I have the lofty goal of being able to go 50-100 LCM fly without toys. I can currently go about 25 yards. Can anyone help me devise a plan day by day of what to do to strengthen my shoulders/body enough to be able to do this? I do have fairly good rhythm - I used to race the 200 fly as a kid & can still kick fly well, and of course, I am most impressive when I wear my little zoomers - but even with zoomers, my arms start to die, and then I run out of breath around 37.5 meters. Any great ideas out there? Thanks!
Parents
Former Member
My fly endurance improved when I quit relying on my triceps and focused on getting my lats into it. I also do better with a ballistic recovery instead of pulling the arms forward.
I do a lot better breathing every stroke not jutting my chin out but keeping my neck straight/aligned. I have lumps in my thyroid that make it difficult to breathe when I hyperextend the neck. I can't recover with my face in the water due to some flexibility limits; I do have to have body undulation to avoid dragging the arms.
Getting the body rhythm right (with some natural buoyancy) made it so I don't need to rely on a punishing kick just to get high enough for the recovery and breath. My stroke is flatter than average. I love swimming breaststroke with fins/dolphin kick for getting used to the balance aspect of the short-axis strokes.
My kick is almost non-propulsive. I just use it to get my body balanced and to finish the stroke. Even wearing fins, I don't kick much. I only have 45 seconds worth of hard kicking before I blow up.
Everybody has different situations so the classic rules may not work best for you. Try different things.
My fly endurance improved when I quit relying on my triceps and focused on getting my lats into it. I also do better with a ballistic recovery instead of pulling the arms forward.
I do a lot better breathing every stroke not jutting my chin out but keeping my neck straight/aligned. I have lumps in my thyroid that make it difficult to breathe when I hyperextend the neck. I can't recover with my face in the water due to some flexibility limits; I do have to have body undulation to avoid dragging the arms.
Getting the body rhythm right (with some natural buoyancy) made it so I don't need to rely on a punishing kick just to get high enough for the recovery and breath. My stroke is flatter than average. I love swimming breaststroke with fins/dolphin kick for getting used to the balance aspect of the short-axis strokes.
My kick is almost non-propulsive. I just use it to get my body balanced and to finish the stroke. Even wearing fins, I don't kick much. I only have 45 seconds worth of hard kicking before I blow up.
Everybody has different situations so the classic rules may not work best for you. Try different things.
