weight workouts for swimmers

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.

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.