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.
Parents
Former Member
Fort, there is a lot of conflicting evidence. I like to think of weight training as a form of cheating, and that guides how I do it. Anabolic steroids improve swimming performance by increasing muscle mass, most of us would agree. There's a great knowledge base about building muscle mass, with or without drugs, in bodybuilding. So at that point I ignore whatever swimmers think about strength training (it must be explosive, it must mimic swimming motions, it can't be too heavy, etc.) and pay attention to what the muscle experts think.
I'm faster than I would be if I thought of my weight training as just another thing that swimmers must do. It's outside the regular program. It's doping.
Fort, there is a lot of conflicting evidence. I like to think of weight training as a form of cheating, and that guides how I do it. Anabolic steroids improve swimming performance by increasing muscle mass, most of us would agree. There's a great knowledge base about building muscle mass, with or without drugs, in bodybuilding. So at that point I ignore whatever swimmers think about strength training (it must be explosive, it must mimic swimming motions, it can't be too heavy, etc.) and pay attention to what the muscle experts think.
I'm faster than I would be if I thought of my weight training as just another thing that swimmers must do. It's outside the regular program. It's doping.
