I don't know whether this should go under workouts or not, so I'm sorry if it's not in the right place. Swimming season starts in Mid-November, and right now, I'm playing football. I am 6'1, 185lbs, and by my 1st meet, I wanna be 160lbs. getting down to 160lbs is no problem, but I was wondering if swimmers usually do weight lifting, my program will probably consist of hi reps, low weight. are there any exercises for swimmers? I swim Free, ***, and Back. any advice is greatly appreciated
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I agree with Wayne. Weights will greatly improve your power for sprinting, but stretching is essential. Big arms and shoulders aren't worth beans if you can't find a range of motion to use them.
Reps of 10 which bring you to the point of failure are great in building muscle and overall strength. But personally I've found that high reps (20) can be beneficial and don't add the bulk that can tighten you up. I read somewhere a while back in a study of swimmers where one group did all around muscle trainining by using machines and bar bells, and the other focused on their swimming specific muscles by doing mostly dips and pull-ups (no free weights). Interestingly enough the group that did the dips and pull-ups gained muscle and strength benefits very similiar to the weight trainers, and were found to be slightly faster in the pool.
I agree with Wayne. Weights will greatly improve your power for sprinting, but stretching is essential. Big arms and shoulders aren't worth beans if you can't find a range of motion to use them.
Reps of 10 which bring you to the point of failure are great in building muscle and overall strength. But personally I've found that high reps (20) can be beneficial and don't add the bulk that can tighten you up. I read somewhere a while back in a study of swimmers where one group did all around muscle trainining by using machines and bar bells, and the other focused on their swimming specific muscles by doing mostly dips and pull-ups (no free weights). Interestingly enough the group that did the dips and pull-ups gained muscle and strength benefits very similiar to the weight trainers, and were found to be slightly faster in the pool.
