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!
As a long time weight trainer and recreational swimmer, here are my (weak $) two cents:
1. It is unclear if weight training has a direct effect on swimming i.e. lowering of times. I feel that it certainly has an important indirect effect as far as structural stability and prevention of injuries (in a way, similar to flexibility training). It is beneficial for masters swimmers as they get older because swimming is not an activity that promotes bone strength. Also, swimming is mostly about pulling. A good strength training program would include pushing and pulling in several planes and therefore promote tonal body integrity.
2. I believe that studies on elite swimmers are not too relevant for the typical masters swimmer due to age, seriousness of training, nutrition, additional substances etc.Elite swimmers (elite athletes in general) live in an entirely different world. It's like the average Joe trying to draw conclusions from the training program of Bulgarian weightlifters.
3. Training routines: Any rational strength program will work for awhile. After that your body adopts and the program must be modified. So I would not recommend training always in the same rep range. I would also opt for a shorter routine and not spend more than 1 hour in the gym. Preferably 45 minutes.
4. Exercise selection: from what I've seen after years in the weight room most men spend a huge amount of time working on their showy muscles i.e. biceps and pecs. That means doing endless sets of curls and bench presses or some kind of chest press machine. Women go for hitting the rear and the flabby tris. Time is better spent doing a few composite movements that work the body as a unit i.e. squats, deadlifts, various presses, pullups etc. The only problem is that these are hard! So alot of time is wasted in the gym.
5. Alternate strength training methods: it is possible to get very strong without a bb or a db. Body weight exercises are a good alternative. One arm pullups anyone?
As a long time weight trainer and recreational swimmer, here are my (weak $) two cents:
1. It is unclear if weight training has a direct effect on swimming i.e. lowering of times. I feel that it certainly has an important indirect effect as far as structural stability and prevention of injuries (in a way, similar to flexibility training). It is beneficial for masters swimmers as they get older because swimming is not an activity that promotes bone strength. Also, swimming is mostly about pulling. A good strength training program would include pushing and pulling in several planes and therefore promote tonal body integrity.
2. I believe that studies on elite swimmers are not too relevant for the typical masters swimmer due to age, seriousness of training, nutrition, additional substances etc.Elite swimmers (elite athletes in general) live in an entirely different world. It's like the average Joe trying to draw conclusions from the training program of Bulgarian weightlifters.
3. Training routines: Any rational strength program will work for awhile. After that your body adopts and the program must be modified. So I would not recommend training always in the same rep range. I would also opt for a shorter routine and not spend more than 1 hour in the gym. Preferably 45 minutes.
4. Exercise selection: from what I've seen after years in the weight room most men spend a huge amount of time working on their showy muscles i.e. biceps and pecs. That means doing endless sets of curls and bench presses or some kind of chest press machine. Women go for hitting the rear and the flabby tris. Time is better spent doing a few composite movements that work the body as a unit i.e. squats, deadlifts, various presses, pullups etc. The only problem is that these are hard! So alot of time is wasted in the gym.
5. Alternate strength training methods: it is possible to get very strong without a bb or a db. Body weight exercises are a good alternative. One arm pullups anyone?
