Weight training

Managed to injure my LCL end of November and kind of back swimming again now - I couldn't even do flip turns or kick properly without pain.

So I'm now also doing weights - a lot of dead lifts and squats but also general free weights for the upper body.

From a swimmer perspective what does people focus on? Lats? triceps? and core strength? Do you keep it to free weights or machines?

I usually do 3x8s (last set usually is borderline I make 8 more like 4) for various muscles groups. Any thoughts or tips welcome

wendyv34

Comments

  • tortugatortuga Senior Member

    Dead lift makes the world a better place. Anecdotally, I'v found that push press/strict press (military press) has helped reduce the pain in the area of Rt bicep tendon insertion....however, fixing my hand entry has helped more.

    andiss
  • andiss said:

    From a swimmer perspective what does people focus on? Lats? triceps? and core strength? Do you keep it to free weights or machines?

    You have to do them all! Quads/hamstrings, definitely tris but equally lats and core! I guess it evolves as becoming stronger in one area highlights the need to build up another. I have a 50-60 minute programme I do twice a week that covers all, I wish I could do it more often as strength training is vital (in my case at least) to maintain the ability to go further, to keep going. Fortunately I enjoy strength training in its own right.

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    I work out with the wife 2x a week. We do 4 exercises only: deadlift, bench, squat, military press. I must say my swims have felt better since starting (2 months ago).

    tortugaSean

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • NoelFigartNoelFigart Lebanon, NHSenior Member

    Mike, do you have any objective measurements on that or is it that they feel better subjectively? (Not that I'm against the subjective, I'm just wondering if I really oughta suck it up and spend MORE damn time in the gym if I want to be faster...)

  • flystormsflystorms Memphis, TNSenior Member

    I started doing Orangetheory Fitness (think civilized cross-fit) about 6 months ago. It is a 60 minute class that changes daily, but incorporates treadmill, water rower and weights throughout the time. It has absolutely improved my swimming, especially the kicking. I'm much more balanced and have a stronger core. While the coaches in class tend to have you do more weight at lower reps, I lean towards lighter weights, more reps for shoulder and arm work, but stick to their plan with the legs. It's a chain throughout much of the U.S.

  • Karl_KingeryKarl_Kingery Denver, COSenior Member

    I had a full tear of my ACL last February and have also had bad shoulders for nearly my whole swimming career. In both instances, what I have found to be most helpful is a series of excercises to strengthen the stabilizer muscles around the injury. While for each separate injury, the regimen is different, generally building this strength around the injury seems to help not only with the overall healing but also with overall fitness and strength. Talk to a PT and see what they would recommend for you. I completely agree with tortuga that technique is a huge way to help minimize re-injury risk. PLUS- you will probably swim faster if you start doing it better.

  • andissandiss Senior Member
    edited February 2016

    for sure, i have been discussing the matter with a friend of mine and he says:

    Get good technique

    Get strong - he is on about that i should be able to do squats 1.5 x my body weight with an olympic bar before below

    Get explosive

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    NoelFigart said:
    Mike, do you have any objective measurements on that or is it that they feel better subjectively? (Not that I'm against the subjective, I'm just wondering if I really oughta suck it up and spend MORE damn time in the gym if I want to be faster...)

    @NoelFigart, all I have is subjective as I'm swimming on straps. Nothing to measure or time. All I've got is feelings...

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • SydneDSydneD Senior Member

    I've started Halo tubing and love it. 3 x 5 minute sets and I'm sweating like crazy, lats and pecs and triceps are burning, and on those days I can't get in the pool, I get to refine and practice my technique. Highly recommended!
    I can also work on stroke rate and it feels fantastic.

    dpm50Leslie
  • bluemermaid9bluemermaid9 Boca Raton, FL, United StatesSenior Member
    edited March 2016

    I focus on injury prevention. I like these exercises for my shoulders. From FINA (shoulder injury prevention).

    Kate_AlexanderLynnedpm50ChrisBLeslie
  • dpm50dpm50 PA, U.S.Senior Member

    @bluemermaid9 -- that's a great bunch of exercises!

    I recently started doing TRX at the suggestion of my masters' coach. There are some exercises that engage the shoulders in a similar way.

    I do the TRX twice a week, once with a class and once on my own. The class is getting more and more challenging, but I'm glad for that. I'd love to find some more swimming specific exercises for TRX --suggestions welcome -- but for the moment, I'm just learning how the thing works.

    video here:

    bluemermaid9
  • LeslieLeslie TexasMember

    I had never heard of this...where did you get it and how often do you use it?

    SydneD said:
    I've started Halo tubing and love it. 3 x 5 minute sets and I'm sweating like crazy, lats and pecs and triceps are burning, and on those days I can't get in the pool, I get to refine and practice my technique. Highly recommended!
    I can also work on stroke rate and it feels fantastic.

    SydneD
  • SydneDSydneD Senior Member

    Hi @Leslie!
    Sorry I took a bit to reply! I have been teaching like mad and in the water so away from the computer.

    Halo Tubing is this:

    http://lanegainer.com/brands/Halo-Swim-Training.html

    I just use the tubes without the fancy bench or anything, and it's a hell of a workout. Also really allows you to check your form when you are not in the water.

    I use the red tubes with my clients, and the blue for myself.

    Sheila Taormina also has some fantastic videos about it:

    http://swimspeedsecrets.com/2012/04/06/swim-tubing/

    http://swimspeedsecrets.com/2014/06/09/swim-tubing-drills-and-the-freestyle-diagonal-phase/

    Highly recommended. But, ahem, don't overdo it---NOT THAT I'M SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE OR ANYTHING!!!! ;)

    dpm50
  • TomDockTomDock Bradenton, FLMember

    My wife got the Halo Tubing from Sheila at a clinic in Sarasota last month. She likes them. I walk by them everyday in the living room but haven't tried them yet. I'm tapering, LOL, maybe next week I'll start......

    SydneD
  • SydneDSydneD Senior Member

    Ha! They are awesome. I totally love them. And also got them from Sheila. Which clinic did she do?
    I was there the weekend of Feb. 20th.

  • TomDockTomDock Bradenton, FLMember

    I think she was there at that time with you @SydneD. I showed up to watch for a few hours. At the little swimming pool on the beach. On Lido Key. Looked like fun.....

    SydneD
  • SydneDSydneD Senior Member

    Yes! I remember you, @TomDock !

    Lisa is such a beautiful swimmer. What a lovely stroke. Very impressive. Is she feeling a positive change after the clinic?

    And I understand you guys were in St. Croix! This was my 7th year. I do so love that swim.
    Were you at the Buccaneer?

    TomDock
  • TomDockTomDock Bradenton, FLMember

    Well thank you for the kind words @SydneD ! I'm a lucky man, yes she loved the clinic and all of the stuff she got from Shelia T. We were at the Buccaneer for 3 days and nights. Then added 2 extra days on the other side of the island at the Carambola where I went diving, The buc swim was so nice, I love crossing the straits like that. This was our second time there. we did the 5 mile last year and the 2 mile about 4 or 5 years ago.

    7 years at St Croix is very impressive, good for you !

    SydneD
  • SydneDSydneD Senior Member

    @TomDock
    My husband and son got dive certified there this year! It was fantastic. They had such a great time. Hoping to head back this year but I've added Key West and an Italy swim to my agenda so I'm not sure we will be able to swing it.
    I'm aiming for at least 10 years at that swim. They won't be in a row but that's okay. :)

  • TomDockTomDock Bradenton, FLMember

    That sounds pretty exciting. We are doing a 5K in Grand Cayman - The Flowers Swim, in June.
    Maybe next year we might look into that Nevis to St. Kitts. So many swims so little time.....

  • TomDockTomDock Bradenton, FLMember

    That sounds pretty exciting @SydneD We are doing a 5K in Grand Cayman - The Flowers Swim, in June.
    Maybe next year we might look into that Nevis to St. Kitts. So many swims so little time.....

    SydneD
  • SydneDSydneD Senior Member

    I know! I need a benefactor to support my swim habit! ;)
    Grand Cayman sounds fantastic.
    My goal is to do something in Bora Bora. That's going to require some saving....or my son not going to college.
    I'm sure he won't mind.

    mjstaplesTomDock
  • MvGMvG MauritiusCharter Member

    Hi all,

    I hadn't checked in for months and see now that the issue of weight training has come up (again) on this forum.

    I'd like to share an experience that I think may benefit many swimmers especially in the long distance community and of slighly advanced or advancing age (like myself):

    In 2013-14 I was posted for more than year in a place (Kabul) with no swimming pools, but with a well-equipped gym. Weighttraining combined with some cardio (rowing machine and a bit of light running and cross trainer) allowed me to stay fit enough to come back home in the Summer of 2014 and participate, at age 48, in a 10 km race with virtually no swim mileage (no more than 20 km swum in the preceding YEAR), and yet being only 7 minutes slower than in previous editions (a bit sore after the swim though).

    Ever since that race I believe that the potential benefits of weight training may be severely underrated by many marathon swimmers, as they were by me.

    The program I followed was Stronglifts 5x5, I copy-paste the description of how its works below, from their website http://stronglifts.com/5x5/ (it's free, by the way).
    Bottomline: it takes only 3 x 45 minutes of admittedly very focused weight training, always the same key exercises) for very significant strength gains and increase in general fitness. You don't have to be strong to start with it. It's not at all about bulking up (I didn't, though my wife and my mirror certainly appreciated the improved muscle tone :-) ), but about getting (much) stronger. Squats are key, and you'll have a very special love-hate relationship with these.
    The only exercise I would add to the programme are lat pull downs, which have a specific importance for us swimmers - the programme caters well to all our other strenghth needs, and then some.

    Cheers,

    Milko

    From the website:
    "Stronglifts 5×5 is the simplest, most effective workout to get stronger, build muscle and burn fat. Thousands of people have used the StrongLifts 5×5 workout to change their bodies and lives. The program is easy to follow and only takes three workouts a week of about 45 minutes.
    Stronglifts 5×5 uses five free weight compound exercises: the Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Overhead Press and Barbell Row. You do three of these exercises each workout, three times a week, for about 45 minutes per workout. You Squat every workout, three times a week. 5×5 stands for five sets of five reps. These are the sets and reps you do on every exercise except Deadlifts. Deadlift is only one set of five reps (1×5) because doing more would beat you up. Plus, Squatting three times a week will get you stronger at Deadlifts since it works similar muscles. Unlike most bodybuilding routines, your goal on StrongLifts 5×5 isn’t to reach failure, get “pumped” or be sore. Your goal is to add weight. Here’s how: start light, focus on proper form and add 2.5kg/5lb each workout for as long as you can. This is the simplest way to get results fast."

    Read more: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

    TomDockIronMikedpm50Leslietortugaandiss
  • dpm50dpm50 PA, U.S.Senior Member

    This, by itself, is evidence for why my coach pushes strength training for me as well as lots and lots of swimming. :) Going to share this w/ him.

    MvG said:
    Hi all,

    I'd like to share an experience that I think may benefit many swimmers especially in the long distance community and of slighly advanced or advancing age (like myself):

    In 2013-14 I was posted for more than year in a place (Kabul) with no swimming pools, but with a well-equipped gym. Weighttraining combined with some cardio (rowing machine and a bit of light running and cross trainer) allowed me to stay fit enough to come back home in the Summer of 2014 and participate, at age 48, in a 10 km race with virtually no swim mileage (no more than 20 km swum in the preceding YEAR), and yet being only 7 minutes slower than in previous editions (a bit sore after the swim though).

    Ever since that race I believe that the potential benefits of weight training may be severely underrated by many marathon swimmers, as they were by me.

    >

    SoloMvG
  • NikkiNikki Member

    I also added Halo tubing in after injuring my shoulder last Sept 2015. I ended up doing the unthinkable and taking 3 months off swimming. When I finally got back into the water in Dec 2015, I did so incorporating strength training and the halo pulls. It totally helped strengthen both shoulders. Now I'm swimmimg faster and farther. I notice that if I skip pulling because my mind thinks "got to use that 15 mins for more laps" .. That I can feel the difference in the quality of my swims. @SydneD Do you pull on a fence or do you have the set up at home? Since I'm in northern Cali, unless it's warm out, I will pull inside the gym or with my parka on outside ... But I always do this before swimmimg because there's no way I'm going to hang out on the deck in the cold pulling after a swim. Too cold! If it's warm out, then I will pull on the fence before or after I swim. That's no problem and always feels good it's the sunshine. I think I like pulling before I swim, but I'm not sure if that's the best approach.

    I noticed that when I'm on the east coast swimmimg in their indoor pools, I can easily hop out after a workout and towel dry the do some pulling in my suit since the air is so warm In those complexes. I'm somewhat envious of that ... That's maybe the only benefit for an indoor pool in my opinion

    SydneD
  • LeslieLeslie TexasMember
    edited April 2016

    Will check it out. Thanks for sharing.

    MvG said:
    Hi all,

    I hadn't checked in for months and see now that the issue of weight training has come up (again) on this forum.

    I'd like to share an experience that I think may benefit many swimmers especially in the long distance community and of slighly advanced or advancing age (like myself):

    Read more: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

    MvG
  • SydneDSydneD Senior Member

    @Nikki
    I actually keep mine attached to one of the ladder railings at my pool because I use them with my clients all the time. It also means that if someone is late, or I am there a few minutes early, I can throw in a bit of tubing.

    And you're right - you totally can see the benefit, and the downside when you don't do it.

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    Bumping this thread as I'm going to start going back to the gym with the wife. Reading my comment above, I definitely believe the lifting helped me through the Issyk Kul crossing.

    SoloDanSimonelli

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • dpm50dpm50 PA, U.S.Senior Member

    Just started Les Mills Body Pump. Remind me again how good it is for my abs. They were whining in the last class! ;)

  • JanetJanet New York, NYMember

    While I think lifting might marginally help my swimming, a stronger motivation for getting myself to the gym several times a week is to be sufficiently strong to deal with all the gear schlepping and kayak transporting associated with swims. Sometimes being a marathon swimmer/crew/observer/volunteer requires literal as well as metaphorical heavy lifting. I want to be ready!

    KarenTIronMikephodgeszohominadpm50
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