I have been reading and watching posts and replies, on the General forum, as well as Coaching forum, that seem to dismiss the importance of having developed triceps. I may be wrong, but what I surmised is that even though having a longer stroke is of great importance (and I am an advocate of a longer sroke depending upon the distance and actual stroke being swum), that many people including Kaizen making statements that a long stroke is better, there is much conclusion that "finishing" the stroke lower on the leg has several problems: 1) it takes tricep strength so avoid it and 2) finishing shorter and closer to the waist area is the way to go.
Now granted, a 50 free sprint probably needs a lesser SPL than a 200 or 400, but my concern in this topic is that there may be a message to other swimmers that finishing later on the body requires more strength in the back of the arm (triceps) so avoid it. My Word: Wrong!!
Every great, great swimmer I have ever seen has the arms of Hercules, both in biceps, shoulders and triceps. And even at my older age and a fatter body, the one remaining muscle group that is ripped is the triceps on my arms because they have been trained over years and carry me through even now. Having these great muscles developed continues to aid in my powerfully finishing my stroke and setting up for the next one. Triceps DO provide propulsion in the stroke finish/recovery portion of the stroke, so making sure they are developed, as well as other components of your body, is extremely important. Just one swimmer's point of view....and open for discussion.....
donna
Parents
Former Member
islandsox;84302
I sure am glad that many believe the triceps are crucial to swimming. Initially what brought me to this topic was reading lots of replies on threads whereby people had been told to finish the stroke earlier
Finishing the stroke early/ier means doing only half a stroke.
A stroke at the grab is a pull (whether you pull the water towards you or pull yourself over where you have made a grab and involves wrist, forearm, biceps, pecs and lats) and then it's followed by a push backwards. During that push phase, it's mostly triceps.
Even when you look at sprinters, not one of them will start their (high elbow) recovery as soon as their pulling forearm is vertical; they will all -to one degree or another- push back before their recovery. Moreover, any movement of the arm -beyond the vertical forearm- that does not actively push back would mean that the arm is actually dragging and braking your forward momentum.
Apart from working my triceps (on dryland) I will usually do several 25 ms at about 85% power where I concentrate on a going-through-the-motion pull but a fully conscious push. You do feel the added power to the forward motion (and pushing after the pull becomes second nature).
.......so the back of the arms wouldn't get tired and I found this to be very poor advice.
See the contradiction that Islandsox points out here (in terms of poor advice)?
If "they" found that the back of the arms (i.e., triceps) would get tired, it means that it (the back of the arm) is being used (for propulsion). Therefore the solution is to strenghthen it, not "not" use it.
When I swim all my muscles get tired. Should I therefore not use any motion at all in any muscle "in order not to get tired"?
islandsox;84302
I sure am glad that many believe the triceps are crucial to swimming. Initially what brought me to this topic was reading lots of replies on threads whereby people had been told to finish the stroke earlier
Finishing the stroke early/ier means doing only half a stroke.
A stroke at the grab is a pull (whether you pull the water towards you or pull yourself over where you have made a grab and involves wrist, forearm, biceps, pecs and lats) and then it's followed by a push backwards. During that push phase, it's mostly triceps.
Even when you look at sprinters, not one of them will start their (high elbow) recovery as soon as their pulling forearm is vertical; they will all -to one degree or another- push back before their recovery. Moreover, any movement of the arm -beyond the vertical forearm- that does not actively push back would mean that the arm is actually dragging and braking your forward momentum.
Apart from working my triceps (on dryland) I will usually do several 25 ms at about 85% power where I concentrate on a going-through-the-motion pull but a fully conscious push. You do feel the added power to the forward motion (and pushing after the pull becomes second nature).
.......so the back of the arms wouldn't get tired and I found this to be very poor advice.
See the contradiction that Islandsox points out here (in terms of poor advice)?
If "they" found that the back of the arms (i.e., triceps) would get tired, it means that it (the back of the arm) is being used (for propulsion). Therefore the solution is to strenghthen it, not "not" use it.
When I swim all my muscles get tired. Should I therefore not use any motion at all in any muscle "in order not to get tired"?
