This is from one of my favorite current swimming exprets, Brent Rushhall of San Diego State University.
www-rohan.sdsu.edu/.../table.htm
Parker, J. (1989). Wiping your swimmers out. Swimming Technique, May-July, 10-16.
The process of the destruction of muscle (rhabdomyolysis) is commonly found in runners, particularly after completing a marathon. There is little evidence that rhabdomyolysis causes performance decrement. Creatine kinase (CK) is an enzyme found in muscle cells which catalyzes the formation of phosphocreatine from creatine and ATP. It is not normally found in the blood in large quantities unless muscle cells have been damaged. Increased CK activity is a marker for excessive strain.
In one day, an elite swimmer burns more calories than a runner in a marathon. Since many swimmers train at least 3-5 hours a day six days per week, a great strain is placed on their bodies. Muscle degeneration could result from consistent exercise at elevated intensities. Muscle problems can exist with degeneration and inflammation occurring while discomfort is tolerable (low pain). Overuse injury syndrome is frequently seen in "swimmer's shoulder" (a pathology of the rotator cuff) and "breaststroker's knee" (injury to the medial colateral ligament and/or medial patellar facet due to the highly unusual action in the breaststroke kick). Possible other causes are protein and iron deficiencies, the oxidative capacity of muscle cells, and glycogen stores. Psychological conditions result in "burn-out."
Implication. The threat of overtraining can be reduced without it affecting the performance of the athlete. Yardage can be reduced and the training stimulus changed to interval work of greater quality and less volume.
". overtrained runners do not lose their conditioning, but they may demonstrate a deterioration in running form. . . .overtraining may cause some local muscular fatigue through selective glycogen depletion, forcing runners to alter their mechanics to achieve the same pace."(p. 198)
Lot more interesting stuff at:
www-rohan.sdsu.edu/.../table.htm
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Former Member
Brent Rushhall is my friend and sometime guru. We do not always think alike, but the knowledge from his CD and web site is amoung the best out there. The slow motion videos and strokes disected into every tenth of a second combined with his analysis are great for coaches and swimmers.
San Diego State University is one of the few places in the world where you can get degree and become a great swim coach.
Connie, I disagree some what on your statement of high reps and low weights being best. I will always prefer being able to do 10 reps on the superpullover at 240 pounds rather than 40 reps at 120 pounds.
There are a couple of basic tenants for swimming and weights:
1) Always vary the workout, the body adapts too well, you must vary the workout for the best results.
2) You absolutely need some days of extremely hard workouts, at maximum speed or maximum weights. But always follow with easy recovery days. Maximum efforts can take the muscles as long as 72 hours to recover, unless you use streoids or HGH.
3) Weights and swimming must be done perfectly and with specificity. You will never see in any of my writings a recomendation for the old Bench Press. There is no correlation with swimming, while the superpullover is the breaststroke pulldown.
Connie, thanks for starting a great thread.
Brent Rushhall is my friend and sometime guru. We do not always think alike, but the knowledge from his CD and web site is amoung the best out there. The slow motion videos and strokes disected into every tenth of a second combined with his analysis are great for coaches and swimmers.
San Diego State University is one of the few places in the world where you can get degree and become a great swim coach.
Connie, I disagree some what on your statement of high reps and low weights being best. I will always prefer being able to do 10 reps on the superpullover at 240 pounds rather than 40 reps at 120 pounds.
There are a couple of basic tenants for swimming and weights:
1) Always vary the workout, the body adapts too well, you must vary the workout for the best results.
2) You absolutely need some days of extremely hard workouts, at maximum speed or maximum weights. But always follow with easy recovery days. Maximum efforts can take the muscles as long as 72 hours to recover, unless you use streoids or HGH.
3) Weights and swimming must be done perfectly and with specificity. You will never see in any of my writings a recomendation for the old Bench Press. There is no correlation with swimming, while the superpullover is the breaststroke pulldown.
Connie, thanks for starting a great thread.
