Mike Ross didn't mention that he had over 3 seconds to watch me come in after finishing his own 100 fly! There are some amazing Masters swimmers out there. Some are inspirational simply by the way they swim and some are so interesting and fun that you just feel glad to be alive sitting with them at the pool deck. This is a great sport for us...somehow, aging up feels like "getting younger"!
Thanks for all the generous comments from all of you. I would note that Rich may have suspected I would get his 55-59 fly mark because he already wiped it out when he "aged up" to 60 and got faster!
Let's all have great swims at Stanford!
p.s. I think Mike may have been referring to my inflated head size after the weekend, not wing span. Things are getting back to normal now...whatever that is.
I should note that this is not the first record that I have seen Greg swim. The first record was at my first Master's meet. I was at a small meet at Wheaton College in Feb of 2004, not even sure what "getting back into swimming" meant for me.
Greg broke a 100 fly record at that small meet and I was a little shocked. Who breaks records at little meets?
From that point on my perspective on swimming fast was changed as was my perspective on Master's swimming.
Hi Rich,
I enjoyed watching your swims at Stanford in August; learned a lot just from watching.
I'd most appreciate knowing your weight lifting routine.
One of my doctors at Michigan State Univ Med School tells me the basic movements are pushing and pulling using your own body weight is ideal.
I've changed my routine from free weights and machines to now doing exclusively squats, chinups, pushups, pullups from horizontal floor position on the bar, dips.
Any guidance appreciated.
Thanks
Jon Rosenbaum
(New to the board;-))
Jon,
For the most part, I agree with your source at Michigan State. Using your own body weight for most exercises is ideal but don't dismiss free weights or machines completely as they have their place. For example, I'll use the lat pull machine to warm up for pull-ups. My routine changes all the time and I'm constantly trying new things but it is based on the philosophy of being functionally strong and powerful all over and not concentrating on mimicing swimming motions. I might think differently if I had a two year window prior to Olympic Trials, but I'm in this for the long haul (31 years and counting) and I feel it's a mistake to concentrate too much on trying to duplicate in- water swimming motions.
The details of my routine would take up way too much space here ( e.g. I do about 20 different core exercises, each with numerous variations and protocols). It'll be a good retirement project to write it all down. I will share my favorite new core body exercise that I adapted from an article in Geezerjock magazine. I call it Fitball 360. You need a fair amount of space to do this. Put your toes on top of a large fitball and place your hands on the floor so you're in a push up position. Slowly shuffle yours hands along the floor to make a full 360 circle around the relatively stationary ball. Keep your body in a planked push-up position the entire time. After you do this for a while you'll find your better in one direction than the other. Don't ignore your weaker direction. For variety, and as you get stronger, see how many circles you can do without stopping or add 5 pushups every 90 degrees. This exercise is also a great scapular stabilizer.
Good luck,
Rich
Jon,
For the most part, I agree with your source at Michigan State. Using your own body weight for most exercises is ideal but don't dismiss free weights or machines completely as they have their place. For example, I'll use the lat pull machine to warm up for pull-ups. My routine changes all the time and I'm constantly trying new things but it is based on the philosophy of being functionally strong and powerful all over and not concentrating on mimicing swimming motions. I might think differently if I had a two year window prior to Olympic Trials, but I'm in this for the long haul (31 years and counting) and I feel it's a mistake to concentrate too much on trying to duplicate in- water swimming motions.
The details of my routine would take up way too much space here ( e.g. I do about 20 different core exercises, each with numerous variations and protocols). It'll be a good retirement project to write it all down. I will share my favorite new core body exercise that I adapted from an article in Geezerjock magazine. I call it Fitball 360. You need a fair amount of space to do this. Put your toes on top of a large fitball and place your hands on the floor so you're in a push up position. Slowly shuffle yours hands along the floor to make a full 360 circle around the relatively stationary ball. Keep your body in a planked push-up position the entire time. After you do this for a while you'll find your better in one direction than the other. Don't ignore your weaker direction. For variety, and as you get stronger, see how many circles you can do without stopping or add 5 pushups every 90 degrees. This exercise is also a great scapular stabilizer.
Good luck,
Rich
Rich,
No wonder you are such an awesome swimmer. That sounds hard! I'm definitely going to try it. Please post some more of your exercises!
Jon,
I am actually not the best person to ask about lifting, as I am not very dedicated to a routine. When I do "lift", I follow a similar routine to the one you have described, with squats, pullups, chinups and dips. This season, I am intending to reacquaint myself with work that mimics the stroke using cords and a vasa trainer.
Since you are new to these boards, perhaps you should create a new thread on the topic of weights and swimming.
Hi Rich,
This exercise sounds most interesting.
I recently bought the push-up equipment from www.perfectpushup.com. I tried them tonite and based on the large chart they provided it is possible to do a regular pushup, pushup in wide position (similar to fly with dumbbells), pushup in close position, as well as a chair pushup. The Dr. of physical medicine at MSU I consult with regularly recommends using these devices to prevent wrist problems rather than doing pushups by placing your flat hands on the floor. Another option he recommends is doing pushups by placing your fist on the floor so the bones in your wrist are not bent while providing support to your body during the pushup. For me the flat hand technique has caused some pinching of the nerves in my hands. As an outcome of tonite first run with the Perfect Pushup equipment I'm hopeful this nerve pinching will not continue.
I will try the exercise you suggest and may modify it a bit by using my fist rather than an open hand approach.
Thanks and I would be most interested in other ideas your have tried.
Jon
Hi Rich,
thanks for sharing
how much do you think your dry land routine contributes to your speed
What sort of times do you think you'd do if you didn't do any dry land and strength training?
Ande
Jon,
For the most part, I agree with your source at Michigan State. Using your own body weight for most exercises is ideal but don't dismiss free weights or machines completely as they have their place. For example, I'll use the lat pull machine to warm up for pull-ups. My routine changes all the time and I'm constantly trying new things but it is based on the philosophy of being functionally strong and powerful all over and not concentrating on mimicing swimming motions. I might think differently if I had a two year window prior to Olympic Trials, but I'm in this for the long haul (31 years and counting) and I feel it's a mistake to concentrate too much on trying to duplicate in- water swimming motions.
The details of my routine would take up way too much space here ( e.g. I do about 20 different core exercises, each with numerous variations and protocols). It'll be a good retirement project to write it all down. I will share my favorite new core body exercise that I adapted from an article in Geezerjock magazine. I call it Fitball 360. You need a fair amount of space to do this. Put your toes on top of a large fitball and place your hands on the floor so you're in a push up position. Slowly shuffle yours hands along the floor to make a full 360 circle around the relatively stationary ball. Keep your body in a planked push-up position the entire time. After you do this for a while you'll find your better in one direction than the other. Don't ignore your weaker direction. For variety, and as you get stronger, see how many circles you can do without stopping or add 5 pushups every 90 degrees. This exercise is also a great scapular stabilizer.
Good luck,
Rich
Rich,
No wonder you are such an awesome swimmer. That sounds hard! I'm definitely going to try it. Please post some more of your exercises!
Ditto! I too would love to hear some more of your dry land routines Rich!!
Maybe you can write a brief article for the master's swim magazine on this topic as well. I'll bet they would love to publish an article like that!
Bork
Ande,
I have a stong belief that all the dry-land I do has helped me maintain my speed in the water and I feel the effect is more meaningful as you age because without it not only do you lose muscle mass, but the loss begins to accelerate. However, especially as you age, there is a cost in the risk of injury and having to live with the soreness for several days after a hard lift. That's why I can only do it hard 1 day a week. But for me it's fun, especially with one or two training partners.
I couldn't begin to guess what my times would be without the dryland stuff, but I'm convinced they'd be substantially slower.
Rich
