My great friend, the charming ignoramus Leslie "the Fortess" Livingston, and I recently had the opportunity to bandy about a debate topic in the November issue of Swimmer magazine.
Leslie has asked me to create a poll to see which of us had the more persuasive arguments vis a vis the usefulness of weight lifting to behoove swimming performance.
I tried to talk Leslie out of such a poll, because I wasn't sure her delicate albeit manly temperament could take the likely beat down she would get, vote wise.
After all, her teenage daughter had already proclaimed, in uncertain terms, that she was best off pleading Nolo contendere here (see en.wikipedia.org/.../Nolo_contendere if your legal skills are as atrophied as Leslie's). In her daughter's own words, "He totally owned you, Mom! Like totally! It was so awesome! He's so totally funny, and you are so totally uptight, Mom! I mean, it was like so totally embarrassing how much he owned you! Please tell me I'm adopted! Please tell me Jim Thornton is my real mother!"
Unfortunately, this kind of advanced rhetorical argument on my part fell on deaf ears, just as my advanced rhetorical argument--in which actual studies were cited!--also fell on deaf ears. Evidently, the dear girl has overdone the neck thickening machine, and in the process, mastoid muscle processes seem to have overgrown her ear canals!
I know that not everyone has received their copy of Swimmer yet. Rumor has it that those of us who live in the higher class zip codes get the extra virgin pressed copies, with the rest of you having to wait to the ink starts getting stale.
You will get your copies one day, I assure you! Just as you will get your H1N1 swine flu vaccines dosages when me and my friends at Goldman have had our third inoculations!
But I am getting a bit off the track here.
If you've read our Inane Point (Leslie) - Brilliant Counterpoint (Jim) *** for tat debate, Leslie asks that you vote in this poll for the person you think was RHETORICALLY superior.
Note: this does not mean which of us was right.
Hell, I have already conceded Leslie was right, and have begun weight lifting myself thrice weekly!
I am one bulked up monstrosity of a girly man at this point, and I don't plan to stop till you can bounce quarters off my moobs.
So. Forget all aspects of actual rational correctness here, and certainly forget all aspects of who is more popular.
And vote with your pitiless inner rhetoritician calling the shots.
Leslie, I warned you: Nolo contendere was the smart plea. But no, you just wouldn't hear of it!
jim,
the only reasonable thing for you to do is to experiment for yourself.
do some test sprints now like 50 fly or 50 free
then test again
Actually, I am planning to see for myself if lifting makes a difference, though I am hoping for at least as much of a boost in the 500 as the 50 (and the only study so far cited in favor of lifting indicates it may help longer swims more).
Our Y has a bunch of free weights, which I don't know how to use, along with two circuits of Nautilus machines.
I know that the former are supposedly infinitely superior to the latter, but I've also heard that it's harder to get hurt on machines than with free weights, and this is reasonably important to me.
I do about 14 or so of these machines, two or three times a week. They cover legs, arms, and torso, usually in multiple directions (i.e., there are separate machines for abs, obliques, and back.)
I started out with light weights, doing 3 sets of 12 each, then have gradually worked my way up over the last two or three weeks to where I am doing 1-2 sets of 8-12. I am getting up to weights that are pretty hard, though still not impossible, to lift at least 12 times. When I finish a set, I definitely can feel a burn and sometimes feel like swooning.
I realize this is probably far short of the ideal lifting routine for swimming, but it seems to me that if it doesn't do anything whatsoever for speed and endurance in the water, it's hard to believe a more "pure" (i.e., esoteric and exotic regimen discovered by some guru somewhere and involving new equipment for the Y or me to purchase) would be infinitely better.
For what it's worth, I do expect this will help me avoid injuries (if it doesn't injure me itself!) and add a general level of robustness that might make it easier for a decrepit josser like me to make it through my infirm days (once the incredible morning stiffness and functional arthritis of wt training starts to wear off).
I profoundly HOPE my swimming will improve, or at least not get a whole lot worse. The illegalizing of the speed suits is going to make seasonal comparisons awfully hard till somebody comes up with a valid with B70/ without B70 equalization formula, the controversy over which will make this thread seem like tiddly winks.
Leslie, I will tell you right now: I know I won't be able to raise myself up on your torture wheel, so don't even bring it with you on Thanksgiving. Instead, why don't you do my exact Nautilus circuit when you are here, same weights (you can adjust the settings), and then you can report back here to our voters how hopelessly weak I am--and how much potential for improvement I've got!
jim,
the only reasonable thing for you to do is to experiment for yourself.
do some test sprints now like 50 fly or 50 free
then test again
Actually, I am planning to see for myself if lifting makes a difference, though I am hoping for at least as much of a boost in the 500 as the 50 (and the only study so far cited in favor of lifting indicates it may help longer swims more).
Our Y has a bunch of free weights, which I don't know how to use, along with two circuits of Nautilus machines.
I know that the former are supposedly infinitely superior to the latter, but I've also heard that it's harder to get hurt on machines than with free weights, and this is reasonably important to me.
I do about 14 or so of these machines, two or three times a week. They cover legs, arms, and torso, usually in multiple directions (i.e., there are separate machines for abs, obliques, and back.)
I started out with light weights, doing 3 sets of 12 each, then have gradually worked my way up over the last two or three weeks to where I am doing 1-2 sets of 8-12. I am getting up to weights that are pretty hard, though still not impossible, to lift at least 12 times. When I finish a set, I definitely can feel a burn and sometimes feel like swooning.
I realize this is probably far short of the ideal lifting routine for swimming, but it seems to me that if it doesn't do anything whatsoever for speed and endurance in the water, it's hard to believe a more "pure" (i.e., esoteric and exotic regimen discovered by some guru somewhere and involving new equipment for the Y or me to purchase) would be infinitely better.
For what it's worth, I do expect this will help me avoid injuries (if it doesn't injure me itself!) and add a general level of robustness that might make it easier for a decrepit josser like me to make it through my infirm days (once the incredible morning stiffness and functional arthritis of wt training starts to wear off).
I profoundly HOPE my swimming will improve, or at least not get a whole lot worse. The illegalizing of the speed suits is going to make seasonal comparisons awfully hard till somebody comes up with a valid with B70/ without B70 equalization formula, the controversy over which will make this thread seem like tiddly winks.
Leslie, I will tell you right now: I know I won't be able to raise myself up on your torture wheel, so don't even bring it with you on Thanksgiving. Instead, why don't you do my exact Nautilus circuit when you are here, same weights (you can adjust the settings), and then you can report back here to our voters how hopelessly weak I am--and how much potential for improvement I've got!
