Pool workouts are training sessions done in the water, using swimming, dumbbells, or water resistance to build fitness while staying cool, which makes them perfect for hot summer days when a midday run or driveway workout is brutal. In this Physical Friday I walk through the two pool training systems I have been using: Laird Hamilton's XPT pool training with dumbbells, and the Bas Rutten pool workout, a 12-exercise routine you can do in a small backyard pool.
Watch now: press play on the video above and follow along.
Two of the best I have found are XPT pool training and the Bas Rutten pool workout. XPT, from Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reece, uses dumbbells in the water for exercises like underwater swims, bottom runs, and jumps from the bottom for a breath. The Bas Rutten workout uses the water itself as resistance through 12 exercises done in sets and reps. Both keep you out of the heat, are low impact, and work nearly every muscle in your body.
XPT is the training and lifestyle program from big wave surfer Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reece. It combines pool work with sauna, ice, and breathing exercises. The pool portion looks like swimming underwater with dumbbells: you carry a dumbbell while swimming with one arm, run across the bottom of the pool with weight, or jump from the bottom for a breath while the dumbbells pull you back down. It traces back to the watermen of Hawaii, who ran along the ocean bottom carrying big rocks to build breath-hold and fitness for big wave surfing.
Bas Rutten, one of the pioneers of MMA, built a pool workout after a neck injury caused his arm to atrophy and forced him to find ways to train that were not conventional. It uses 12 total exercises in groups of three, four sets per exercise, 25 reps per exercise, using the water as resistance for curling, pushing, and pulling movements plus leg work. The harder you push against the water, the harder the workout. The video is on YouTube under Train Like a Beast: Exclusive Bas Rutten Personal Pool Workout.
No. The Bas Rutten workout works in a very small, shallow pool, which means most Florida backyard pools are plenty big enough. For XPT it helps to have a deep pool for the underwater work, but plenty of the exercises, including the seahorse, can be done in a small pool. You do not need a lap pool for either system.
The seahorse is a pike-positioned breaststroke from XPT designed to isolate the upper body. You hold yourself abdominally in a pike position, propel yourself with your arms only, and hold your breath. It sounds simple and it is surprisingly hard, especially for men because their legs are heavier. The XPT crews do it for around ten minutes. I have found it especially good for guides with beat-up shoulders because it works the shoulders in a way that rehabs them rather than pounding them.
No. Any training in a swimming pool carries a degree of danger, and shallow water blackout is a real thing. Always have a partner, or at minimum someone watching you, whether that is your kids, your spouse, or a training buddy, especially on the XPT breath-hold work. Never do underwater breath-hold training alone.
Here is the structure of the Bas Rutten pool workout I tried and liked. You can do it in any small backyard pool, and it requires no equipment beyond the water itself.
I was actually sore the day after doing this workout, and that surprised me. Try it and see if you get the same result.
It is getting closer to summertime, and you do not always want to take a run in the middle of the day. Sometimes we have been out on the water and it has been hot all day, and there is no air-conditioned gym to retreat to. The pool gives you a reprieve from the heat while still letting you get real fitness in. I also like it as active recovery on a weekend, because it is very low impact and I am not beating myself up. I go deeper on how I slot pool sessions into my week in the episode, so press play above.
XPT comes from Laird Hamilton, a big wave surfer and a remarkable aging athlete who is still chasing 50 and 100 foot waves in his mid fifties. His pool work borrows from the old Hawaiian watermen who ran the ocean bottom carrying rocks, then adds dumbbells and structure so you can train any time in a backyard pool. Swimming underwater with the ammo can, one-arm swims with a dumbbell, jumps from the bottom for a breath — they all build breath control and full-body strength. I explain my favorites in the episode, so press play above.
A lot of guides have trouble with their shoulders, and we have talked about that on this podcast before. What I like about the seahorse and the XPT pool exercises generally is that you are using your shoulders a lot, but in a way that rehabs them rather than beating them up. The pike position exposes weakness in your midline while your arms do all the propulsion. Trust me, it is harder than it looks. I describe exactly how it feels in the episode, so press play above.
If you do not know Bas Rutten, he is one of the true pioneers of MMA, a superb athlete from before the sport was mainstream. A neck injury from fighting caused his arm to atrophy, and he could not train conventionally, so he invented this pool workout. The video has been on YouTube since 2017 with over a million views, so I am a little late to the party, but the workout is no joke whether you are rehabbing or not. I tell the story and my experience trying it in the episode, so press play above.
I really believe swimming is one of the best exercises a human being can do. It is easy on the joints and it works just about every muscle in your body, but if swimming laps bores you, these two systems give you a way to be in the water, out of the heat, and still training hard.
Try the Bas Rutten workout in your backyard pool, take a dumbbell in and try the seahorse, and let me know how it goes at podcast@saltwaterexperience.com. Just never train in the water alone. Press play above and follow along.
XPT · Laird Hamilton · Gabby Reece · Bas Rutten · MMA · pool workouts · swimming · the seahorse · shallow water blackout · Hawaiian watermen · active recovery · Physical Friday · Saltwater Experience
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. Physical Friday is the podcast's weekly fitness series, where I share the workouts, training formats, and mindset lessons that keep guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong enough to do what they love for life.
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