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
I think to be good at push ups you have to work at push ups, not swim butterfly. Then again, some on this forum claim to be good at swimming all you have to do is run a lot so what do I know.
Well my swimming is far from either good or fast, but I do occasionally share things that have worked for me. Running is something I took up to drop some weight, and due to the weight loss, got a little faster in the pool. Keep in mind breaking a 1:00 100 scy free is still something I haven't done, so using terms like good and faster are all relative. What worked for me in the past may not work for me tomorrow, and may or may not work for someone else.
And thanks Chris for the support. While I was in the Army, I knew many guys who could crank out 100+ pushups in 2 min (the length of our PT test), but they dropped like a rock in water. I've always been challenged with butterfly; I can do a decent 25 and occasionally a 50, and once in a while repeat twice in a workout. I'd probably get better if I spent more time swimming butterfly (at least that's what Simon Percy used to tell me), but I just don't have the patience to rest long enough.
I think to be good at push ups you have to work at push ups, not swim butterfly. Then again, some on this forum claim to be good at swimming all you have to do is run a lot so what do I know.
Well my swimming is far from either good or fast, but I do occasionally share things that have worked for me. Running is something I took up to drop some weight, and due to the weight loss, got a little faster in the pool. Keep in mind breaking a 1:00 100 scy free is still something I haven't done, so using terms like good and faster are all relative. What worked for me in the past may not work for me tomorrow, and may or may not work for someone else.
And thanks Chris for the support. While I was in the Army, I knew many guys who could crank out 100+ pushups in 2 min (the length of our PT test), but they dropped like a rock in water. I've always been challenged with butterfly; I can do a decent 25 and occasionally a 50, and once in a while repeat twice in a workout. I'd probably get better if I spent more time swimming butterfly (at least that's what Simon Percy used to tell me), but I just don't have the patience to rest long enough.
