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.
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Former Member
I understand that getting stronger will benefit me. I am just trying to find out how strong the elite swimmers are so I can have a goal. Once I get to that strength level, I know I can spend less time concentrating on strength, and more on swimming
Well, like I said, you can't really know how strong someone is just by looking at their lifting numbers. Some guys are just good at lifting weights, or at doing particular lifts. I've heard that Alain Bernard can bench press a pretty big amount, but I'm not going to chase that number just because a fast swimmer did it. There are other great swimmers who can't bench a broomstick, but still have strength in other ways.
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Former Member
I understand that getting stronger will benefit me. I am just trying to find out how strong the elite swimmers are so I can have a goal. Once I get to that strength level, I know I can spend less time concentrating on strength, and more on swimming
Well, like I said, you can't really know how strong someone is just by looking at their lifting numbers. Some guys are just good at lifting weights, or at doing particular lifts. I've heard that Alain Bernard can bench press a pretty big amount, but I'm not going to chase that number just because a fast swimmer did it. There are other great swimmers who can't bench a broomstick, but still have strength in other ways.
