Fins...who uses fins?

Rich, After that hot tub comment, you need to move your meter to Clark Griswold; that's something he would have said :rofl: Donna

I have been told by the ladies that fins are very good for enhancing the fastskin look and their summertime beach appearance. Something about the posterior area being improved. I do not use them myself, as I am generally paddling in the OW. But I do believe and have read that fins have some uses. They can help with SDKs, strengthen and increase ankle flexibility, help with explosive speed and give the shoulders a break if needed. Most USS kids seem to use them for certain sets and drills.

i like doing "shooters" with a monofin, but i never do any swimming (w/arms) with it. i don't like any device that will make me feel slower when removed. and shooters with surgical tubing....good wholesome family fun.

Terry, I am just surprised that you would not endorse the use of something that would isolate a muscle group so that it could be taxed thus improving strength. Kicking with fins with increased drag due to body position and no aid of the upper body isolates muscle groups. It would be similar to swimmers working out in a weight room for added strength, the strength that full-body swimming won't give them. I don't swim with fins to "keep up"; I use them to isolate my legs so my legs are doing most of the work against the forces of water. And when I remove the fins, sure, it is weird for 100 yards or so, but my legs have gotten a much better workout than if I hadn't used them. It doesn't take much yardage after removing them to get back in the groove. Adding strength to a swimmer's body should be a very good thing. I'd like to know how you think that a swimmer who only swims and does nothing to aid his/her strength level would be better off. Unless you have a pool that has a 3-knot current which would be impossible for any swimmer to swim in. Do you think strength is important for swimming? or am I old school here. Donna

Kristina, Uh-oh, I have to presume from your beating your dead horse that this has been a thread in the past? Oops, didn't know that; oh well, bah-humbug. If someone gives you a pair, can you send them to me? mine are worn out:rofl: donna Hi Donna, Sorry for any confusion on my dead horse. Let me explain. (And, I think you ask a great question/ bring up an interesting topic with the fin thing.) 1. I like the dead horse symbol. I'm trying to use it more. However, I see that it is confusing when I use it randomly. 2. I used the symbol for this reason - Only my teammates and coach know this but I used the "beating a dead horse symbol" b/c every time coach says we've got a set w/ fins, I will be the only swimmer to always, always complain (and I'll usually swim the set w/out fins if at all possible.) So basically, everyone on the team knows I hate fins. Kristina = Fin Hater/ Fins Stink/ Icky Fins/ Fins Dead Weight :dedhorse: :dedhorse: (I think I hate them b/c my age group team never used them so I never learned how to swim efficiently w/ them.) And as for isolating muscle groups for building strength - I like weights and kicking (no fins) w/ and w/out a board. BUT, I am a STINKY kicker, so take this with a grain of salt!:2cents: Great topic though Donna!

When swimming without my coach (twice weekly) I use fins. I use them to keep my rear end higher as I hardly kick. With or without fins, unless I am doing a 50 meter freestyle race, I just pull ahead with my forearms and the legs keep me balanced. Or doing fast freestyle intervals. I also use them to feel my legs kicking on my side or doing backstroke drills. It seems this drill would strenghen my legs. Sometimes I use them to feel powerfull when swimming butterfly or when doing a dolphin like movement beneath the surface. I use Speedo fins, the smaller ones. If I am snorkeling I use the "normal" fins, so as to be able to come back from the snorkeling place without drowning (speedo fins won't help you much in treading water). I also have cheap fins to lend to cheap friends who haven't yet bought their own. Fortress: I see your are back in Virginia (well, your avatar is back), so here is the connection: my mother lived in Richmond for a couple of years back in 1942-44, going to some college, after finishing Belhaven in Jackson, Ms. I also have been to and liked an outlet up there, the Potomac Mills place, somewhere in northern Virginia. Donna: I misbehaved myself and did a google search on you. I am a alien ignoramous from Brazil, with no idea of the celebrities I meet here. You once held several swimming backstroke records and other tidbits. You are also going to swim from somewhere to another place (I guess it would be from the island to the mainland?) when you turn 60 (oops, it is there on the internet). Take care all, billy fanstone

Terry: I was merely objecting, and not very strenuously, on a general definitional level to calling sprinting a "start and turn" sport instead of part of the sport of "swimming." A lot of distance folks say this about sprinters, and it gets a little tiresome, that's all. I'm sure you understand the tiresome point. So I don't think I misread or misinterpreted your post. Maybe you did mine. Or maybe we missed each other's points. I just quoted your description of sprinting and noted that swimming includes sprinting. I wasn't attempting anything more in depth. As you noted, you then proceeded to mention your target audience - - health and fitness swimmers. But I wasn't really refering to them at all. I was just making the very minor and narrow point that sprinters are swimmers too --whether they are NCAA Div I or age group sprinters or USMS sprinters. Personally, I enjoy the power training as much as integration training. Everyone finds "pleasure" in swimming in different ways. Integration training isn't per se more pleasurable; it depends on your own perspective and preference. Also, I know many sprinters who train extremely hard. Others who grow up and take to the open water, etc. Us poor sprinters just take it on the chin a lot. But as a former distance runner, I never denigrated the sprinters I saw at masters running events. Some of them were unbelievable. Not to say I don't enjoy watching longer races and triathlons more... But it's good to know that I'm supposed to be using fins when I'm sprint training.

Runners exercise the legs most heavily. They're usually not hungry after exercising - perhaps because they tend to metabolize more fat? Swimmers exercise the upper body to a far greater degree. They tend to be ravenous after a workout - perhaps because they're sugar-depleted more than runners? Interesting. When I was a runner I was not hungry right after a workout, but within an hour I was ravenous. The same is true now, after I swim. Eating immediately after running/swimming results in an upset stomach. After drinking water (rehydrating) and waiting 30 min. to an hour I am very hungry.

Billy: Richmond is in the "southern" part of Virginia. There is a great divide in the state of Virginia. There was recently an article in the Washington Post entitled "So close, yet so far apart." The fault lines run deep. I have been to that Potomac Mills place, but it requires one to get on I95, which is usually to be avoided at all costs. I'm right here in the Tysons area stuck in traffic. Hey, I've been to Brazil many years ago. Quite a great place. . \ Fortress, That is soo true. When I lived in DC, I hated it when teammates would ask me to take them to Potomac Mills. Besides having to deal with I95, parking at PM was also a pain. But, as a college swimmer with no job, when they offered to pay for gas and food, it was too good to refuse. Where do you swim masters? I swam masters in the Tyson's Corner area right after college, the pool we used was right off of Dolly Madison. John

Do I believe in strength for swimming? As a middle-aged person I believe in strength for living which in turn has a beneficial effect on my swimming. I do dryland "instability" exercise several times a week - mostly stuff with a balance ball, some dumbbells and a medicine ball. I like instability exercise (rather than conventional weightlifting) because it's particularly good at promoting integration of core and stabilizer muscles with prime mover muscles. I do no "muscle isolation" in my dryland training because muscles never work in isolation in life. Is there an exception? There's always an exception. In swimming the noteworthy exception is short-course sprinting, which is more of a starting and turning race than a swimming race. The Auburn Univ sprint group, for instance, does sets in which they try to max power over short distance repeats by swimming at ultra-high speed (i.e. maximizing resistance) with both paddles and fins. I think those sets are instrumental in their being able to average 18+ (men) and 21-plus(women) in the 200 scy Free Relay. But in races that are over in a fraction of a minute, the massive fatigue produced by massive power demands is minimized as a factor. As soon as you move that 200 FR to a LC pool you're much more rewarded for efficiency. Terry: I like bosus and stability balls too. We have a lot in common here except the Mets and preferred swim stroke and distance ... I just want to point out that some of us "fast twitch" chickens don't like it all that much when sprinting is called a "start and turn sport" rather than part of the sport of "swimming." To be sure, one must be expert at the starts and turns to swim good 50s, although my turns are sub-par and I manage to survive. But it is still "swimming." Sprinters still spend plenty of face time in the water training and swimming. They just train somewhat differently and swim one of the myriad different races that are available in the sport of "swimming." So they are not just "turners." You know that my personal perference, despite my short stature, is for LC sprints. And personally, not to mock my kind, but I'd rather be decent at some longers events too. But sprinters are still participating in the sport of "swimming." Last I checked, I was registered with US Masters "Swimming" and "swimming" in USMS meets. I wasn't going to "start and turn" meets, although I am a stroke and turn judge. Even Donna has come around and admitted the 50 back is now an "accomplishment." ;) I would also like to agreed with Caped that fins are good for the glutes.