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
I seriously doubt that you can grab any elite swimmer at random and say with near-certainty that s/he can perform over 60 pushups in 1 minute. In fact, I strongly suspect that most could NOT perform this feat. What about you? Ever tried?
By the way, I am not at all trying to belittle the importance of triceps in swimmer, particularly butterfly. Other than lats, I don't think there is a more important muscle for butterfly. This year I faced serious issues (bottleneck) with arm adductors as well. Without serious dedicated dryland program targeting this group, I believe I would have missed my seasons goals.
** edit **
BTW, I just did the test. Haven't done one single pushup this year in training. Just booked 63 reps in 60 seconds, with belly touching the floor. I'm 42yo 5'10 150pounds swim fit still under taper effect, but trust me. If I can do it, most elite swimmers (my 100m bf is 1:14, these guys go under 55sec) can. Just try it Chris, you'll see. Start little faster than 1 per sec, as soon as acidosis kicks in, you'll slow down. Take a man pill and go all the way. It is very similar to actually performing a 100yard test.
I seriously doubt that you can grab any elite swimmer at random and say with near-certainty that s/he can perform over 60 pushups in 1 minute. In fact, I strongly suspect that most could NOT perform this feat. What about you? Ever tried?
By the way, I am not at all trying to belittle the importance of triceps in swimmer, particularly butterfly. Other than lats, I don't think there is a more important muscle for butterfly. This year I faced serious issues (bottleneck) with arm adductors as well. Without serious dedicated dryland program targeting this group, I believe I would have missed my seasons goals.
** edit **
BTW, I just did the test. Haven't done one single pushup this year in training. Just booked 63 reps in 60 seconds, with belly touching the floor. I'm 42yo 5'10 150pounds swim fit still under taper effect, but trust me. If I can do it, most elite swimmers (my 100m bf is 1:14, these guys go under 55sec) can. Just try it Chris, you'll see. Start little faster than 1 per sec, as soon as acidosis kicks in, you'll slow down. Take a man pill and go all the way. It is very similar to actually performing a 100yard test.
