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 don't know any professional swimmer who can push those numbers. In the pool it's all about functional strength anyway; given a particular athletes technique, things like bench press and squat aren't very useful. I think most people would be very surprised to see how little weight Olympic swimmers push on the standard lifts, but would be pretty impressed at some specialized, functional lifts.
Nathan, I agree. Bench press and squat take a lot of skill and specific training. I think less technical lifts, like a lat pullover machine, would better show the true strength of swimmers.
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Former Member
I don't know any professional swimmer who can push those numbers. In the pool it's all about functional strength anyway; given a particular athletes technique, things like bench press and squat aren't very useful. I think most people would be very surprised to see how little weight Olympic swimmers push on the standard lifts, but would be pretty impressed at some specialized, functional lifts.
Nathan, I agree. Bench press and squat take a lot of skill and specific training. I think less technical lifts, like a lat pullover machine, would better show the true strength of swimmers.
