i have read (here actually: www.swimdcac.org/.../article5.html) that the bench press does more harm than good for swimmers. what is everyone else's opinion (and experience)??
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Former Member
Terry Laughlin tore a portion of his rotator cuff doing bench press and was faced with a long recovery that involved surgery as I recall. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that bench pressing is outright bad for swimmers. I do think that bench pressing with shoulders that are already overworked from swimming is an invitation to a disaster though.
That's fair enough Matt but you can also sneeze and tear muscles or blow out discs...risk vs reward is an individual assessment. I want X result from doing Y. Something can go wrong anytime, TL was obviously very unlucky.
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Former Member
Terry Laughlin tore a portion of his rotator cuff doing bench press and was faced with a long recovery that involved surgery as I recall. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that bench pressing is outright bad for swimmers. I do think that bench pressing with shoulders that are already overworked from swimming is an invitation to a disaster though.
That's fair enough Matt but you can also sneeze and tear muscles or blow out discs...risk vs reward is an individual assessment. I want X result from doing Y. Something can go wrong anytime, TL was obviously very unlucky.
