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:
Current stats are:
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 174lbs
Body fat %: 4-6
Chest: 45"
Arms: 16"
Waist: 30"
Thighs: 23"
I'll get some current pics in the next day or so. The main reason I asked this is that I'm within 2-3 seconds of swimming as fast as I did in high school (22yrs ago), and I have a personal goal of meeting or beating my times from back then. I'm currently about 20lbs heavier and much stronger weightlifting-wise, but I'm after the speed. I believe my bodyfat is probably close to what it was back then.
I think that by starting this thread I've answered my question, in that I'll try and loose about 10lbs of mass and see what happens. Thanks again to everyone for the responses, and hope to see some of you at Nationals this May. Take care.:wiggle:
Well, I'm going to swim against the tide here...personally, I think that body shape is much less important than: buoyancy, flexibility and "feel for the water." In other words, IMO the reason muscle-bound people often swim poorly is that they tend to sink, have zero flexiblity, and thrash in the water.
A muscular person can still be plenty hydrodynamic if you have the flexibility to hold a tight streamline. The fact that you are within 2-3 seconds of your HS times (which is awesome) after adding 20+ years and 20 lbs of muscle, confirms it to some degree.
How are you going to lose 10 lbs of muscle? Stop lifting entirely? Based on your current training regime, I don't think that will do it. At this point, swimming alone will probably keep you pretty buff unless you limit calorie intake. Some people are just predisposed to be that way. Steve Lundquist was pretty muscular; it didn't prevent him from winning Olympic gold (though it does seem that breaststrokers are often more buff than other swimmers).
Bottom line: you swim a lot, have 4-6% body fat, a 30" waist and are contemplating losing 10 pounds. Geez, Captain America...IMO, I wouldn't be thinking too seriously about losing weight! If you do, I predict you will feel weaker and swim more slowly.
Just my :2cents:! Good luck.
Current stats are:
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 174lbs
Body fat %: 4-6
Chest: 45"
Arms: 16"
Waist: 30"
Thighs: 23"
I'll get some current pics in the next day or so. The main reason I asked this is that I'm within 2-3 seconds of swimming as fast as I did in high school (22yrs ago), and I have a personal goal of meeting or beating my times from back then. I'm currently about 20lbs heavier and much stronger weightlifting-wise, but I'm after the speed. I believe my bodyfat is probably close to what it was back then.
I think that by starting this thread I've answered my question, in that I'll try and loose about 10lbs of mass and see what happens. Thanks again to everyone for the responses, and hope to see some of you at Nationals this May. Take care.:wiggle:
Well, I'm going to swim against the tide here...personally, I think that body shape is much less important than: buoyancy, flexibility and "feel for the water." In other words, IMO the reason muscle-bound people often swim poorly is that they tend to sink, have zero flexiblity, and thrash in the water.
A muscular person can still be plenty hydrodynamic if you have the flexibility to hold a tight streamline. The fact that you are within 2-3 seconds of your HS times (which is awesome) after adding 20+ years and 20 lbs of muscle, confirms it to some degree.
How are you going to lose 10 lbs of muscle? Stop lifting entirely? Based on your current training regime, I don't think that will do it. At this point, swimming alone will probably keep you pretty buff unless you limit calorie intake. Some people are just predisposed to be that way. Steve Lundquist was pretty muscular; it didn't prevent him from winning Olympic gold (though it does seem that breaststrokers are often more buff than other swimmers).
Bottom line: you swim a lot, have 4-6% body fat, a 30" waist and are contemplating losing 10 pounds. Geez, Captain America...IMO, I wouldn't be thinking too seriously about losing weight! If you do, I predict you will feel weaker and swim more slowly.
Just my :2cents:! Good luck.
