I've starting swimming again after about 8 years off. I'm trying to get back into shape to lose a little weight and hopefully start competing again! Anyway, when I was swimming I'm pretty sure we all just used big fins. Now it seems there's about 100 different types (long, medium, short, really short, some have holes, etc). I have been thinking about buying some, but I'm lost. Maybe I shouldn't even use fins? Any suggestions?
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Former Member
Bob Strand's fin endorsement is pretty compelling, I must say. Bob I'm curious, did you use breaststroke fins or regular fins?
My own experience with fins is that when I use fins a lot during intensive, disciplined training, the results are far better than if I do the same type of training without fins. My ankles become more flexible, my leg strength and endurance improves, and my pain/lactic acid/oxygen debt tolerance improves. Even if I do almost all of my hard pool training with fins, my results at meets and open water races improve significantly.
One caveat is that the only type of fins that I've found to be truly beneficial are the stiff ones which have blades 5" or longer. Smaller or softer fins don't help with ankle flexibility, which for me is the primary reason I use fins.
Bob Strand's fin endorsement is pretty compelling, I must say. Bob I'm curious, did you use breaststroke fins or regular fins?
My own experience with fins is that when I use fins a lot during intensive, disciplined training, the results are far better than if I do the same type of training without fins. My ankles become more flexible, my leg strength and endurance improves, and my pain/lactic acid/oxygen debt tolerance improves. Even if I do almost all of my hard pool training with fins, my results at meets and open water races improve significantly.
One caveat is that the only type of fins that I've found to be truly beneficial are the stiff ones which have blades 5" or longer. Smaller or softer fins don't help with ankle flexibility, which for me is the primary reason I use fins.
