Looking at some pro swimmers I could not help noticing how big and muscular they are.Does bigger muscular weight contribute positively to speed or not?Phelps is awesome and definitely not the bulkiest guy in the pool.
I am 6'1'' and only weigh 160 lb. It's all muscles(award from my 5 years of weightlifting).I look heavier than what I weigh but still would like to gain more muscles( and strengh!) which I always had a problem with unless I ate 6 times a day.Swimming is even more calorie-consuming, so I think I am stuck where I am.But the question is:is that ok to be lighter in order to be faster?
Thanks.
Parents
Former Member
There's a lot of speculation about this subject, because most people tend to think that if you've got bigger muscles, you can pull/kick harder, and generate more speed....what they don't realize is that muscle weighs a lot, so the bigger you are, the more you weigh, thus, the more you have to work to get from one end of the pool to the other. As a female, I've been trained to be toned and focus more on my endurance and speed training than muscles, I assume it's mostly the same for guys, since you don't see a bunch of really ripped body builders setting world records. But that's me, I guess....you'd probably benefit more from a male's point of view.
There's a lot of speculation about this subject, because most people tend to think that if you've got bigger muscles, you can pull/kick harder, and generate more speed....what they don't realize is that muscle weighs a lot, so the bigger you are, the more you weigh, thus, the more you have to work to get from one end of the pool to the other. As a female, I've been trained to be toned and focus more on my endurance and speed training than muscles, I assume it's mostly the same for guys, since you don't see a bunch of really ripped body builders setting world records. But that's me, I guess....you'd probably benefit more from a male's point of view.
