Does swimming "inform" muscle growth? A dryland/weights q.
Former Member
Ok, so here's the thing. I know well and good by now that swimming does not really build substantial muscle mass. If there was any doubt, all you'd have to do is look at someone like Mark Spitz- an Olympic champion who clearly would have swam enough to see any of the benefits swimming had to offer:
www.tierraunica.com/.../6a00e551962103883300e55419aa128834-800wi
Compare that though to today's champions:
4.bp.blogspot.com/.../ryanlochte.jpgwww.popstarsplus.com/.../MichaelPhelpsPicture.jpg
Obviously huge by comparison. Now, the simple answer might be "weights. These guys do a lot more dryland than they did back in the day". But here's the thing- in all my years of lifting, I have never once seen anyone lifting beside me at the gym built like these guys. The people I see are jacked, sure, but proportioned very differently- and I've seen hundreds if not thousands of guys who were serious about weights!
The only time I *did* see, in person, people who looked like the pics above were, no big surprise, the guys on the local college's swim team.
So I contacted the coach and she was kind enough to send me their dryland routine- and guess what? Incline bench, deadlifts, flys, laterals, etc. etc. etc. In other words, the same identical program that countless weightlifters use every day. There was no magic formula to it.
So this left me really confused. Swimming alone doesn't build this sort of physique. But weights alone don't do it either.
Is their some sort of magic I'm missing here? Does something happen with the combination of the two that results in this type of build?
Please chime in if you have a lot of dryland experience or, even more so, if you're actually built like this from doing these things!
Thanks so much for your help,
BB
Parents
Former Member
The difference between a high level swimmer and body builder who both do deadlifts, squats, bench press etc. for low reps and ~5 sets is mostly diet (and a bit genetics). The body builder is eating excess calories and a high protein diet to gain bulk muscle and fat. They then burn off the fat before competition. The swimmer is eating less protein and and balanced calorie diet so they gain strength without much bulk. The swimmer might be eating the same or more calories as the bodybuilder but burns 2000+ calories every day in the pool. The body builder is not doing any cardio when they are trying to gain mass.
The difference between a high level swimmer and body builder who both do deadlifts, squats, bench press etc. for low reps and ~5 sets is mostly diet (and a bit genetics). The body builder is eating excess calories and a high protein diet to gain bulk muscle and fat. They then burn off the fat before competition. The swimmer is eating less protein and and balanced calorie diet so they gain strength without much bulk. The swimmer might be eating the same or more calories as the bodybuilder but burns 2000+ calories every day in the pool. The body builder is not doing any cardio when they are trying to gain mass.
