What would you consider as the most important reason to include kicking in your workouts?
Also, what do you see as the main difference and purpose between the exercises kicking with a board and kicking without a board?
I do think that strength gains translate into performance gains. The most direct relationship between lifting and swimming happens to benefit non-sprinters more than sprinters. Every flip turn includes the power component of a squat. If you are working hard and getting stronger with your squat (or any variant), and you are not getting further from the wall faster, you aren't applying your new strength in the pool.
For myself, I believe there's a good correlation between squatting and the use of the legs for starts and turns. I feel that the correlation becomes stronger when you include more explosive types of squatting (vertical jumping and lifting with lighter weight and bands or chains on the barbell). Also don't feel it's necessary to squat down to parallel to get benefit from this type of lifting. You have better leverage when you don't squat so far down (squatting parallel is primarily of use if you are competing in powerlifting, or working on a good weighted stretch of the lower back, glutes and hams). Better leverage for me equates to more power/explosiveness, which I can apply to starts and turns.
As an aside, has anyone found any type of correlation between endurance built through kicking and endurance for cycling? Probably psychological, but it seems when I train my kick more in the pool, I have an easier time on the stationary bike (no help with running however).
:banana:
I do think that strength gains translate into performance gains. The most direct relationship between lifting and swimming happens to benefit non-sprinters more than sprinters. Every flip turn includes the power component of a squat. If you are working hard and getting stronger with your squat (or any variant), and you are not getting further from the wall faster, you aren't applying your new strength in the pool.
For myself, I believe there's a good correlation between squatting and the use of the legs for starts and turns. I feel that the correlation becomes stronger when you include more explosive types of squatting (vertical jumping and lifting with lighter weight and bands or chains on the barbell). Also don't feel it's necessary to squat down to parallel to get benefit from this type of lifting. You have better leverage when you don't squat so far down (squatting parallel is primarily of use if you are competing in powerlifting, or working on a good weighted stretch of the lower back, glutes and hams). Better leverage for me equates to more power/explosiveness, which I can apply to starts and turns.
As an aside, has anyone found any type of correlation between endurance built through kicking and endurance for cycling? Probably psychological, but it seems when I train my kick more in the pool, I have an easier time on the stationary bike (no help with running however).
:banana:
