Weight Training?

I lift twice a week now.Several years ago I was lifting 3 times a week,but now I get better results with twice,possibly because at 56 it takes me longer to recover. I try to always swim after lifting. I find I feel less sore and tight the next day if I do. Be sure to warm up in the pool before swimming hard after lifting.

I try to lift twice a week but I don't lift alot of weight because I don't want to gain any bulk. I had a bad experience in my senior year of high school and first year of college where I apparently overlighted and my swimming suffered drastically. If you are a sprinter, lift as hard as you want but if you are a distance swimmer, don't lift so much weight and bascially do it to get lean. Focus on lifting that simulates swimming strokes.

Hi there! I've been strength training consistanly for nearly 2 1/2 years and I've noticed a difference in my swimming for sure. Here's what I do twice a week (sometimes 3 times per week, depending on how much time I'm spending in the pool): Upper body - lat pull downs front pull downs tricep pull downs two back machines - seated row and one I call "fly back" - works the upper back and deltoid muscles modified pushups on a bar - I'm not strong enough yet to do the "real" ones, but the bar is getting lower! modified pull ups on the same bar - again, I'm not strong enough yet to do real pull ups, but I'm getting there There are 4 exercises that I do for my shoulders and I'll try to explain them without being too confusing: with very light weights, with arms at your sides, lift your arms with the elbows slightly bent until your arms are about level with your shoulders, then slowly go back down - 3 sets, 15 reps for the next one, you can use a 20 lb. bar or two 8 or 10 lb. dumbells - with your hands close together and in front of your body, lift up to chest level then lower slowly. 3 sets, as many reps as you can do - works the muscles that help you achieve that nice high elbow recovery in freestyle! The next two I got from a swim magazine - with 5, 8, or 10 lb bells - stand with arms at your side, knees slightly bent, elbows bent - swing arms toward the front like you're running - each arm counts for 1 rep. This next one is kind of a modified shoulder press - but instead you give it a twist and push to the opposite side of your body as you press up. Lower body - Squats, squats squats! Great for pushes off the wall. My knees aren't the greatest so I use a leg press machine - 3 sets, 20 reps with light/med weight Quad, hamstring and calf machines - 12-15 reps, 3 sets Now for the hard stuff - you need a medicine ball and a physio ball - I like doing very slow, controlled sit ups on the ball, as it seems to work my core better. Roman chair - I put an 8 lb medicine ball between my legs and draw them up - as many as I can do, 3 sets. This message is getting long so I'll stop for now, but know this: the more you work your core, the better your sense of balance is, and the better your posture is - the better you will be in the water! There are really good websites that strictly discuss core strength training - you can work up to 3 times a week or more; some people do it every day, but I recommend at least one full day of rest per week, or at the very least - mild, active rest. And remember to stretch! I try to stretch at the end of the day, when my body has been warmed up - usually while sitting in front of the tube. I recently attended a training camp and we had the added benefit of talking to a personal trainer who is also a swimmer, and one of the best core exercises you can do is called, I believe, the plank. What you do is lay on the floor face down - with the support of your elbows, slowly rise up, keeping your back nice and straight - while holding your body position on your toes and elbows. Try to do three sets, holding the position for at least 10 seconds and working up to 30 seconds. For me, hitting the gym AFTER I swim is better - but that's just me. Good luck!

Generally, I like to do A lot of carido. which includes situps, ona incline hands on chest, with approx. 20 lbs. About 500 reps slow. Work out on a speed bag double end bag and 60 lb punching bag. But no other excerise. that day. approx. 2 hrs. Next day swim. approx. 2 miles 1hr 20 mins Then rest for a day.The day after . Do dips chins and push ups. 100, 200 .100. Done in strict form. 1 hr 45 mins. next day swim 2 miles this is free style non stop. Next day rest. Next Day various weight machines Then swim again then rest and so on.:) ;)

I have been lifting weights 2 to 3 times a week.....mostly low to medium weight with lots of reps....I also try to move from station to station pretty fast so that I can get a good cardio workout as well as a strength training workout.....(kills 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak)......... Fisgrrl.....Yikes!!.....I hope I don't have the misfortune of running into you in a dark alley someday when you're not having a good day!!.......You are one serious athelete!...(and all those distance events too!.....You must have some freak masochistic streak or somthin?) Newmastersswimmer

I'm definitely no expert on weight lifting but about 2 monts ago i started doing a bowflex workout every 2 days along with swimming 5 days a week. I thought this would help my times but ironically my times started getting slower at meets. I figured i might be overdoing it so I stopped lifting and started tapering for Colonies zones...I let you know if it helped.

I used to do weights three times a week, whole body with max weight I could do. Always negative, two seconds up, 4 down. But like Allen, I just can't do more than twice a week now. Same age as Allen. I personally see zero reasons to do bench presses. It will not help your swmming. A super pullover would be better. Like Allen, I believe in swimming after a weight workout. It pushes the lactic acid out and I am less sore. I used to pretty much go nuts in the gym. I did 30 reps at 1080 pounds on the inclined leg press machine, including 30 at each 90 pounds getting to 1080 and going down. All negative and all burning. Toe lift 600, leg curl 230. I often left the gym with my legs shaking for hours. jswim, How long to you spend on these different muscle groups? Over working a set is bad. Better to do one set and go to the next exercise, keeping the heart rate (and sweat) up. More than a hour just with weights is too much. Try 40 minutes weights and 20 minutes cardio.

you're gonna get sore right when you start. It should go away in a few weeks. Be careful not to rip anything ande Originally posted by jswim Hello everyone, I was wondering what sort of weight training (if any) everyone does in addition to swim workouts? I tried doing a search but didn't come up with a whole lot. I recently started a weight training regimen about 3-4 weeks ago, and do a different muscle group monday, tuesday, thursday and friday. I've been doing bench press and I'm apparently a total wimp.. This is the one muscle group that keeps getting sore. all the others feel like they're being worked, but don't hinder swimming at all. I am doing weights till the muscles get tired, but Bench press and flys cause them to be a little sore for a couple of days afterwards. This makes my swim workouts very uhhh.... interesting. It's not terrible, but it takes some time to work out the soreness, and my endurance suffers a bit. My question is, is this ok? Should I not be swimming on the days I'm sore, or does it not matter? Does anyone else experience this? ps.. this is the first time really that I've gone to the gym and lifted. I've always done sports, but not lifted weights until now. Perhaps this is an initial hump I need to get over?

I have been weight lifting over 20 years and really love it. One thing to watch for though. The chest muscles tend to build up easier than the back muscles, and add to that, that swimming builds those muscles too, be careful you don't create an inbalance between chest and back, and bicep and tricep. When an inbalance is created, you can put undo stress on your shoulder tendons, and cause problems(can you tell I speak from experience). So I try to do extra on my back and triceps, and minimize the chest and biceps a little. Swimming works the chest anyway. I like to swim after weights to flush the lactic acid out, but be aware, it is harder!

Fishgrrl, I second what you said about boxing training . I was a professional fighter for a few years---it helped pay my way thru college. Although I mostly swim now I still enjoy getting in the gymn and going at the heavy bag. Nice feeling since it cannot beat on me!!