Hard to believe that lifting 2x a week would make you beast like.
Trust me, it won't, not even remotely close. Actually, it is possible to lift twice a week with absolutely no noticeable change in appearance!!!!
Why should I lift heavy? I have no desire whatsoever to add mass, nor to win any weight competition. I think the gotta lift heavy mantra was roundly discredited about 2 decades ago. I train with some pretty super fast swimmers and none of them go beserk on the heavy weights.
I've wondered if a pre midlife crisis is desirable over a full blown midlife crisis. The older you are the more expensive the mid life crisis. My father's came with a brand new shiny wife, along with the requisite fast car.
I prefer to think of weights as one part of the faster swimming equation out of the water. For some, like Stud, it's 'roids and Red Bull, for others of us, we work hard in many ways. Doing a bunch of dead lifts with huge weights and then running and gutting out a fast swim is one way, but there are many others as well.
Those three things are only for if you want more muscle mass, which I think is the primary way strength training leads to faster swimming.
I thought I read that lifting heavy increased strength not mass?
(S)he, dead lifts are easy. They're not that different than machines. Swimming was definitely my mid-life crisis. No desire whatsoever to train with kids though. Could never make the intervals. Prefer to do speed and lactate work. I have no problem with doing 100s on the 2:00 or 3:00 or 4:00.
I'm not sure where/why people here think that lifting hard and developing power equates adding bulk...have you looked at the physiques of any world class swimmer? Geek, there is a nothing in common between power lifting and body building other than both are done in the gym.
As I've mentioned many times before I have a few different programs i try to follow and adapt the training methods to my own situation...here is a great article that gives an overview of what I aspire to on a much abbreviated level...and given my penchant for good food/drink I've long ago given up on having my 6 pack back!
www.menshealthsa.co.za/index.php
(S)he...for me the end result is simply the goal that helps me stay focused and motivated to train....I'm a firm beleiver in the journey not the destination being equal to those few minutes of a major meet 2-3x a year.
Geek, there is a nothing in common between power lifting and body building other than both are done in the gym.
Thanks for the lesson and the lesson on dead lifting.
That part of the gym, I avoid like the plague. Too many cheese balls (is that one or two words?) in parachute pants wearing tank tops strutting around in personalized leather lifting belts with lots and lots of bling. I've really enjoyed adding weights to my routine the past two years and I can tell a difference in both appearance (mainly definition) and pool strength.
I think stronger is easy -- but are we not really looking for power - power in the water that is.
Plus - just adding strength usually adds size (the muscle kind) - and that's not always a good thing. How do add power without getting a lot bigger ?
I am really not sure -
But I do strongly believe in doing resistance work in the water in combination with your lifting routine - I have a love/hate relationship with my parachute.
Plus - just adding strength usually adds size (the muscle kind) - and that's not always a good thing. How do add power without getting a lot bigger ?
Maybe eventually I'll get tired of saying this. Try it before you say being bigger isn't a good thing.
Jazz, you crack me up. Months ago you were upset and defensive because everyone was telling you how to train, and you wanted to do your own thing.
Kristina is enjoying her training and is getting results. I am sure the fact that she enjoys it is a big reason WHY she is getting results...just the same as you.
I don't advocate doing whatever we feel like just because it feels good. Enjoyment is necessary for an optimal training plan, but it's not sufficient. I think strength training is crucial for swimmers to do their best. I thought that when everyone said I was going to have a heart attack, and I still think that when I tell other people to try it now.
Fort, it's an unfortunate fact that men swim faster than women, and really fast women tend to kind of look like men. If you really want to be a beast in the water, femininity might suffer.
