Getting Back In The Water

I am happy to say that I am back in the pool again and just like with any sport there’s a point where the gym isn’t enough and you have to start practicing your stamina again.  But I am not walking away from my offseason workouts having learned nothing.

I learned both from swimming and in the gym that when using your arms your triceps are really important for form and for strength in breaststroke more than any other stroke. Ian Mcleod supports this thought of mine. “Unlike in the other strokes, during the initial portion of the pull phase of the breaststroke the triceps brancii is the primary muscle that is active at the elbow joint” (Mcleod, 13). Knowing this I can feel and control the muscles in my arms more because I know how they should be moving and working in my stroke.

In addition, I will be continually working on my abs because of their importance to swimming. “To move your body efficiently through the water, a coordinated movement of the arms and legs must occur. The key to this coordinated movement is a strong core” (Mcleod, 85). Every aspect of my swim life revolves around a strong core, so the stronger I can make it the stronger my strokes will become.

Lastly, I learned how much I could improve my strokes just by working on my legs more often.  This is because the majority of my strength is in my arms and if I am able to strengthen my legs my strokes would improve drastically. “Strong legs are a critical component to reaching your true potential as a swimmer. They are not only the basis for having a powerful and efficient kick but also the key to driving your body off the starting blocks and turns” (Mcleod, 141).   

 I feel a difference in my strokes already and along with that I can single out which muscles I am using easier and I have more control over them. I am also not giving up on working out outside of the water, I still continue to go to the gym when I can.

If any of you have question on my schedule or workouts or swimming in general feel free to ask.

MLA CITATION:Mcleod, Ian. SWIMMING Anatomy
. N.p.: Human Kinetics, 2010. Print.

Offseason Training: Chest and Abs day

Blog post 2

Off Season Training: Chest and Abs

It’s that time of year again, the time were we tell ourselves that just one more cookie won’t hurt us, but then that one cookie magically turns into 12. It’s time to burn off those cookies and I planned a great workout to get ourselves back into swimming shape.  

The Workout:

·        45 feet elevated push ups

·        6 dips

·        80 physioball crunches

·        20 cable crunches

·        30 kneeling chops

·        80 physioball jackknifes

·        40 squats with weights

·        10-minute elliptical

·        *I suggest spacing these workouts out so you don’t accidentally pull anything. Sometimes working on a muscle too intensely for a long time can hurt you more than help you.

Favorite of the day 

                                                                      Physioball crunch:

Something that you will defiantly feel in your upper core for a few days and is more interesting than regular crunches. All you need to do this is a physioball (see diagram), position your back on the physioball so that it covers the top of the ball. This way your shoulders will not touch the ball in a relaxed position, then begin crunches. The workout is designed for breaststroke and butterfly and helps better your stroke by targeting muscles in your abdomen that work with the extension process of the strokes.  

Feet Elevated Push Up:

This workout is targeting freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke swimmers.  It helps quicken pulls by strengthening your pectorals. You will need a table or stable object that will elevate your feet enough to where your back and feet are completely inline. Once your back and feet are in line you can begin with pushups, I did 3 rounds of 15.

Dip

This exercise helps any swimmer who is looking to improve their pull. Find a dip bar, start by lifting yourself and then locking your elbows. Then lower your chest downward and lean your upper body forward, stop when your elbows have made a 90-degree angle then return to the starting position. This exercise is mainly focusing on your pecs and triceps. “The exercise will be particularly useful to breaststrokers because it closely mimics the final portion of the underwater pull performed off the start and each turn” (77, Mcleod). This exercise will help strengthen my pullout by making it quicker and stronger.  

Cable Crunch

This ab workout also helps strengthen any stoke along with dives. It focuses on your abs and your oblique’s. The exercise helps swimmers specifically with flip-turns by making the motion stronger and faster through strengthening these muscles. “The motion preformed in this exercise closely mimics the motion preformed during a flip turn, but because of the wide range of motion through the abdominal muscles are targeted and the variable resistance, this exercise is beneficial across all four strokes” (99, Mcleod).

Kneeling Chop

“To move your body efficiently through the water, a coordinated movement of the arms and legs must occur. The key to this coordinated movement is a strong core.” (85, Mcleod). In every stroke you need a strong abdomen. So along with the majority of these workouts the kneeling chop also benefits all of the strokes. First you need to face the machine kneeling, then adjust the weight, and finally begin pulling the lever from the top right of your body to the bottom left.

Physioball Jackknife

This exercise is specifically for breaststroke and butterfly. It strengthens your abs, gluts, hamstrings, and oblique’s. This exercise helps develop muscles that will help swimmers better their streamlines and curling motion that is used in breaststroke. This specifically helps breaststroke because it strengthens a major motion of the stroke both the extension and the pull inward. To complete the workout you will need a physioball, place your toes on the top of the physioball and place your arms in a push up position; then push your legs out and then back in towards your stomach.

*I personally added squats and the 10 minute elliptical to not leave out major muscles that I need as a swimmer. I feel like for my body personally if I leave a large muscle group unattended for a few days then it becomes weaker. This is because I am so used to intense swimming whole body workouts 24/7. Feel free to add this to your workout, it is just a suggestion though.

MLA CITATION: Mcleod, Ian. SWIMMING Anatomy. N.p.: Human Kinetics, 2010. Print.