Slim down to swim faster

Here's my question: Should one intentionally loose muscle mass and weightlifting strength in order to be more streamlined and potentially go faster in the water? How much mass would one have to lose in order to present less resistance in the water? Maybe on a related note: Let's say a swimmer has a muscular build, and their technique is very good, would they benefit from losing ten lbs. of extra muscle mass and maybe becoming a more streamlined vessel? Any thoughts? :weightlifter::banana::weightlifter::banana:
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  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Hi! What distances are you aiming at? If you are a sprinter in *** or butterfly I think you need to be very muscular to see any negative effects from your volume. Sprinters in freestyle and backstroke tend to be a little bit more slimmed. I have been considering this very same question several times, but when I think about it and try to visualize how much bigger a whole in the water I create with my current muscle mass compared to where I could be if I slimmed down....also taking into consideration loss of strength the focus points has always resulted in getting rid of those extra pounds of fat instead of muscles....I am not extremely muscular however....just a little bit more than avarage. If you look like a competitive body builder I think you have serious problems with your speed due to your volume and should definately consider loosing muscle mass to gain speed (and beauty! ;) ) If you are aiming for distance swimming you might want to consider to loose some volume in any case if you are clearly above avarage in muscle mass. Another idea is to google the top swimmers in the world in different distances and see if you can create some sort of benchmark in the weight/length ratio... my 2 cents /Per
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  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Hi! What distances are you aiming at? If you are a sprinter in *** or butterfly I think you need to be very muscular to see any negative effects from your volume. Sprinters in freestyle and backstroke tend to be a little bit more slimmed. I have been considering this very same question several times, but when I think about it and try to visualize how much bigger a whole in the water I create with my current muscle mass compared to where I could be if I slimmed down....also taking into consideration loss of strength the focus points has always resulted in getting rid of those extra pounds of fat instead of muscles....I am not extremely muscular however....just a little bit more than avarage. If you look like a competitive body builder I think you have serious problems with your speed due to your volume and should definately consider loosing muscle mass to gain speed (and beauty! ;) ) If you are aiming for distance swimming you might want to consider to loose some volume in any case if you are clearly above avarage in muscle mass. Another idea is to google the top swimmers in the world in different distances and see if you can create some sort of benchmark in the weight/length ratio... my 2 cents /Per
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