I want to add Dry Land resistance training to my workouts. I started Masters last fall and competed in both SCM and SCY seasons. I was swimming 6 days a week and lifting wieghts 3 days a week. I had a small shoulder scare last month and my Dr (ex-swimmer) recommended adding resistance training to my workouts.
So when should I add them? Should I add them to the days that I don't lift wieghts, the days that I do lift, or it doesn't matter?
I swim with the team M-F, double on my own on Saturday, Sunday is my day of rest (and to watch football). I usually lift M, W, F and I was thinking of adding Resistance and Core training on those same days. Is this too much?
Former Member
Sounds like way too much to me. I know when I lifted and swam regularly at the same time I put on maybe 5lbs of muscle in 2 years. When I stopped swimming I put on about 20lbs of muscle in 3 months. Even lifting 3 times a week while swimming 6 times a week will reach a point of diminishing returns very quickly unless you are using some sort of "assistance"
Of course a lot depends on what events you are training etc. etc.
Sounds like way too much to me. I know when I lifted and swam regularly at the same time I put on maybe 5lbs of muscle in 2 years. When I stopped swimming I put on about 20lbs of muscle in 3 months. Even lifting 3 times a week while swimming 6 times a week will reach a point of diminishing returns very quickly unless you are using some sort of "assistance"
Of course a lot depends on what events you are training etc. etc.
I did the same training last year and it worked pretty well. I stopped weights about 3 weeks before the big meets (NE Championships, Nationals) and was able to show improvement all season.
I'm training for distance events, so I like to keep the focus on Swimming for endurance, while weight training is more to build / keep strength and prevent injuries. I'm not looking to add significant muscle weight. Actually I've lost significant weight since starting this (40 lbs).
I did the same training last year and it worked pretty well. I stopped weights about 3 weeks before the big meets (NE Championships, Nationals) and was able to show improvement all season.
I'm training for distance events, so I like to keep the focus on Swimming for endurance, while weight training is more to build / keep strength and prevent injuries. I'm not looking to add significant muscle weight. Actually I've lost significant weight since starting this (40 lbs).
Makes sense. Though it still feels like a lot on the body to me so not sure if all that will help w/injury prevention unless you are doing mostly light weights.
My dryland workouts consist of random adventures with the P90X workout DVDs, and medicine ball workouts. P90X does give a lot of new ideas for training that the average person doesn't even think of, and a lot of it can be done with your own body weight. My medicine ball workouts are from the Mike Barrowman workout that many were doing back in the early 90s. All these are done right here at home.
In college over 12 years ago, I was in the weight room 3-4x a week, doing pretty intense muscle building workouts, and training in the pool 10x a week, doing and avg. of 8000 yards per practice. Most on my team didn't do any weight training, and it showed in their physique. I definitely could feel the strength benefits of the weight training, or any dryland training vs. swimming alone.
I am a middle distance/flyer type, and don't need to get Arnold-like :roids::weightlifter: if you know what I mean, though I do see an added benefit of some type of dryland/weight program in addition to whatever XYZ sport a person chooses to do.
Yea P90X type programs are great but they are quite inefficient in terms of muscle gain versus heavy lifting. Since this isn't what you need anyway that shouldn't matter to you and that type of workout probably fits your needs well.
When I was 16-17 I lifted 3-4x a week also heavy weights and swam about 6000-7000yards/day 6x a week. I got stronger but it was a slow process whereas when I stopped swimming I absolutely blew up. If I had just taken 3 months off swimming completely and then got back into the pool the weight lifting in 3 months would have been more effective than many years of weight training while swimming and I bet I could have gotten back to where I was swimming-wise quite quickly.
This is also consistent with the bodybuilder approach (bulking up and then doing the cardio not trying to make lean gains) and with a lot of seasonal sports (heavy lifting to gain muscle in the off season when there is little to no training). It's been "proven" much more effective (for muscle gain) and the reason I think is largely due to overtraining trying to do both at once.
My dryland workouts consist of random adventures with the P90X workout DVDs, and medicine ball workouts. P90X does give a lot of new ideas for training that the average person doesn't even think of, and a lot of it can be done with your own body weight. My medicine ball workouts are from the Mike Barrowman workout that many were doing back in the early 90s. All these are done right here at home.
In college over 12 years ago, I was in the weight room 3-4x a week, doing pretty intense muscle building workouts, and training in the pool 10x a week, doing and avg. of 8000 yards per practice. Most on my team didn't do any weight training, and it showed in their physique. I definitely could feel the strength benefits of the weight training, or any dryland training vs. swimming alone.
I am a middle distance/flyer type, and don't need to get Arnold-like :roids::weightlifter: if you know what I mean, though I do see an added benefit of some type of dryland/weight program in addition to whatever XYZ sport a person chooses to do.
