Swimming
- Thread starter Triple T
- Start date
I swam competitively for about 4 years and had decent times considering my lack of experience compared to others. As far as workouts go, it kind of depends on your event. An overall full body workout will help in pretty much any sport, including swimming. After your next swim in each of the events (fly, back, breast, free) figure out which muscles are the most sore/tired and you'll have a pretty good idea what types of workouts to do.
My main stroke was the butterfly and I noticed the most on my triceps and abs. Triceps because your stroke is primarily pushing back with your arms and abs because almost all of your power in fly comes from the kick which originates in your core.
My main stroke was the butterfly and I noticed the most on my triceps and abs. Triceps because your stroke is primarily pushing back with your arms and abs because almost all of your power in fly comes from the kick which originates in your core.
For freestyle work on legs and arms. If you can kick hard and fast, you will be set in the pool part. Working on your turns and technique will help you drop more time than getting stronger right now.
Butterfly technique is really hard to explain. You would be much better off having your coach demonstrate and helping you out. It is a really cool stroke though, especially if you can do it well.
Butterfly technique is really hard to explain. You would be much better off having your coach demonstrate and helping you out. It is a really cool stroke though, especially if you can do it well.
yea butterflies are hard.
I just don't get why they made it? I mean it looks fricken sweet once you learn it, but why did they make it? Gets really tiring i was told.
Wouldn't you just rather do front crawl for speed?
And yea, I'm going to go swimming on Tuesday all out.
I'll see what muscles are sore after
PS. I know this might sound weird but, have any of your toes ever gotten STUCK while swimming?
Like I remember awhile ago whenever I kept my feet straight while doing the flutter kick, one of my toes would stay stuck in one position, and it would hurt like a mother. I would eventually have to bend it back (with lots of pain) and the lifeguard massaged my foot (hottie!)
But yea, it seems to happen whenever I do the flutter kick with my feet as straight as possible. If I relax my feet then it doesn't happen, but then I lose some speed. Anyone experience this before?
maybe too much stress on the feet when I have them straight?
I just don't get why they made it? I mean it looks fricken sweet once you learn it, but why did they make it? Gets really tiring i was told.
Wouldn't you just rather do front crawl for speed?
And yea, I'm going to go swimming on Tuesday all out.
I'll see what muscles are sore after
PS. I know this might sound weird but, have any of your toes ever gotten STUCK while swimming?
Like I remember awhile ago whenever I kept my feet straight while doing the flutter kick, one of my toes would stay stuck in one position, and it would hurt like a mother. I would eventually have to bend it back (with lots of pain) and the lifeguard massaged my foot (hottie!)
But yea, it seems to happen whenever I do the flutter kick with my feet as straight as possible. If I relax my feet then it doesn't happen, but then I lose some speed. Anyone experience this before?
maybe too much stress on the feet when I have them straight?
It is by far the most tiring stroke to do it with speed. I heard that it developed from a way that people used to breathe on breast stroke or something like that, but don't quote me on it. I learned it because I have the body type to be very successful at it, and my coach basically stuck me in it and told me to figure it out. Its one of those things that most people can't do and it looks so amazing and graceful when you can do it.
I know what you're talking about with the foot cramps. That mostly comes from conditioning. When you get into better shape and eat better, they will happen less often. Get enough potassium in your diet and work hard on getting into top physical shape.
I know what you're talking about with the foot cramps. That mostly comes from conditioning. When you get into better shape and eat better, they will happen less often. Get enough potassium in your diet and work hard on getting into top physical shape.
Heart Break Kid
Master Don Juan
I only swam competetively during high school but I am a life guard. During my time racing I have only won competitions with butterfly and freestyle. I never really did specific training, I found HIIT and Rippetoe helped me. I think because cardio let me hold my breath longer. Other than that I just swam 6 days a week in an Olympic pool for about two hours and had someone better than me critique my technique. I do not think it is much more complicated than that. If you swim with someone who is winning competititions you will find you get much better.
Perhaps putting on too much muscle is a bad thing but I did not want to stop the compound excercises.
Perhaps putting on too much muscle is a bad thing but I did not want to stop the compound excercises.
This is something I've wondered about. I haven't been swimming in over 10 years but do you guys think the standard compound lifts (squat, deadlift, etc.) make you a better swimmer? Do competitive swimmers do a lot of weight training?
I swam for about 20 years and competitively through college (Division I).
I didn't strength train specifically for swimming in any serious way until college. But let me tell you, once I did, I did see a drop in my times. It's a trade off, however; for added strength, you'll lose some flexibility, which is a key component of a good swim.
The path to becoming a better swimmer also depends on your experience level. If you're a relative newby, you'll make the most gains by perfecting your technique and building your stamina, as mentioned earlier in this thread.
Technique can't really be described adequately in writing; it's something that you need to have taught first hand. Find an experienced swimmer and have them critique your stroke.
Building stamina in the pool is similar to building stamina in any sport. It takes a combination of long distance training, interval training, and sprints.
The mechanics of swimming and the medium that you're in (i.e., water) are unlike anything you experience in any other sport. So, even though you may be in good shape on land, that may not translate well to the pool (and vice versa, actually).
You're also hypoxic (reduced oxygen), which is what leads to the burning arms and legs taht you're experiencing. Working on the two concepts above (perfecting technique and building stamina) will both help with this.
I didn't strength train specifically for swimming in any serious way until college. But let me tell you, once I did, I did see a drop in my times. It's a trade off, however; for added strength, you'll lose some flexibility, which is a key component of a good swim.
The path to becoming a better swimmer also depends on your experience level. If you're a relative newby, you'll make the most gains by perfecting your technique and building your stamina, as mentioned earlier in this thread.
Technique can't really be described adequately in writing; it's something that you need to have taught first hand. Find an experienced swimmer and have them critique your stroke.
Building stamina in the pool is similar to building stamina in any sport. It takes a combination of long distance training, interval training, and sprints.
The mechanics of swimming and the medium that you're in (i.e., water) are unlike anything you experience in any other sport. So, even though you may be in good shape on land, that may not translate well to the pool (and vice versa, actually).
You're also hypoxic (reduced oxygen), which is what leads to the burning arms and legs taht you're experiencing. Working on the two concepts above (perfecting technique and building stamina) will both help with this.