weight workouts for swimmers

Lat pulls and bench press are perfect exercises for every swimmer. Squats, either from a standing or sitting position, are excellent. Don't forget to work the core muscles with situps and pilates-type exercises.

Jeff, is this what you mean by a "lat pull"? www.exrx.net/.../CBPulldownFront.gif

Jeff, is this what you mean by a "lat pull"? www.exrx.net/.../CBPulldownFront.gif There's a whole lot of different exercises to target different areas of the lats (not just the CBPulldownFront to which you linked) but all of www.exrx.net/.../LatissimusDorsi.html

Scottly,, Here's my program from a previous post. It works out to about 25 minutes a day 6 days a week. forums.usms.org/showthread.php Good luck to you. Mark Has there been a recent discussion on a good weight lifting workout for swimmers? I've done a search but haven't come with anything. I'm probably not using the right words or something. I'm looking for a 1 hour or so full body weightlifting program that would hit the right mucle groups for swimming.

Thanks all, this is really helpful. With this iformation I should be able to design a couple of good workouts to fit in my scheduel. One more question though - I was thinking that those lifts that incorporte a stretch in them would be particularly good such as lunges, straight leg dead lifts, good mornings, decline or flat flys, wide grip pull-up, decline or flat bicep curls and maybe t-bar rows. And what about dips, are they swimmer freindly?

From the thread, "EVF Resistance Training for swimmers": forums.usms.org/showthread.php Coaches should focus on the following muscles and muscle groups to help prevent shoulder problems: 1) The rotator cuff, 2) The muscles that stabilize the shoulder blade, trapezius, serratus anterior muscles and 3) The muscles of the low back, abdominal, and pelvis that make up the “core” of the body – the abdominal and lower back muscles (3). A good dry-land program should help swimmers develop muscular symmetry and that can be accomplished by training opposite muscle groups. The following list can act as a template from which coaches can expand or create their own resistance programs. Specific swimming (EVF) exercises are added to these core exercises and shouldn’t eliminate or exclude “basic muscle group exercises”. A. Push-ups / Flys B. Back-Row / Reverse Flys**** A. Curls / Reverse Curls B. Triceps extensions / Dips A. Core Abdominals B. Core Back **** A. Quad-Extensions B. Hamstring Curls and Gastroc/Soleus A. Pull-ups / Chin-ups B. Military Press **** A. Internal Rotators B. External Rotators **** = EVF Exercises are done in these exercise groups using stretch cords, isometrics and/or light dumbbells

Thanks all, this is really helpful. With this iformation I should be able to design a couple of good workouts to fit in my scheduel. One more question though - I was thinking that those lifts that incorporte a stretch in them would be particularly good such as lunges, straight leg dead lifts, good mornings, decline or flat flys, wide grip pull-up, decline or flat bicep curls and maybe t-bar rows. And what about dips, are they swimmer freindly? Stretch is good. You can research it yourself, but I've read that increasing stretch while weight training gives you more of a muscle and strength increase. Most of those lifts you named are great because they use a lot of different muscles together. Curls probably aren't necessary for a swimmer, though. Wide grip pull-ups can be hell on your shoulders. Close grip is much nicer, especially if you grip parallel or underhand. And dumbbell bench press is probably better than flyes for a chest stretch, because you can also use your shoulders and triceps. Dips can be swimmer friendly sometimes. A lot of people, swimmers and non-swimmers, find them very uncomfortable. Pain in the wrists, elbows, shoulders, collarbone, wherever. It's worth it to try dips, but if they start to cause pain (bad pain, not muscle fatigue) just don't do them anymore for a while. Here's a list of good lifts to do for swimming, grouped by the main motion in them. This isn't everything, just what I can think of right now. Among these, I think that far and away the best two lifts are close-grip weighted chin-ups and trap bar deadlifts. Hip extension (glutes and hamstrings) Good mornings Straight legged or Romanian deadlifts Hip extension and knee extension (quads, glutes, and hamstrings) Deadlifts (conventional, sumo, trap bar) Full squats Full front squats Lunges Pressing (front deltoids, triceps, pecs) Barbell bench press (flat or decline) Dumbbell bench press (flat or decline) Dips (assisted, bodyweight, or with a dip belt) Pulling (rear deltoids, lats, rhomboids, trapezius, biceps) Underhand or parallel close grip chin-ups (assisted, bodyweight, or with a dip belt) Cable rows (whatever grip attachment is comfortable) Barbell bent-over rows (overhand or underhand) Dumbbell bent-over rows (one arm at a time) Basically you should have hip extension, knee extension, pulling and pressing all incorporated into your program regularly. A lot of these exercises use abs and obliques for stabilization, but you can also do weighted sit-ups if you want. And mostly stay in that under-10 rep range to get the most out of lifting. Hope this helps.

Here's a workout that I always use a variation of, and which I recommend to friends: Weighted chin-up (underhand, close grip) Trap bar deadlift Bench press Do one or two sets of each exercise at a weight you can handle 1-8 reps of. Three times a week. It shouldn't take much more than half an hour. The idea is to build muscle mass all over your body, so you have to eat enough food to keep up, and take extra rest days if you aren't getting stronger from week to week.