Thursday, December 10, 2009

STACK: Are Push-ups good for swimming?



Description
: Strength and conditioning coach, Trey Zepeda gives us an inside look into the Longhorn's dry-land training.

I am going to be posting more of these since we are entering the throes of winter.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes, they work all the muscles stated in the video which are used in swimming, but is push-ups superior to bench press, incline bench, decline bench?

Anonymous said...

I understand what muscle groups are used when doing push-ups.

The part no one can really seem to explain to me is how that exercise/movement transfers into improved swimming?

Anonymous said...

Hey Tony:

See what I mean...nothing but silence on this subject.

Wonder why??

Mr. Mullen:

Bench Press, incline bench, decline bench...how do these transfer to improved swimming??

Glenn said...

We use push ups a lot during swim practice. While the movements may not be directly related to swimming, increased strength, and the ability to build speed through power is something swimmers need to do more of. Consider it a great way to overload the arms, jump back in the pool, and work to maintain proper technique when you're a bit more tired.

I don't think there's anything wrong with pushups for swimming, and it's a great way to add variety and more strength training during swim practice... which would lead to answer John's comment about their superiority to weight machines. Maybe not better, just much more convenient for most people.

Just my thoughts, and here's our favorite set which includes push-ups during practice.

Swim a 400 IM, stopping at each 25 for 10 pushups. Give it a try... loads of fun for us older masters swimmers, and the 4th length of fly is quite a challenge. :)

Glenn said...

Also, very quickly on how some of these "pushing" exercises relate to swimming, and I'll just post appropriately for breaststroke, since that's my favorite stroke.

Recovery of the hands in an attacking movement.
Pushing off the wall during the breaststroke turn.
The full pulldown during the underwater pull (if you're using the correct muscles)
The insweep for the recovery, using more biceps than forearms.

Again, just my own personal opinion and why we do these.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Glenn for your impressions.

Sort of off the subject, but just wondering...do you know how much force (measurement) swimmers exert on the water during their pull in breaststroke or the underwater pull?

From the limited studies I have read on the measurement of force during free swimming, the force or power numbers did not seem very high. What would be your opinion about those kind of measurements/findings?

Glenn said...

Have no idea on force production numbers, thus no opinion on the findings.

Anonymous said...

And a potentially dangerous way to overtrain your shoulders and damage the rotator cuff and other areas of the shoulder region, for swimmers.