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
My generalization:
"Women don't mind generalizing about men, but get upset when men do it about women."
:bolt:
(Just in case the animated fellow wasn't enough of a clue, this was a joke...don't beat me up...)
My generalization:
"Women don't mind generalizing about men, but get upset when men do it about women."
:bolt:
(Just in case the animated fellow wasn't enough of a clue, this was a joke...don't beat me up...)
Men are such boneheads. :bolt:
I watched lots of guys at gyms struggle to do decent pushups as well.Wookiee, you been spying on me?
I'm clearly not a meathead, but I thought push-ups were more beneficial for chest rather than triceps?? I guess the answer really doesn't matter to me because I can't really do them.
Here's my generalization (without regard to a person's gender, age, creed, religion, political affiliation, sexual preference, favorite color, etc.): ability to do pushups has close to zero correlation with ability to swim fast.
I'm clearly not a meathead, but I thought push-ups were more beneficial for chest rather than triceps?? I guess the answer really doesn't matter to me because I can't really do them.
Here's my generalization (without regard to a person's gender, age, creed, religion, political affiliation, sexual preference, favorite color, etc.): ability to do pushups has close to zero correlation with ability to swim fast.
Have you been drinking the Jimi koolaid again? Drylands, including push ups, do have some correlation to swim speed. That's why all the speedy swimmers do them.
If you want to work your triceps, do tricep push ups on a med ball. I think even girls can do them.
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.
My generalization:
"Women don't mind generalizing about men, but get upset when men do it about women."
:bolt:
(Just in case the animated fellow wasn't enough of a clue, this was a joke...don't beat me up...)
Leave it to a UNC grad to be so snobbish about women. Geez, one would think that UNC is the next Duke University, the way their graduates walk around with their noses stuck-up. :thhbbb:
Have you been drinking the Jimi koolaid again? Drylands, including push ups, do have some correlation to swim speed. That's why all the speedy swimmers do them. I'm not sure I'd ever take a drink handed to me by Jimi, I do believe in drylands and I do believe well-developed triceps are important to swimming fast. I also agree there's a variant of a pushup that can target the tris. I just don't think that the classic pushup is particularly focused on the tris or particularly great for swimming. I also can't do many, never have been able to do many and don't recall many of my speedier teammates back in the day or today calling out a pushup as a key component of their training regimen. I think they are great for fitness, but still don't believe the ability to do them and do many of them is a necessary condition to swimming fast.
Leave it to a UNC grad to be so snobbish about women.
This attitude IS hard to avoid for UNC male alums, because (with the exception of my lovely wife, of course) UNC women are better than any others.
Just in case I missed somebody else's post, I would direct you to "Swimming Anatomy" by Ian McLeod.
It describes which muscles are used for each stroke (or more than one) and how best to strengthen these (dryland).
It's a great book (and no, I'm not getting any commission from the publishers.
I agree. Well worth the price.
Without getting into the question of transferability of dry land strength to the water, here is a little tidbit: I am 1.88m. tall and weigh about 94kg. (6"2, about 207lbs.) and have been strength training for years. I am pretty strong and muscular. I do weighted dips for reps and multiple sets with 25kg. around my waist. Yet the slender teenage girl swimming in the lane next to me today, with toothpick arms, swam much faster than me. Hmm....
As to the question: I truly feel that unless you simply enjoy lifting weights as I do, you can get all the triceps development you need from pushups. There are many varieties. As a rule, the closer your hands are the more stress on the triceps. The pushup is a very challenging exercise for women.
