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:
It's not the loss in body fat that makes you faster. More likely, it is an increase in yardage and workout intensity that will make you faster, and as a side effect, will cause you to drop body fat.
I disagree with this. I believe that the loss in WEIGHT makes you faster, and that it is better to lose fat than muscle (which, after all, provides propulsion). Buoyancy complicates this a little, but not much in my opinion. Greatly simplified (perhaps oversimplified), it is all about F = ma: a given force will produce more acceleration when acting on a lighter object.
A lighter swimmer:
-- gets more from starts and pushoffs
-- requires less force to attain and maintain a give speed
-- rides higher in the water (IMO, this is true even with a loss of buoyancy)
Don't be mislead by the fact that one can float in water. Even in zero-g, if two people push off the wall of a space station with the same force, the one who has less mass goes faster. Losing fat doesn't compromise on the force you can apply; losing muscle mass might.
Losing muscle mass to swim faster? Well, I don't think funkyfish needs to do so. He is muscular but not obscenely so and he doesn't go to great lengths to maintain this: his lifting regimen is similar to that of many swimmers (in terms of duraction, anyway) and he doesn't take weird supplements.
Resist the urge to look at pictures of swimmer X (usually in his teens or twenties) and draw drastic conclusions about the "proper" body type to "emulate." Losing fat makes good sense from a health perspective and I believe it will make you faster. Losing muscle? Unless you resorted to extreme measures to gain it...nah. Better to work on technique, conditioning, strength, flexibility.
You know, the usual.
It's not the loss in body fat that makes you faster. More likely, it is an increase in yardage and workout intensity that will make you faster, and as a side effect, will cause you to drop body fat.
I disagree with this. I believe that the loss in WEIGHT makes you faster, and that it is better to lose fat than muscle (which, after all, provides propulsion). Buoyancy complicates this a little, but not much in my opinion. Greatly simplified (perhaps oversimplified), it is all about F = ma: a given force will produce more acceleration when acting on a lighter object.
A lighter swimmer:
-- gets more from starts and pushoffs
-- requires less force to attain and maintain a give speed
-- rides higher in the water (IMO, this is true even with a loss of buoyancy)
Don't be mislead by the fact that one can float in water. Even in zero-g, if two people push off the wall of a space station with the same force, the one who has less mass goes faster. Losing fat doesn't compromise on the force you can apply; losing muscle mass might.
Losing muscle mass to swim faster? Well, I don't think funkyfish needs to do so. He is muscular but not obscenely so and he doesn't go to great lengths to maintain this: his lifting regimen is similar to that of many swimmers (in terms of duraction, anyway) and he doesn't take weird supplements.
Resist the urge to look at pictures of swimmer X (usually in his teens or twenties) and draw drastic conclusions about the "proper" body type to "emulate." Losing fat makes good sense from a health perspective and I believe it will make you faster. Losing muscle? Unless you resorted to extreme measures to gain it...nah. Better to work on technique, conditioning, strength, flexibility.
You know, the usual.
