Swimming after liftin'

Quoted: "But if you can't really hit it in the gym, your 50 and 100 *** times will suffer. From your vids it seems like you need much more power in the water. If I were you, I'd cut out a swim and only lift on that day. 6x a week of swimming isn't really necessary for your events." What is it about "lifting" that you get? Increased "strength"? Force production is a fickle thing in the water. You push the water, the water pushes back, up to a certain point. If you push too hard, the water "caves" (it's called cavitation" and you "slip" in the water. This is when "bubbles" show up, and coaches tell you you have a poor "catch"! (As in, you're not grabbing the water because you pushed too hard!) Chris Ritter went over a detailed plan for structuring the order of dryland and swimming. theswimmerscircle.com/.../ Regarding breaststroke, speed has very little to do with "pull back strength" because there is not pull back motion. usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx The esteemed coach Wayne McCauley (breastroker) suggests working on your heel speed via doing eggbeater kick on your back for short all out bursts. Remember, strength is just as much neural as it is physiological. The force vectors that you train have to match the force vectors you'll be using in a race. Regarding cords, you shouldn't be doing them primarily for strength. They are for shoulder stability, as in recruiting the little guys who wouldn't otherwise be engaged. So I do them every day, they're never done to fatigue (because fatigue is not the point! It's not for endurance... fatigue is catabolic, rest is anabolic!) Weights can't replaced swimming as far as getting faster goes. But you can get stronger in the pool by doing all out work/adding resistance. Functional strength is built by doing the movements you want stronger, not by isolating components and doing them separately and slower. I don't agree. And yes, lifting for strength (heavy weight, lower reps) will make you faster in the water if you have good technique. And yes, weights can replace one swim workout if you're swimming 6x per week. Strength training in the water (fins, parachutes, etc.) is great. But having raw strength to add to that will help. Functional strength has a place, but so does raw strength. Especially for sprinters. At least it has worked well for me.

Quoted: "But if you can't really hit it in the gym, your 50 and 100 *** times will suffer. From your vids it seems like you need much more power in the water. If I were you, I'd cut out a swim and only lift on that day. 6x a week of swimming isn't really necessary for your events." What is it about "lifting" that you get? Increased "strength"? Force production is a fickle thing in the water. You push the water, the water pushes back, up to a certain point. If you push too hard, the water "caves" (it's called cavitation" and you "slip" in the water. This is when "bubbles" show up, and coaches tell you you have a poor "catch"! (As in, you're not grabbing the water because you pushed too hard!) Chris Ritter went over a detailed plan for structuring the order of dryland and swimming. theswimmerscircle.com/.../ Regarding breaststroke, speed has very little to do with "pull back strength" because there is not pull back motion. usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx The esteemed coach Wayne McCauley (breastroker) suggests working on your heel speed via doing eggbeater kick on your back for short all out bursts. Remember, strength is just as much neural as it is physiological. The force vectors that you train have to match the force vectors you'll be using in a race. Regarding cords, you shouldn't be doing them primarily for strength. They are for shoulder stability, as in recruiting the little guys who wouldn't otherwise be engaged. So I do them every day, they're never done to fatigue (because fatigue is not the point! It's not for endurance... fatigue is catabolic, rest is anabolic!) Weights can't replaced swimming as far as getting faster goes. But you can get stronger in the pool by doing all out work/adding resistance. Functional strength is built by doing the movements you want stronger, not by isolating components and doing them separately and slower. I don't agree. And yes, lifting for strength (heavy weight, lower reps) will make you faster in the water if you have good technique. And yes, weights can replace one swim workout if you're swimming 6x per week. Strength training in the water (fins, parachutes, etc.) is great. But having raw strength to add to that will help. Functional strength has a place, but so does raw strength. Especially for sprinters. At least it has worked well for me.