Hi Folks!
First of all a little bit about me:
- I've been lifting weights for 7 years
- I have a degree in Sportsmanagement as well as numerous certifications for personal training, body pump etc.
- Im a Jiu Jitsu instructor before bodybuilding and swimming
- My left elbow has arthirtis, I got a pretty big bone spur in my right knee and i have a bulged disc between my shoulder blades... Im 23 years old lol
Im pretty beat up for my age, so are the colleagues that I run our martial arts school with. I've been looking for a a way to build muscle without recking my joints any longer. I was also rather enthusiastic about swimming in my younger less athletic years. I want to start swimming and keep/build the muscle that I built over the years.
I know that you need progressive overload and calories to build muscle etc...
Do you guys think I could have a jacked body if I:
- wear a weight vest whilst doing sprints with different strokes?
- use a swim buoy
- wear ankle and/or wrist weights whilst doing sprints
- wear loose clothing whilst doing sprint
- use a kick boad
- or any combination of the above to increase progressive overload?
From what I could gather ankle/wrist weights and weight vests are rather dangerous for joint health and Ive also read that they dont properly "drag" you in the correct direction which causes improper technique.
So what do you expereienced people think? Or do you have any other ideas how I could give my muscles more workload in the water?
PS:
Im willing to sacrifice SOME muscle mass if I can train hard without injury.
Cheers,
Yoshi
Unless you are an expert swimmer, NO. Weights + swimming = sinking (or worse). There are some advanced drills using weights such as vertical kicking while holding weights, but there are other ways to increase resistance.
This is a good way to increase resistance while swimming. Also drag suits and drag chutes are good training tools. However these tools become more effective for swimmers with good to great technique. If you are a beginner to intermediate swimmer, then just swimming should provide enough resistance training.
Both are good training tools, along with swim fins and swim paddles.
However, if your goal is a jacked body, then swimming is probably not how you will accomplish this. Swimming will help with flexibility, endurance, cardiovascular and core strength. But it won’t get you “a jacked body”. If this is what you want then stick to weightlifting. If you are looking for a sustainable low injury sport (“train hard without injury”) to stay fit, then yes, add swimming to your exercise program.
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Unless you are an expert swimmer, NO. Weights + swimming = sinking (or worse). There are some advanced drills using weights such as vertical kicking while holding weights, but there are other ways to increase resistance.
This is a good way to increase resistance while swimming. Also drag suits and drag chutes are good training tools. However these tools become more effective for swimmers with good to great technique. If you are a beginner to intermediate swimmer, then just swimming should provide enough resistance training.
Both are good training tools, along with swim fins and swim paddles.
However, if your goal is a jacked body, then swimming is probably not how you will accomplish this. Swimming will help with flexibility, endurance, cardiovascular and core strength. But it won’t get you “a jacked body”. If this is what you want then stick to weightlifting. If you are looking for a sustainable low injury sport (“train hard without injury”) to stay fit, then yes, add swimming to your exercise program.
..
