Does anyone know how strong the top swimmers are? Guys like M. Phelps or B. Hansen, how much can they lift with their legs, bench, lat pull, curl, tri ex, etc. I am making weight training a big part of my workouts, but I understand, at a certain point, adding more muscle or strength is not going to be of much benefit.
Wow, I am really enjoying this post. Lots of good stuff. Just a few comments about the research studies presented (by the way, thank you so much for all of those ehoch)
One article talked about 14 weeks of lifting with reps from 8-12 for three sets, 3x/wk during the competitive season. That is a lot of training, perhaps overtraining. Also, doing the same lifts for 14 weeks really makes someone stale. I know when I was swimming a lot of yards during the competitive season, I did not get stronger.
A good strength training program would start with lifting 8-12 reps for the first 4-6 weeks followed by 4-6 weeks of 4-6 reps followed by 4-6 weeks of dynamic stuff (plyometrics, medicine ball stuff, resistance in the water) at high velocities to take the extra muscle and strength and make it functional
Wow, I am really enjoying this post. Lots of good stuff. Just a few comments about the research studies presented (by the way, thank you so much for all of those ehoch)
One article talked about 14 weeks of lifting with reps from 8-12 for three sets, 3x/wk during the competitive season. That is a lot of training, perhaps overtraining. Also, doing the same lifts for 14 weeks really makes someone stale. I know when I was swimming a lot of yards during the competitive season, I did not get stronger.
A good strength training program would start with lifting 8-12 reps for the first 4-6 weeks followed by 4-6 weeks of 4-6 reps followed by 4-6 weeks of dynamic stuff (plyometrics, medicine ball stuff, resistance in the water) at high velocities to take the extra muscle and strength and make it functional
