I am tapering for my big meet 4/10-11 and I'm thinking about my next training cycle. Since my free and fly are already my stronger strokes, and I had a good time drop in breaststroke which I attribute largely to weight training concentrating on shoulders and chest, I'm wondering if there are specific lifts that would benefit backstroke, which is my weakest stroke by far, in fact my 50 *** was nearly as fast as my 50 back at my most recent meet. If I could improve my backstroke I might actually get a decent time in an IM event.
I use a round 2 1/2 pound barbell weight (in each hand). I lay on a 45 degree bench (or maybe horizontal) and just do the backstroke holding the weights. They always say the best thing to do in weight training is to simulate the motion of the sport you're doing. I also use them for the front crawl. If 2.5 is too light, you can always go to 5. I usually do 10 reps on each side. See how it feels to start.
JIM
Squats should help with all strokes. Think about all those starts and turns when swimming short course, and how much a difference they make in your overall time.
As for backstroke specific lifting, I got nothing. My backstroke got tons faster when I started doing tons more backstroke in practice.
Hey! I figured out how to multi-quote!
And, of course, working lats and triceps are as important as for the other two strokes.
This is kind of what I was wondering, if there was something other than lats and triceps (and legs and core) I should concentrate on. I'm convinced that some combination shoulder and chest exercises I started doing a few months back really helped my breaststroke, but my backstroke remained the same.
As an ex-horrible kicker and a regular squater, I can tell you that squats won't do squat for your kick. The only thing that has improved my kick is kicking hard and fast.
The only thing that happens when I try to kick harder is I make more waves and go slower.
David, come to practice and do hard/ fast kicking tonight. I'd recommend you to get fins. They helped me to improved my kick, i believe.
Физкулт-привет Crazyman. I'm tapering! No hard workouts until after PNA.
The only thing that happens when I try to kick harder is I make more waves and go slower.
Q gives good advice. Check out Ande's flutter kicking thread. It won't be fun at first, but if you're pretty diligent about it, you will improve. I think the typical masters swimmer lament -- "I hate kicking" -- really holds people back from even trying to make progress. That, and the fact that kicking is not a quickie project.
I have a teammate who is a very fast swimmer, but a terrible kicker. His foot and leg are literally almost in an L shape when he's swimming -- at least that's what we tell him. lol If this is your issue, then ankle flexibility is key. Check out what JMiller does for ankle flexibility on the "Fun & Fast" thread.
The only thing that happens when I try to kick harder is I make more waves and go slower.
Find, Help my kick is horrible and try what Ande advises to improve your kick. I saw a noticeable improvement in a couple weeks, and I only loosely followed his directions. I think the key is to kick small distances and build up. You are timing yourself on a 25, so you can try big kicks, small kicks, kicks at different depths, kicks at different tempos, etc, and you will find something that works better than what you are doing now.
And there is something else that I did other than kick that probably helped my kick considerably. Ankle stretches. I have done ankle stretches every day for 3 months now.
I don't do any weight training specifically for backstroke.
Or rather: I have been emphasizing legs & core work more and more the last 1-2 years, but backstroke is only part of the reason.
I agree that backstroke stresses the legs a lot, probably more than freestyle does for most swimmers. But other strokes also use legs a lot too; I know butterfly does. In fly, if my legs die, I sink lower in the water and go slower.
And while I use SDK more on backstroke than the other strokes (b/c I seem to be a faster kicker on my back than on my front), a good SDK benefits all three strokes.
And, of course, working lats and triceps are as important as for the other two strokes.
(I guess I've vaguely heard that there is a 4th competitive swimming stroke, but I think that's an urban myth.)
What I remember from swimming backstroke as a high schooler was the incredible, searing/burning pain in my thighs by the end of the race. That, and the schnozz full of water.
So…given my previous experience, I'd probably suggest building the legs, at least in terms of lots of reps and endurance. But…I wasn't a very fast backstroker so maybe I was using my legs too much?
I am an OK backstroker (not as speedy as The Fortress, though), and I say that if you felt an awful burning in your legs and you couldn't feel your feet at all, and your race was 100y or longer, you probably were doing it right.
The water up the nose is optional. Some people wear a nose clip although I don't like it for anything longer than 50M because it impairs inhaling too much. The water-exclusion strategy that I do not recommend is tilting your chin down toward your chest.
Well, that's my problem. I never had been a very good kicker. I have been doing barbell squats for over a year and they've probably improved my turns but haven't done much for my kick, apparently.
As an ex-horrible kicker and a regular squater, I can tell you that squats won't do squat for your kick. The only thing that has improved my kick is kicking hard and fast.
