Though my form still needs a lot of work, I am considering starting strength training in the near future, since I have read about how it can help swimming speed, form, etc.
However, I am still struggling with the idea of why strength training is needed. Lets assume that lifting a certain weight in a certain way improves a core muscle, which will help steady my posture (?).
Now assuming I don't weight lift, but instead try to hold the proper posture (high elbow, etc.) for a long period of time, and gradually increase the time I do that over weeks and months, won't those muscle(s) automatically improve?
It seems to me that intuitively the proper muscles would gradually get stronger in order to adjust to the frequent usage - that way the exact muscles I need would get stronger, instead of having to train a large array of muscles that have a relation to swimming.
What am I missing?
One often neglected aspect of resistance training for masters aged athletes is the importance of reversing the neuromuscular deterioration that takes place with age. There's a reason the "neuro" comes before the "muscular." The neurological part needs to be addressed before the muscular part, though in practice they should not be mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, most of the time we just heft some weight, watch the muscles grow big and puffy and then assume whatever we're doing is working.
A split routine (chest-delt-tricep days; back-rear delts-bicep days; leg days) is fine for people training to be a statue (aka, bodybuilder) but it really doesn't help very much for anything athletic or functional real-world activities. The neurological component of strength training doesn't get much attention until Grandma goes to the emergency room after falling down in her living room and breaking her hip. You can't rely on the mainstream of the fitness industry to provide much guidance in these nuances because there is more money to be made in "Size Two in Two Weeks!" or "Spring Break Pecs in by April!"
True, it is harder to quantify progress in terms of neuromuscular coordination without pure numbers, but the ancient practices of martial arts and dance have survived just fine without a hefty reliance on quantification. Since we are talking in a competitive or semi-competitive swimming context, it is best too coordinate everything so that the supplementary strength activities support the aspects that we DO quantify (aka, the pace clock).
One often neglected aspect of resistance training for masters aged athletes is the importance of reversing the neuromuscular deterioration that takes place with age. There's a reason the "neuro" comes before the "muscular." The neurological part needs to be addressed before the muscular part, though in practice they should not be mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, most of the time we just heft some weight, watch the muscles grow big and puffy and then assume whatever we're doing is working.
A split routine (chest-delt-tricep days; back-rear delts-bicep days; leg days) is fine for people training to be a statue (aka, bodybuilder) but it really doesn't help very much for anything athletic or functional real-world activities. The neurological component of strength training doesn't get much attention until Grandma goes to the emergency room after falling down in her living room and breaking her hip. You can't rely on the mainstream of the fitness industry to provide much guidance in these nuances because there is more money to be made in "Size Two in Two Weeks!" or "Spring Break Pecs in by April!"
True, it is harder to quantify progress in terms of neuromuscular coordination without pure numbers, but the ancient practices of martial arts and dance have survived just fine without a hefty reliance on quantification. Since we are talking in a competitive or semi-competitive swimming context, it is best too coordinate everything so that the supplementary strength activities support the aspects that we DO quantify (aka, the pace clock).
