Here is a great video link on Michael Phelps under-water swimming
video.google.com/videoplay
Also, here are some general comments
on the video... I hope this becomes a
useful resource.
The way Phelps "skims" on the surface
by keeping his hips high and head and
shoulders "relatively" flat while breathing;
this is incredible...
It seems that both his kick (inverted scoop
from knees to toes), combined with his finishing
arm cycle is the key. He really presses his hands
together through the pull and releases in a way
that pushes his torso deeper into the water. This
raises his hip position all the way through the
recovery, and these features, all combined
are very impressive.
When you slow down the video (looking at Phelp's
swimming directly towards the camera) the position
is quite revealing. After his entry at the top of the
stroke (being relatively wide) he cuts straight into
his chest just below the shoulders... This paused
frame looks quite strange for butterfly, and if you just
left the video in this paused position you could easily
mistake it for breastroke.
I was trying to understand why this was, and
after "playing" in the water, I noticed that
the sharp in-sweep at the top of the stroke creates
upward lift, (a much sooner and sharper in-sweep than
traditional butterfly). This then makes it way easier to
finish the stroke straight down the center-line.
Also, this temporarily creates a water "bubble" which
your body rolls down, significantly increasing
distance-per-stroke, and helps to push the
torso forward.
The combination of this upper-body action with
the perfectly timed body dolphin is certainly an
asset for Michael Phelps.
I hope this short tutorial was useful.
Happy Swimming,
Parents
Former Member
Michael Phelps has an exceptional high tolerence level for latic acid. I remember reading an article about Michael Phelps before the 2004 Olympics and a test was performed on him and the results of those tests provided one of the reasons for his success. After a swimming race, Physiologists from USA Swimming put a needle to his ear to take a sample of blood to measure and analyze his blood lactate level. Latic acid forms when muscles burn during a race because of a lack of oxgen to them. When this oxgen defict gets high the muscles shut down and the swimmer has to fight this defict and avoid fatigue. His lactate level was taken immediately after his race and they found that it was exceeding low. It measured 5.0 (5 millimoles) per litter of blood. Other swimmers typically produce levels of 10 to 15 and sometimes higher after races.
From this analysis, it was determined that his recovery was exceptional when compared to his swimming competitiors. Because he doesn't produce a lot of lactate acid, he can recover to pre race levels in 20 to 25 minutes sometimes less. This is a big advantage not only in meets he competes in but in training practice sessions because he could perform lacate tolerance sets and recover faster than others and his body can build up training adaptations to improve this. Because he creates very little lactate, he will be in less oxgen debt and will be able to bring his races home better than other swimmers because they will be fighting higher lactate acid rates and going into oxgen debt bankruptcy faster.
One of the things that impressed me about Michael Phelps was his ability to get at least to 10 meters on every turn in his free. I have to watch the fly more carefully but he had an exceptional advantage in every race except the 100 fly because Crocker is very good also. In that race he had a slight advantage. In the last turn at the World Championships this past spring from *** to free in the 200 IM, he got an advantage over Ryan Lochte and Ryan is a very good underwater swimmer. Because he got that advantage, I believe it helped him win the 200 Free and 200 IM races. The less lactate production has got to contribute to this in some way along with other factors such as streamlining, and dolphin kicking strength. Streamlining and dolphin kicking swimmers can work on, but I am afraid that improving your lacate level to 5.0 is not going to happen.
I was under the idea that a high tolerance means that you produce lots of lactic acid but you can deal with it and process it out of your bdy. That is exactly the opposite of what Phelps does. He porduces so little lactic acid, it almost doesn't effect him. What I dont understand is that lactic acid is one of the natural outcomes of muscle constraint. It is produced, period. How can he flex and relax muscle without producing as he doeswithout producing lactic acid.
We need some docoters or biologist, please.
Michael Phelps has an exceptional high tolerence level for latic acid. I remember reading an article about Michael Phelps before the 2004 Olympics and a test was performed on him and the results of those tests provided one of the reasons for his success. After a swimming race, Physiologists from USA Swimming put a needle to his ear to take a sample of blood to measure and analyze his blood lactate level. Latic acid forms when muscles burn during a race because of a lack of oxgen to them. When this oxgen defict gets high the muscles shut down and the swimmer has to fight this defict and avoid fatigue. His lactate level was taken immediately after his race and they found that it was exceeding low. It measured 5.0 (5 millimoles) per litter of blood. Other swimmers typically produce levels of 10 to 15 and sometimes higher after races.
From this analysis, it was determined that his recovery was exceptional when compared to his swimming competitiors. Because he doesn't produce a lot of lactate acid, he can recover to pre race levels in 20 to 25 minutes sometimes less. This is a big advantage not only in meets he competes in but in training practice sessions because he could perform lacate tolerance sets and recover faster than others and his body can build up training adaptations to improve this. Because he creates very little lactate, he will be in less oxgen debt and will be able to bring his races home better than other swimmers because they will be fighting higher lactate acid rates and going into oxgen debt bankruptcy faster.
One of the things that impressed me about Michael Phelps was his ability to get at least to 10 meters on every turn in his free. I have to watch the fly more carefully but he had an exceptional advantage in every race except the 100 fly because Crocker is very good also. In that race he had a slight advantage. In the last turn at the World Championships this past spring from *** to free in the 200 IM, he got an advantage over Ryan Lochte and Ryan is a very good underwater swimmer. Because he got that advantage, I believe it helped him win the 200 Free and 200 IM races. The less lactate production has got to contribute to this in some way along with other factors such as streamlining, and dolphin kicking strength. Streamlining and dolphin kicking swimmers can work on, but I am afraid that improving your lacate level to 5.0 is not going to happen.
I was under the idea that a high tolerance means that you produce lots of lactic acid but you can deal with it and process it out of your bdy. That is exactly the opposite of what Phelps does. He porduces so little lactic acid, it almost doesn't effect him. What I dont understand is that lactic acid is one of the natural outcomes of muscle constraint. It is produced, period. How can he flex and relax muscle without producing as he doeswithout producing lactic acid.
We need some docoters or biologist, please.
