Weight Training?

Yeah Gil - I really miss it a lot. There's a boxing gym in Sacramento, but it's not like the one I used to train at, too far away and with swimming, I can't do both. But I like training on the bag - I just do the drills I remember from the good ole days!

I lifted weights for about three or four month after I got back to swimming. but it couldn't keep me motivated and somehow after two month I even didn't look forward to lift weights. now i'm sticking with a calisthenics exercise routine and I feel just fine with it although I am not sure if every exercise affects my swimming.

Wow! Thanks for all the great advice! I appreciate all the details, sounds like some of you have some pretty good programs going! I think I may modify my weight regimen now and do less Bench press, not too crazy about it anyway ;) lol.. For each group I do 3 reps of about 8-10 while I"m building strength, and trying to add each week or two if I can. I don't spend more than 30 minutes on any given day doing the lifting. as I said, I'm just starting to do this so I'm not too worried about "bulking up" at the moment because I"m still just trying to gain strength, but I still may modify my regimen and see how it feels. I'm doing Bench press 55lbs, weight maching seated rows, abs, front and back flys on Monday... leg lifts, squats and roman chair on Tuesday, Wednesday, rest day.. Thursday is shoulder press with dumbells, lateral raises w/ dumbells, front and back pulldowns on a machine and abs... Friday is roman chair and squats again, and calf raises. In addition to this I swim on each of those days monday and Friday before lifting, and Tuesday and Thursday after lifting... and try and do yoga on Saturday at home.. though I may add more stretching type exercises within the week. Thanks also for the warnings and advice from everyone!... looks lik most people do lifting 2-3 times a week.. do you all do upper and lower body strength training on the same day? or do you do muscle group style lifting? Thanks again for the advice! Jeanette.

I started lifting weights about 2 years ago to try to increase my bone density. It hasn't helped my swim times at all. I'm doing a slightly different type of weightlifting, though, so I don't know whether I should have expected it to affect my swimming. I do a group weight class at my gym (Bally). They call it "PowerFlex", but I've seen similar class descriptions at other gyms with names like "Body Pump". It's an hour-long class with an instructor like you'd find in an aerobics class. We use free weights - a single bar with weight plates. They're lightweight bars (2.5 pounds) with plates that are easily put on and taken off. The plates are 2.5, 5, and 10 pounds, and the bar will hold a maximum of 3 plates on each side. The most weight that can fit on the bar is 60 pounds (3 10-lb plates on each side). The sets are all done to music with the instructor calling out the moves. Each muscle group is worked for 4 minutes. So, for example, we do 4 minutes of squats to the beat of the music. We might do eight single squats, then eight where we're going down on 2 counts and back up on 2 counts, then 8 more singles, then 8 where we're going down 3 counts, up one, etc. In a four-minute set I'd guess that we do about 100 squats. You have to keep the weight fairly low to be able to do that many reps. (I am currently lifting 35 pounds on the squat set, for example.) We do four minutes on each muscle group: quads, chest, glutes/hamstrings, back, triceps, biceps, shoulders, and abs. As with swimming, I've found that I am more inclined to do the weight workouts (and to work harder) if I'm in a group setting than if I try to work out on my own. Even though it may not be the perfect weight workout for swimming, I HAVE to lift weights for my bone density and at least this gets me to the gym.

Hey Jim...no worries 'bout that dark alley - I'm a lover, not a fighter! Although I have to say that the best training I've ever done (besides swimming) has been in the boxing gym. I used to train with 2 amateur boxers and let me tell you - boxing is HARD!! Lots of jumping rope, running, sit ups, push ups, work with a heavy bag and a partner, etc. I miss it! I still have my gloves and wraps, and fortunately for me, the rec hall on campus has a heavy bag that no ever uses.;)

Jeanette - sounds like you have a good program too! As far as what I do...it depends on how much time I have. My entire workout (mentioned in a previous post) takes about 2 hours to complete. Sometimes, if I only have an hour or so, I'll do my upper body one day, and lower the next, which puts me in the gym 3 or 4 times a week instead of my usual two.

It's a good idea to do some stretching along with the strength training. Muscles building can result in being a bit tighter, especially in the arms. Having a good range of motion is very important in the pool. A combination of weight training and stretching is a good mix. It all depends on how big the weights are before this really becomes an issue. Wayne...you must have one heck of a start. The bolts on the starting blocks probably come loose after you take off. :)