land-based swim exercise. From a simple length of Theraband or similar to full stretch cords or even a swim-specific workout machine like the Swim Fast Ergo Swim Bench, there are options for every swimmer and budget.

Below are some options that either have lots of good consumer reviews or we’ve either tried ourselves.

Finis Dry Land Cord

We picked out this set of stretch cords from established swim brand Finis to lead this piece as they include all you basically need to get started using stretch cords without over-complicating things.

That means you have a simple piece of gear to stash in your kit bag that can be pulled out quickly and put to use.

Here, you get durable rubber tubing with two comfortable handles, as well as a strap that can be used to attach the cords to your chosen anchor point.

There are different resistance options available to buy as well, which means you can choose based on your level of ability/strength as well as your planned use. Yellow are light, green medium and red heavy.

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Dryland Powercord with Paddles

If you want to take things a little further and buy a set of stretch cords with more elements, then look for one with hand paddles included rather than just simple handles.

These will be especially helpful if you’re training with paddles a lot in the pool, or planning to use them extensively – for example in a swimrun race.

This set has a four-star average rating on Amazon and comes with a 1.5-metre cord, an attachment loop and two hand paddles as well as a storage bag.

Two strengths (basic and advanced) are available, with a price difference of a couple of pounds .