It's often said swimming makes your shoulders wider, perhaps breaststroke and butterfly in particular? Are there any real swimmers here who can confirm this with their personal experience?
If true, what length of time and intensity of swimming did it take to result in such changes? I suspect this can happen only to competitive swimmers.
This one is for Mr. Thornton,
Jim, where DO your massively manly shoulders and other aspects of that impressive physique come from?
I figured someone needed to ask.
Excellent question, David. Thank you for being the first to ever ask it!
Though an atheist by nature, I think this is one of the few questions where the best answer is probably "God."
Followed very closely by "the world of my imagination."
But, really, aren't these the same answer?
On that note, I need to get something for dinner. But first, I must figure out how to evacuate my office door without getting my shoulders and massive manhood caught in the opening, necessitating yet another call to paramedics wielding the jaws of life.
Well, maybe not the jaws of life. But the jaws of ongoing magnificence.
Hmm...if I go through the door sideways, my shoulders will just squeeze through. But that leaves the problem of my manhood...
It is not at all easy being the kind of guy that men want to be like and CreamPuffs want to be with.
Thanks again, David, for an excellent, thought- and reverie-provoking question!
Why don't swimmers develop the slippery shape of seals and sea lions, with tapered ends and big bellies? :rolleyes:
The big belly part was easy ... the rest :dunno:
Excellent question, David. Thank you for being the first to ever ask it!
Though an atheist by nature, I think this is one of the few questions where the best answer is probably "God."
Followed very closely by "the world of my imagination."
But, really, aren't these the same answer?
On that note, I need to get something for dinner. But first, I must figure out how to evacuate my office door without getting my shoulders and massive manhood caught in the opening, necessitating yet another call to paramedics wielding the jaws of life.
Well, maybe not the jaws of life. But the jaws of ongoing magnificence.
Hmm...if I go through the door sideways, my shoulders will just squeeze through. But that leaves the problem of my manhood...
It is not at all easy being the kind of guy that men want to be like and CreamPuffs want to be with.
Thanks again, David, for an excellent, thought- and reverie-provoking question!
LOL :applaud:
My body has changed dramatically since I started swimming seriously nearly 10 years ago. I often wish my coaches had done before and after photos. I had been a runner and cyclist before, and never saw the kind of changes I've seen with swimming.
Of course, other parts of my body have shrunken, which makes it nearly impossible to find women's shirts that fit correctly. My husband and I joke that I now have bigger pecs than he does.
I have been re-learning freestyle swimming over the past 4.5 years, beginning at age 44, after a 32 year hiatus. In the past 2 years, once I got beyond the basics, I have added over 3 inches to my chest and almost 5 inches to my over shoulder measurement -- and 3 inches to my waist, at least 1 of which is thicker back muscles, I swear.
RadSwim
When I was a kid, I was just tiny. Through high school, I started developing quite a bit more muscle, but I was still on the scrawny side at 5'9" and 130 pounds. Proportionally speaking, though, my shoulders were pretty wide.
Fast forward to today, I'm about 70 heavier and much, much more muscle bound than I was then. 'Course, I'm carrying about 15 pounds of padding, too, but I'm significantly bulkier than back then. After 2.5 years of swimming (took about 7 years off after swimming from 5-18), my shoulders are again proportionally wide. My lats, triceps, and back muscles see the biggest gains from swimming.
Buying suits is a pain in the rear! I usually have to shop in the big and tall section, then get approximately 12 feet of fabric around the middle taken in.
I swim 1-2 times/week (90 minutes/workout) and lift weights about 1x/week. None of my shirts or sweaters fit anymore. It's kind of fun, but getting expensive. It makes my waist look smaller!
Finding suits are the worst!
I learned to swim at 27, went from XL tops since I was 16 to XXL in one year of strictly freestyle and have been XXL for the past 21 years. Suits are impossible with a 50 jacket and a 36 waist. I think the 50 jackets come with 48 waists, to have them tailored would basically be rebuilding the pants from scratch. Thank god for Ralph Lauren suit seperates.
