Weights & Swimming

swimstud- I probably could do lots of things in the water that are not hard on the shoulders. However, that being said, I think what I truely need is just rest out of the water. Im type of person where if I went to swim, I would want to go at it. I might consider just the kicking in another week. For right now I am kinda enjoying the break out of the water and sitting around eating bon bons all day :-)

It depends on your goals; that's the first thing I say to all my clients in trying to help them reach their goals. If your goal is swimming, I would suggest swimming first if you absolutely have to do them back to back. I say this because you don't want to sacrifice your swimming for supplemental training, and weights are certainly supplemental. That's not to say they aren't good for you--they can be fantastic--but I would definitely suggest keeping them in order of priority. Also, given the rep ranges I generally would like to see swimmers use, doing weights after water training--assuming some nutrition has been taken in between--works just fine.

It depends on your goals; that's the first thing I say to all my clients in trying to help them reach their goals. If your goal is swimming, I would suggest swimming first if you absolutely have to do them back to back. I say this because you don't want to sacrifice your swimming for supplemental training, and weights are certainly supplemental. That's not to say they aren't good for you--they can be fantastic--but I would definitely suggest keeping them in order of priority. Also, given the rep ranges I generally would like to see swimmers use, doing weights after water training--assuming some nutrition has been taken in between--works just fine. The reason you lift before swimming is because you are fresh. If you swim before, you tire out your core which you need in lifting. You are setting up for an injury if you swim first. Its the same reason you do ab work at the end of a lifting workout.

newmasterswimmer- thats right, you did challenge me in the 200fly. On a fairly good day I would be under 2:00. I'll be ready for competetion in the fall. Im taking summer off from meets. Have to much going on. Buying a new house at end of this month, and it has a pool :-) I see lots of verticle kicking with medicine ball in my future :-) greg

Thanks for the reply Greg. You are very fast! I hope your minor rehab goes o.k. (and I'm sure it will and you will be back swimming tons of fly at practice again in no time!)....I don't think I'm quite ready to provide much of a challenge for you in that event (unless you were having a really really off day perhaps and I was having the race of my life...LOL!!) :rofl: :rofl: But I also like to race people for fun ...and there's nothing wrong with a friendly challenge....especially with someone who is in my agegroup now and swims my favorite event. I'm sure we will meet and race somewhere down the road anyway.....its practically unavoidable at this point. Newmastersswimmer

I went to the physical therpist today. She gave me all kinds of exercises to do. She seems to think that my front upper body is more developed than my upper back causing my shoulders to roll forward giving me pain in da shoulders. Hopefully I can get rid of the pain and be in pool soon :-) greg Greg can you not do *** pullouts and continue underwater doing the fly pull arms coming straight back roughly shoulder width. It should hit rear delt and lats. You can even bend you elows a little to engage more lat--like a pulldown. Just thought...if you want to be in the pool.

Warren, I think all swimmers can benefit from lifting in some form. As we age, lifting becomes more important, and should not just be sprinters. Distance folks need it as well.

This, I strongly disagree with. Isolation movements, proper form and rep ranges all allow you to gain benefits from a weight workout post-swimming. If you're in the repetition ranges commonly used by powerlifters, sure, you wouldn't want to workout before that. For the higher ranges I have my swimming clients do, no problems at all. I agree. Sprinters need to lift and they can benifit highly from doing power lifts in which case lifting must be done before swimming. Distance swimmers don't need to lift. Their dryland should be medicine ball, crunchs, push ups, pull ups...and that kind of stuff. This can be done after swimming.

I agree. Sprinters need to lift and they can benifit highly from doing power lifts in which case lifting must be done before swimming. Distance swimmers don't need to lift. Their dryland should be medicine ball, crunchs, push ups, pull ups...and that kind of stuff. This can be done after swimming. posted by Warren And of course 12 ounce curl lifting can (and should) be done before, during, and after swimming. Newmastersswimmer

The reason you lift before swimming is because you are fresh. If you swim before, you tire out your core which you need in lifting. You are setting up for an injury if you swim first. Its the same reason you do ab work at the end of a lifting workout. This, I strongly disagree with. Isolation movements, proper form and rep ranges all allow you to gain benefits from a weight workout post-swimming. If you're in the repetition ranges commonly used by powerlifters, sure, you wouldn't want to workout before that. For the higher ranges I have my swimming clients do, no problems at all.