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
Don't even need a ball. make a triangle or inverse heart with thumbs and index fingers...lower nose into the shape as you push up.
There's all kinds of options for doing push-ups. I couldn't even remember all the ways we did them in the army...wide, narrow, those triangle ones, normal, legs on another person's back, someone weighing down your back, etc.
The Army expects men to be able to do more push-ups than women--
* Men's 37 to 41 standards
* Women's 37 to 41 standards
To get max points (100), a guy has to do 73, while a woman only has to do 40. I think both those are increases from when I was in, I think it was closer to 60, and I was a bit younger then. Sit-ups are much more closely aligned.
That said, I've found better ways to develop triceps if that's what you're after--
* skull crushers (for me these are the single best)
* rope pull downs
* dumbbell curls
I'd even say some of the machines specific for triceps focus more on them rather than push-ups, which work other muscles too. But there's certainly nothing wrong with push-ups.
Don't even need a ball. make a triangle or inverse heart with thumbs and index fingers...lower nose into the shape as you push up.
There's all kinds of options for doing push-ups. I couldn't even remember all the ways we did them in the army...wide, narrow, those triangle ones, normal, legs on another person's back, someone weighing down your back, etc.
The Army expects men to be able to do more push-ups than women--
* Men's 37 to 41 standards
* Women's 37 to 41 standards
To get max points (100), a guy has to do 73, while a woman only has to do 40. I think both those are increases from when I was in, I think it was closer to 60, and I was a bit younger then. Sit-ups are much more closely aligned.
That said, I've found better ways to develop triceps if that's what you're after--
* skull crushers (for me these are the single best)
* rope pull downs
* dumbbell curls
I'd even say some of the machines specific for triceps focus more on them rather than push-ups, which work other muscles too. But there's certainly nothing wrong with push-ups.
