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An Aerobar for Swimmers: Body Position and Balance in the Water

2007-10-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

By Ken Mierke

Wouldn’t it be nice if swimmers could buy an aerobar (hydro-bar?) or a disk wheel that could help them swim faster and more efficiently just by tightening a few bolts? The bad news is that there isn’t much equipment that can help a triathlete swim faster. The good news is that you can dramatically decrease body drag without purchasing any equipment. Making simple adjustments to your body position will accomplish this.

Effective triathlon swimming, just like cycling and running, is about efficiency more than it is about strength and fitness. Certainly long and hard workouts are important for optimal performance, but the first swimmers out of the water aren’t necessarily the strongest. Go to any Masters Swim team and you’ll see guys in lane five, the slowest lane, with 6-pack abs. Every Masters team lane 1, the fastest lane, also has a guy who swam in college, but is 40 pound overweight and a two pack a day smoker. Hard and long training is necessary to swim your best in triathlon, but developing an efficient stroke is even more important.

Swimming speed is a result of propulsion minus drag. The best way for almost every swimmer to get faster is to swim through a smaller hole in the water. Improving body position in the water is the area of the greatest potential improvement. The time spent on the side should be maximized so the shoulders do not break the water-line and do not produce bow waves. Dryland swim machines such as the DrySwim Trainer promotes the user to use the core muscles that are needed to rotate the hips and shoulder from one side to the other. This reduces the frontal cross-section, reducing drag further, and also increasing the ratio between the body's water-line-length and width. Similar improvements are possible by orienting the narrowest direction of head, hands, legs and arms into the water.

While each swimmer will develop his/her own style, there will always be fundamentals. It is hard to argue with physics.

Horizontal Body Position: Efficient swimmers maintain a relatively horizontal position in the water to minimize frontal area and drag. Less efficient swimmers legs and hips stay lower in the water, increasing frontal area and drag enormously.

Human swimmers are buoyant, we are just imbalanced in the water. We float naturally, but not in a horizontal position. A human’s center of mass is located in our hips. Our center of buoyancy is in the chest, caused by the air on our lungs. What pulls us down in the water is located low; what pulls us up in the water is located high. Our heads and chests tend to ride too high in he water and our hips and thighs sink.

There are two ways to keep the hips and legs higher in the water as we swim. The first is very effective at keeping the hips and legs up, requiring tremendous energy. The second requires almost no energy, enlisting the water to do the work for you. Which sounds like a better approach to you?

Many swimmers kick very hard when swimming. While this does keep the legs up, it uses tremendous energy and produces almost no propulsion. Kicking hard is exhausting, causing cardiovascular fatigue while swimming and muscular fatigue during the bike and run. Since the feet move up and down, almost all of the propulsion is produced vertically and very little horizontal propulsion.

A more efficient way to keep the body horizontal uses the pressure of the water to keep the hips and thighs up. Since the air in a swimmer’s lungs provides most of the buoyancy, balancing the body around this source of floatation is key. Efficient swimmers keep the head, arms, and shoulders low in the water. This causes water pressure to maintain the body’s horizontal position with almost no energy expenditure from the swimmer. There are a number of keys to balancing the body around the position of the lungs to maintain a horizontal position.

Head Position: Most triathletes tend to lift the head when swimming. As anyone who saw the movie Jerry McGuire knows, the human head weighs 10 pounds. This much weight several feet in front of the center of buoyancy has a great affect on balance. Lifting the head only a few inches will cause the legs to drop significantly. Efficient swimmers carry the head in a neutral position, at the same depth in the water as the lungs. During workouts, concentrate on looking at the bottom of the pool and not forward in the lane. Occasionally swim a few lengths alternating several strokes with the head carried high in the water and several strokes with the head positioned lower in the water. Notice that when you carry the head high the feet drop and you naturally kick harder. Pay attention to the decreased effort when you correctly keep the head down.

Entry: At completion of entry, before the arm begins the pull, it needs to be positioned horizontally in the water to minimize drag during the glide. Since the shoulder will be about 10 inches below the surface, the fingertips need to be about 10 inches below as well.

Many swimmers extend the arm forward and begin the stroke with the arm relatively straight and pulling down into the surface of the water. This downward pull, against the resistance of the water, lifts the upper body which causes the hips and thighs to sink.

Efficient swimmers spear down into the water, with the forearm and elbow following the hand and passing through the hole in the water cut by the hand. This entry keeps the upper body lower in the water and positions the arm to initiate a high-elbow catch.

Lengthened Body Position: Longer vessels create less drag as they move through the water. Efficient swimmers reach for the far wall with their fingertips, pulling the shoulder of the lead arm forward and the opposite shoulder down. This reshapes the body from a rectangle into a long triangle and reduces frontal area dramatically, like an aerobar for swimmers.

Stand relaxed with arms at your sides, looking at yourself in a mirror. Notice how wide your shoulders are. Now, without tilting your shoulders, raise your right arm overhead so that the arm is fully extended toward the ceiling. Shoulder width should not have changed. This is how many athletes swim, dramatically increasing hydrodynamic drag as well as reducing propulsion.

Now extend your right arm fully toward the ceiling, reaching as far as possible and feeling a significant stretch in the armpit and shoulder area. Slide the fingertips of your left hand down the left thigh as far as you can, maximally tilting your shoulders. Look how much narrower your shoulders are in this position. This is the position swimmers’ shoulders should achieve for the glide as one arm finishes each pull and the other finishes entry. Reversing this shoulder tilt during the pull also provides an additional source of propulsive power and lengthens your power zone. Reduced drag and greater propulsion equals faster swimming.

Torso Rotation: Good swimmers rotate their torsos dramatically on each stroke. This generates tremendous power, places the body in the sideways position that minimizes frontal area and drag, and enables relaxed arm recovery.

Breathing: Correct breathing is critical to efficient swimming. Research consistently shows better endurance in swimmers who breathe air instead of water.

Many athletes lift the head and shoulders in an unnecessary attempt to get up where the air is. While they do get air, this movement causes the hips and thighs to sink in the water, dramatically distorting their horizontal body position.

Efficient swimmers stay low in the water, actually breathing below the surface of the water. The pulling shoulder creates a vacuum below the surface of the water. Efficient swimmers breathe in this vacuum, called the bow wave, and are able to get air without climbing out with the head and shoulders. This allows them to maintain a horizontal body position and minimizes unnecessary displacement of water.

Most swimmers rotate the shoulders before the head on breathing strokes, attempting to whip the head around at the last second to catch up. Breathing this way causes swimmers to miss the bow wave and requires climbing out. Learn to keep the chin on the shoulder and allow the torso rotation to pull the head around to the breathing position. Breathing right on the shoulder allows a lower head position.

Exhaling underwater allows better timing of breathing. Many swimmers lift the head, exhale, and then inhale. This takes too long and distorts timing and body position.

Keep the forehead low in the water when breathing. Remember that we breathe through our mouths and noses, not our foreheads. Lifting the forehead does not get the mouth and nose higher. Tuck the forehead and breathe to the side and you will swim faster.

Summary

* Keeping the upper body as low in the water as possible is critical to maintaining a horizontal position without unnecessary energy expenditure.
* Maintain a neutral head position, looking at the bottom of the pool, not forward.
* Spear your hand and forearm down into the water on entry.
* Reach forward as far as possible on entry with the lead arm and shoulder.
* Rotate your torso a full 180 degrees on each stroke.
* Keep your head low in the water, breathing to the side very near the pulling shoulder.

About the Author

Exercise physiologist Ken Mierke is a 2-time I.T.U. World Champion and head coach of Fitness Concepts. Ken coaches triathletes, beginner to professional www.Fitness-Concepts.com.

Source : Tri-Newbies Online

Five Exercises for Swim-Specific Strength

2007-10-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

By Brad Culp

Plenty of triathletes are willing to do whatever to takes to become faster and more efficient in the water. They join the local masters team, they do all the right drills and they listen intently to their coach’s every instruction. Even with that kind of focus, these triathletes still struggle with the opening leg.

The truth is, unless you’ve been in the pool since you were in grade school, you need more than just time in the pool to drop those swim splits. You need to develop swim-specific strength to make you slice through the water like Michael Phelps – or at least like you belong in the local triathlon.

Strengthening these very specific muscle movements often means getting out of the pool, as well as altering the sets you do in the water. Listed below are some of my favorite workouts to build these muscle groups and improve swim efficiency.

1. Pull-ups. You already know how to do them and chances are you hate them. As with everything else in sport, they get easier with time. Start by doing five sets until failure with your legs directly underneath your torso. After a few weeks, try lifting your knees up so that they’re even with your midsection. This will help you strengthen your core muscles, as well as your upper back and arms. You can alter your grip between palms-facing and palms-away for a slight variation.

2. Reverse push-ups. This is a slightly more complicated exercise. Place a barbell on a squat-rack about two-feet off the ground. Slide you body under the bar and reach up so that you’re suspended and looking up toward the ceiling. You can place your feet on the ground, or to make it harder, place your legs on a bench. Pull your midsection all the way up to the bar and then slowly lower yourself until you almost reach the ground. It should look like an upside-down push-up. Try five sets of 8-12 reps.

3. Dry-land swim simulators. These devices help you mimic a swim stroke while out of the water to build upper-back, shoulder and tricep strength. You can use a basic swim simulator, such as Stretch Cordz (www.nzmfg.com), or a more complex system, such as a Vasa Ergometer (www.vasatrainer.com), the Halo Swim Bench (www.haloswimtraining.com) or DrySwim Trainer (www.dryswimtrainer.com). These tools allow athletes train with far greater resistance than they could in the pool. Twenty minutes with any of these tools will feel like a 4,000-meter swim workout.

Source : Triathlete Magazine

The MOST Important Aspect of Swimming

2007-10-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

By Glenn Mills

In the process of making swim videos, I spend a lot of time thinking about what is THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect of swimming. My conclusion? That the most important aspect of swimming CHANGES, based on what level of swimmer you are, and what your goals are.

For the beginner or novice swimmer I believe, without a doubt, that TECHNIQUE is the most important aspect. This is simply common sense. Who would think that strength training or building an aerobic base or working on speed would have ANY lasting effect on someone with limited knowledge of how to swim? No mater what your physical condition, if you haven’t mastered the basic motions and body positions and timing of each of the strokes, you’ll still struggle in the water.

Coaches, parents, and swimmers are too often in a rush to begin training. They see the first meet coming up – and the next and the next – and worry that they’ll have no endurance if they don’t start to train. What they don’t realize is that swimmers are building strength and conditioning even when they are working on technique. More important, they are imprinting perfect strokes. Too much training, too early, leads to the breakdown of the stroke too early in the imprinting process. At the end of a race, your stroke tends to revert to the worst form that your body knows. If your body has learned only perfect form, guess what happens at the end of a race. Perfect form. If your body has learned how to struggle when it gets tired (take a look at almost any age-group practice and you’ll see what this looks like), then you know what to expect at the end of a race.

Once a swimmer starts to understand the basics of the sport, then (and only then) does the focus start to change. And the next important stage isn’t necessarily what you think it is, i.e., training. Yes, you can begin to train swimmers how to maintain proper technique for longer periods of time, but it’s still too soon for 6000-yard days. Training at a young age should be filled with fun sets that challenge the athlete physically and mentally. Sets should be designed to make each swimmer use his body AND his mind. At this stage, the most important part of swimming becomes the MENTAL aspect.

There is SO much to think about while swimming…and most people don’t understand this. When they watch the Olympics, they think about how cool it is that these men and women can go so fast. What they don’t think about is the mental anguish that accompanies the physical toil. They think these athletes get to the podium by doing countless laps and by staring year after boring year at the black line on the bottom of the pool. What they don’t realize is that elite athletes don’t talk about how boring their training is…but how interesting. They look for ways not to tune out, but to TUNE IN to how they move and use their bodies. They look for ways to keep themselves mentally involved in every stroke and turn. What are some of the things you can do to engage your mind?

* I used to play a game in practice that involved breaking the world record on every 200 breast that I swam. Of course, I was going YARDS, and the WR is in METERS. Think this is easy? Give it a shot during your next practice and see how it can add challenge to your workout. Good luck.
* Swim sets in which you descend your times AND the number of strokes you take per lap.
* Swim sets in which you work your pushoffs for just a little longer off each wall.
* Swim sets in which you work a fast kick to increase your breakout speed.
* Watch the swimmer in the next lane, and DESTROY him or her on each turn, but do it LEGALLY.
* Keep a watchful eye on your closest competitor, and always beat him or her. Do whatever it takes in practice to get inside the heads of your teammates, all the while supporting them and telling them to go faster. Use your teammates to make you better, and make them better so that you have faster swimmers to race.
* For young swimmers, learning how to read the pace clock, count strokes, figure splits, and understand goal times and race strategy can provide PLENTY of mental challenge in every practice.

The mental aspect of the sport isn’t about being tough just on the day of the meet. It’s about being tough EVERY DAY. We all have our bad days, but it’s the champion who understands that he or she MUST perform even on their worst days. Use the bad days as a challenge to overcome, rather than use them as an excuse. Keep your goals in mind so that you understand that championships may fall on a “bad day.” If you’re not ready for it…if you’ve never practiced how to mentally and physically rise above the low spots, then chances are you won’t be able to do it on race day. Teaching and understanding the mental aspects of the sport at any early age builds swimmers who are involved, intrigued, and destined to enjoy the sport more.

As a swimmer starts to build the technique side and the mental side enough to advance to the elite levels of the sport, still another shift occurs. It’s now that PHYSIOLOGY becomes the most important aspect of the sport.

If everything has been done correctly, what you’re working with at this stage is an athlete who understands how – and why – the body works the way it does. The athlete knows how to stay involved in each practice, meet, or event. In order for an athlete to reach full potential, he or she must now focus on FITNESS. He must have the best possible strength-to-weight ratio. She must be turned into a lean, mean swimming machine and, yes, this takes WORK. And lots of it.

The training aspect of swimming is an exacting process. Some athletes believe in, and thrive on, 20,000 yards a day. Others can excel on 3,500 QUALITY yards a day. Each athlete must find what he or she needs to perform to potential. This means that different athletes require different types of training. Some swimmers perform better when they’ve got miles and miles of yards under their belts, while others require only a little swimming, but enough done at race pace to imprint the speed on their bodies and minds. If you go the mega-yardage route, you need to focus on pacing. If you go the low-yardage route, you need to be ready, mentally and physically, to put it on the line every day. You need adequate rest between repeats, and a super-charged practice atmosphere that fools the body into building enough adrenaline to perform at the levels that will be set when the race is on the line, the crowd is screaming, and your fiercest competitor is in the next lane. Although this last aspect is absolutely mental, it’s the rest intervals in practice that allow this type of athlete to perform to the level required for this type of training.

During the physiology/fitness stage, dryland training becomes increasingly important, based on how much swimming is done. The raw strength that can be gained through weight training, sit-ups, pull-ups, dips, rope climbing, push-ups, medicine balls, stretch cords (shall I continue?) is required at the higher levels of the sport. Elite athletes find it difficult to get the strength gains needed through swimming alone.

What’s the most important aspect at the highest level of the sport? FEEL. The ability to HOLD ON to the water rather than muscle through it. The ability to apply optimal force rather than maximum force. We have all seen swimmers with what “experts” describe as poor technique break world records while thrashing through the water with poor head positions and huge kicks. Yet when you watch these swimmers under water, you can see that their hands grab hold of a spot in the water and hold on to it. Rather than PULL their hands back, they hold on and move their bodies PAST their anchored hands. It’s as if they see an invisible ladder stretched along the bottom of their lane, and each time they put in a hand, they grab a rung and pull their body past it.

An elite swimmer can have fantastic technique, and possess incredible mental toughness, strength, and endurance, but without FEEL he or she will be simply fast…not the best. Without FEEL, even the strongest, most fit athlete will be humiliated by young swimmers who DO have it and understand how to use it. Are the best athletes born with it? Some are and some are not. Most acquire it over time. It may come from swimming 20,000 yards a day, and they’ve learned it through survival. For others, it comes from practicing over and over again what the last 10 meters of their race feels like.

It’s the combination of all these aspects that makes for a great swimmer. Each aspect is a building block toward the next. But is that all there is? Does greatness come just from mastering the four aspects? For true champions, these are only the beginning. The true champion is always searching for something new and something more.

Source : Go Swim

Bench Marks

2007-07-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

By Michael J. Stott & Phillip Whitten

Swim benches are not only helpful in developing specific strength in swimmers, but they are also invaluable in addressing the critical areas of endurance, technique, power, speed, injury prevention and rehabilitation.

Time was when mega-yardage sets were dogma and deemed the preferred means to swimming improvement. Today, though establishing an aerobic distance base remains essential, advances in physiology and kinetic research, combined with better training techniques, offer healthier, more holistic and practical applications for swimmers and their coaches.

Integral to dryland training at the elite, college and university levels is the swim bench, which along with other on-deck devices is "all about simulating swimming," says David Marsh, head men's and women's swimming coach at Auburn. "Benches are one of the many ways to transition early season weight room strength to the pool."

The benches of choice are the Vermont-based Vasa Trainer and the Biokinetic Swim Bench, developed by Evan Flavell in Albany, Calif. Vasa lists more than 230 colleges and university custom

Two Different Effects

Coaches believe that the benches produce two very different effects. On Flavell's Biokinetic Swim Bench, swimmers move their arms in patterns identical to the various swimming strokes. It is an "exercise modality that can duplicare the swimming motion with speed," he says, with the result that acceleration capability is built into his product. That function reflects Flavell's early association with Doc Counsilman, who espoused exercising at speed.

Data-hungry coaches are particularly fond of the dynamic force and strength analysis possible with the Biokinetic Swim Bench. A simple hookup allows coaches to get computer readouts that calculate and graph power output for every pull. Jim Richardson, women's coach at the University of Michigan, has seven Biokinetic Swim Benches and seven Vasa Trainers, and likes to utilize the former for training and as a sophisticated testing device.

When he uses the machine's variable resistance capability for rate-specific work, he'll connect the Biokinetic Swim Bench to a computer to learn how much force a swimmer is exerting in a certain block of time. With sprinters, he is looking for peak information, or maximum force exertion in the shortest period, and often tests his sprinters at 8-10-12-second bouts at, or faster than, race pace. Cal Berkeley's Nort Thornton likes the machine's ability to find a swimmer's power peak (it varies by individual), then sets speed settings that permit optimum training loads.

The Vasa Trainer operates on a sled that rolls on a track and comes equipped with all sorts of cords, straps, pulleys and a slew of accessories. It's proponents like the variable resistance and different angles of attack and settings that make prone and supine use possible.

Thornton bought his first Vasa machine for the training effect, but finds he's gotten a bonus in the area of technique instruction. Not only does the swimmer get to anchor his hands and move the body past the hands as he would in the water, but he is also able to correct dropped elbows, "which is probably the greatest error made by swimmers all over the world." Marsh concurs with Thornton about the elbows, and likes the Vasa Trainer applications that allow butterflyers to set a high elbow and breaststrokers to work on deep kicks.

The Vasa Trainer also has a pulley cable system that allows the user to swim in place doing freestyle. It reduces the load significantly compared to using the webbing straps, which serve as an anchor to move the body past the hands. The pulley system allows for complete range of motion of the arms in freestyle and enables coach and swimmer to analyze arm strokes and correct flaws.

Says Bauerle, "It's a great teacher for backstroke because it gives the swimmer a good feel for the upsweep and finish. And for all strokes, it teaches the athlete to finish all the way through, giving a direct correlation for distance per stroke in the water."

The best swim bench candidates are those who have "good strength-to-mass ratios," says Richardson, whose familiarity with the devices dates back to 1983 and his days at Iowa. "You need to be able to handle your body weight adequately," and for that reason, he doesn't recommend benches for age groupers. "Young swimmers need body control movement. They need to do activities to handle their own weight. Once the foundation work is done, there is a place for swim benches," he says. "Unnecessary," concurs Marsh, until swimmers get to the national level. ers on its web site (www.vasatrainer.com) and many college teams have equipment from both firms available to their swimmers.

"I think benches enhance our program," says Jack Bauerle, whose NCAA champion University of Georgia women's team does between 45 and 75 minutes of dryland per day, including 10 to 15 minutes every other day on the bench. "They have had a role in our success, and the work we do on them mirrors the types of training we are doing in the pool."

As for use by Masters, ringing endorsements come from the likes of Rowdy Gaines and George Boles, head coach of the 1997 long course national champion St. Petersburg Masters. Both credit Vasa Trainers with making a significant contribution to performance, as does Julie Wynn of Thousand Oaks, Calif.-a mother of two and thrice-- honored silver medal winner at World Masters in Sheffield, England.

Frequency of use during the taper period depends upon the coach. Marsh utilizes benches slightly more toward the end of the season when he is looking for specificity of stroke, while Bauerle and Richardson are examining what the benches have done to manufacture productive swimmer speed.

Words of Caution

Coaches are quick to offer words of caution. Supervision, to ensure that swimmers are using proper motion, is a must. "If you are training with improper technique, you are only hurting yourself," says Marsh. One way to check for technique is to have the equipment placed by mirrors, suggests Phoenix Swim Club's Pierre Lafontaine.

"The machines don't yet have the ability to connect the core body to the extremities," says Richardson. Neither bench accommodates body roll very well, and the only one that did was an expensive European version that has since slipped from most coaches' consciousness-and, presumably, their pocket books.

Benches are not cheap, and therefore, not for everyone. The Biokinetic Swim Bench retails for $2,995. The Vasa Trainers most used by professional coaches, the Pro SE and Pro, go for $1,099 and $849, respectively (includes $50 coach discount). Unquestionably, they are expensive devices and permit use by only one swimmer at a time. "In some ways, I think we'd be better off buying surgical tubing and making our own dryland devices, like in the old days," says Marsh.

Yet coaches acknowledge that each swimmer has a different dryland routine and no one really wants to be deprived of the options they provide. Bauerle's Stephanie Williams, third this year at the 2001 NCAAs in the 100 and fourth in the 200 free, is a big bench person. Richard Quick had Dara Torres on benches before water workouts to the point she was a "hurting pup." Still others don't require as heavy a load.

"Benches are not the answer, but they work as a tool like fins and hand paddles," says Marsh. What they offer is the variety that is so critical to swimmer motivation. "You need exercise choices for athletes. We look for things where kids will work hard outside the pool," says Bauerle, "and the benches provide that."

Source : FindArticles

Dry Land Training

2007-07-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

By Dick Hannula

Supplement your swimmers’ strength and power training with dry land training. Schedule a designated time for your dry land training when the equipment and facilities are available. Your time training out of the pool will also change during the course of the swim season according to the phase of your in-pool training. During the peak preparation period, your dry land training will decrease considerably, and it will be at its highest point during transition training.

My dry land program changed every season according to my team’s training phases and the availability of equipment and facilities. My dry land program includes the following: surgical tubing units, swim benches and swim sleds, medicine ball training, basic exercises, flexibility exercises, and weight training. However, I couldn’t possibly use all of these on any one day because of time constraints and equipment availability. I suggest rotating specific groups of swimmers through your planned dry land training on alternate days. Such an arrangement will result in maximum use of the equipment you have available.

Surgical Tubing Units

Surgical tubing units are inexpensive and can be safely anchored to diving board railings and to wall eyebolts. I like to have them anchored at a position above shoulder height. Your swimmers, at minimal risk of injury to themselves, can duplicate swimming movements closely, resulting in an increased power and endurance that will transfer effectively to their swimming.

I use these units every season, and each swimmer owns his or her own. I prefer a paddle at each end of the tubing to simulate the hand position while swimming.

Here is a sample training session using a surgical tubing unit:

Perform each exercise for 30 repeats or one minute. Do the repeats of each exercise with fast movement but perfect technique. Perform three sets of each exercise in numerical order:

1. Butterfly full stroke
2. Elbow forward extension presses
3. Lateral forward arm swings
4. Butterfly recovery
5. Butterfly finish
6. Butterfly full stroke (a second set)
7. Backstroke pull-downs
8. Breaststroke pull

One round of this particular set would take 24 minutes. The number of repeats and the rest interval would depend on the stage of the season. This particular set would probably be used in midseason. Emphasize that each set must be done with perfect technique and fast execution.

Swim Benches or Swim Sleds

Swim benches and swim sleds are both units on which the swimmers lie in a prone position and simulate a swimming stroke, usually butterfly. On the swim bench the body remains stationary, and the machine setting determines the amount of resistance that the arm stroke will have to overcome. Swim benches can usually give you a power rating that is scored electronically.

On the swim sled, swimmers lie on a movable platform and pull their body past their arms, as they do in actual swimming. The swim bench helps the athlete attain the feeling of swimming while providing additional resistance. The body doesn’t move past the arms on the bench, but your swimmers can duplicate fast swimming strokes with variable resistance.

Pair up your swimmers, with one doing the bench or sled exercises and the partner performing sit-ups, push-ups, or some other exercise while waiting. A typical sled set would be 5 3 20 repeats with good technique and a power pull on the sled. Partners would alternate on the sled after each set of 20. The swim bench set would vary the resistance and the number of repeats according to the stroke and distance swum.

Medicine Balls

Medicine ball training increases core strength as well as strength of the extremities. Review a list of recommended medicine ball exercises to determine which best serve your needs.

In using medicine balls, I like twist and turn drills, passing drills, and stomach exercises. You can create many interesting and motivational drills with medicine balls.

Basic Exercises

Our basic daily exercises include a minimum of 300 sit-ups and 100 push-ups. When I have suitable equipment, I add pull-ups and dips to our program. The sit-ups and push-ups take very little time and can be done anywhere that is convenient to the swimmer.

Provide your swimmers with some time for flexibility exercises before they go into the water. At the Australian Institute of Sport, where a specialist teaches flexibility exercises at the start of each session, the swimmers report to practice 15 minutes early to do their exercises.

You must sell your swimmers on the benefits of being flexible. Teach them the necessary exercises at the start of the season. There are a number of excellent sources for flexibility exercises, including a booklet published by USA Swimming. (One Olympic Plaza, Colorado Springs, CO 80909-5770)

Weight training has been an area of controversy for swimmers, because it is a form of dry land training that can increase the risk of injury and can bulk up a streamlined body. However, it can also help to prevent injuries when supervised and done properly. You need to research and understand the effects of weight training before introducing it into a program. The American Swim Coaches Association has an excellent study course on dry land training.

I believe in weight training for some swimmers, because most swimmers will develop more strength and speed as a result of it. On the other hand, many great distance coaches do not believe in any weight training because they want to avoid any additional bulk and other possible negative results from the use of weights. I suggest that distance swimmers be more cautious in their approach to weight training. You should approach weight training based on individual needs and abilities.

Age-group swimmers who have not gone through puberty should use gymnastics and any other dry land opportunities that meet the requirements of their physical maturity. I didn’t use weight training for my age-group swimmers, but if you decide to do so, base your decision on the best research available on the subject.

When I had a weight-training room available in my high school, I used it for my boys’ team three times a week for about 45 minutes each session. Because I don’t have a weight-training room available as a club coach, I use the other forms of dry land training.

Source : Human Kinetics

Going Dry For a Change

2007-07-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

For swimmers and tri-athletes, it can be effective to turn to the weightroom as an alternative exercise source for your swim workout. Dryland training allows them to train with far greater resistance than they could in the pool. Twenty minutes with the DrySwim Trainer will feel like a 4,000-meter swim workout!

A DrySwim Trainer Fan

2007-07-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

I've watched the DrySwim Trainer video on your website. Looks like fun. Can't wait to try it. Now I can squeeze in a swim workout almost before anyone knows it.

RE : Other Solutions to Swim Training

2007-07-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

The goal of dry land training is to condition, stretch and strengthen muscles that are used in swimming while building fitness and athleticism. You need to develop swim-specific strength to make you slice through the water. It is a lot tougher to fight gravity than the density of water, therefore you can sometimes get so much more from doing the right thing on the dryland. It can involve exercises like squats, leg press, leg extension, leg curl, lat pull-down, seated rowing, bent-over rowing, lateral raise, shoulder press, bench press, dumbbell curl, push-up, abdominal work and assorted stretches. If done properly, an increase in strength will result in faster swimming.

But recent research has shown that hand force (hand speed) applied to the water is really generated by the rotation of the hips, and not by the muscles of the arm. This is the concept behind the DrySwim Trainer design. The muscles that pull the arm through the water are attached within one inch of the top of the arm. With a 21" arm, the lever ratio is 1:20, which means that a 100 lbs. of pull by the shoulder muscles produces only 5 lbs. of force at the hand as it pushes back against the water. The torque generated by the larger, stronger hip muscles, on the other hand, whips the hands through the water, much like golfers or batters whip their clubs and bats through the air with a fast turn of the hips. Elite swimmers who were able to make modest increases in the acceleration of their hips doubled their peak hand force output.

The time spent on the side should be maximized so the shoulders do not break the water-line and do not produce bow waves. This reduces the frontal cross-section, reducing drag further, and also increasing the ratio between the body's water-line-length and width. Similar improvements are possible by orienting the narrowest direction of head, hands, legs and arms into the water. The torso is by far the most critical. The motion of the hand, arm, and leg from the back to the front should be in the air for as much time during the recovery stroke as possible, and in the water, oriented as hydrodynamically as possible, because the returning appendage has to move at least twice as fast as the swimmer, and in the water generates eight times the drag (which increases with the cube of the speed) of an equal amount of torso frontal area. Rotating your shoulders also adds power to one's pull by using abdominal muscles to help pull the arm through the water.

RE : Fish Out of the Water?

2007-07-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

We can only practice swimming skills in the water. No question about that. However, improving swimming fitness can be done both in and out of the water. The DrySwim Trainer could help improve swimming performance to some degree. The rotation of the hips, as demonstrated in the DrySwim Trainer video, provides the power behind every swim stroke and power is hand speed. Recent research has shown that hand force (hand speed) applied to the water is really generated by the rotation of the hips, and not by the muscles of the arm. Elite swimmers who were able to make modest increases in the acceleration of their hips doubled their peak hand force output.

There is nothing that you can do in the water that you can't do on the DrySwimTrainer. You can train distance or sprints. You can do long workouts or short ones. You can do drills including "the catch up" or "single arm drills". In fact, swimming on The DrySwim Trainer burns more fat than swimming the same workout in the water. It’s patented design forces athletes to conform to the proper body position and there for a foundation to train properly and exercise correctly using the correct technique necessary to pace smoothly without exerting unneeded energy.

Fish Out of the Water?

2007-07-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

The biggest question of all is, of course: can this piece of gear help you become a better swimmer? Why not just swim in the water?

Swimmers and Swim Strength Training

2007-06-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

By Mat Luebbers

Sport specific work is the best way to get better at that sport; if you want to be a better swimmer, then swim! But how can you make additional gains when you have maximized your swim time? One way is to add dryland swim work - flexibility exercises, plyometric work, swimming while wearing weights, and resistance training are some of the options. One example of resistance training is weight work aimed at adding strength and speed to your stroke.

What muscles are used in swimming? Almost all of them, from the top of your head through your toes. To maximize your time, this program will emphasis the major groups that should give your swimming some extra strength. This type of dryland work can help endurance, but other types of work, such as swim trainers (like the Vasa Trainer and the DrySwim Trainer and Exerciser) or stretch cords are better at this based on lower resistance and higher repetitions.

These are also a valuable part of any swimming program.

This is a basic plan designed to increase muscle strength. It can be more refined based on a particular need or a season plan. It may need to be modified based on what equipment you have available. You will use the routine two to three times each week, progressing through each phase. The first few sessions in each phase establish starting points for the rest of the sessions. The final phase is for the last four to five weeks before your biggest competition; you should stop lifting weights 10 days before the first day of the competition. To make gains, you are breaking down your muscles, then letting them rebuild. To give them the time to rebuild, do not lift two days in a row. To help prevent injury, do not "lift to failure"; always end feeling like you could do a few more.

Warm up before you begin any of the routines. Spend 10 to 20 minutes building your heart rate to increase blood flow, body temperature, and general range of motion; Place your general stretching routine after completing the weight routine, but you could do a short stretch for the muscle groups just used while you recover between exercises. Some warm-up ideas are stationary cycling, jogging, rowing, or jumping rope.

Keeping a log book is vital. Record the date, time, phase, lifts (including sets and repetitions), amount of weight for each lift, and other comments for the day, like general feeling about the workout. You will use this information throughout the program to track your progress.

An additional area to be aware of is muscle balance (thanks for the reminder, Mikey 810). Swimmers can do some simple shoulder exercises to maintain strength balance in the rotator cuff/shoulder girdle area every day with stretch cords or barbells if desired; this can help prevent shoulder injury.

The exercises used in this program are: Squats, Leg Press, Leg Extension, Leg Curl, Lat Pull-down, Seated Rowing, Bent-over Rowing, Lateral Raise, Shoulder Press, Bench Press, Dumbbell Curl, Push-up, Abdominal Work and Assorted Stretches.

This workout program uses three different phases. The first phase is to either get you started or to build strength. The second phase is to take your strength gains and build on them. The third phase is for the last three to four weeks before your biggest competition, and you should stop the routine 7 - 14 days before the first day of the competition. You are going to maintain most of your strength gains, build more muscular power, and begin to reduce the stress to your muscles so they are fully recovered by your big event.

Remember to start light and gradually increase the weights; slow progress is the key to good strength gains without injury! Keep that log book, hit the weights, and feel yourself get stronger in the pool.

Swim On!

Source : About.com

Who Needs Water: Improving Swimming Through Dry-Land Fitness

2007-06-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

by Dan Frost

I started exploring the subject of dry-land exercises for swimmers a few months ago, mostly driven by pure necessity. You see, I am a U.S. Navy flight officer spending six months aboard an aircraft carrier about 6000 miles from home, and far enough away from any swimming pool. My goal is to come back from my deployment able to swim as well as I did before leaving. My problem is trying to do that without much opportunity to actually swim.

The value of other exercises and physical activities in improving swimming performance seemed to me to be a source of great debate. I have heard people say things like "The only way to being a better swimmer is to swim (faster)," but I know that all of the college swim teams do various exercises away from the pool. Nonetheless, many experts agree that there are certain dry-land exercises which can improve your swimming.

Terry Laughlin, famous for his Total Immersion swim camps, has what he calls his "Rule of 70." His principle being that 70 percent of swimming performance comes from swimming technique and skill; the ability to efficiently propel through water. The remainder (I assume) is fitness. It is important to recognize that there are two distinct facets of swimming performance: Fitness and skill.

I think of the skills of swimming as perishable, in that they tend to fade away without practice. In many ways, it is like learning to ride a bicycle or landing a plane on an aircraft carrier. Once you learn how to do it, you do not forget, but you do not perform either task well if you have not practiced for a while. We can only practice swimming skills in the water. However, remember that skill is only a part of swimming well. Improving swimming fitness can be done both in and out of the water.

According to coach Ernest Maglischo in his book Swimming Even Faster (pg. 69-71), he states that "The major adaptations [in swim training] ... take place in the muscular system. Adaptations in the respiratory and circulatory systems, while probably contributing to improvements in performance, are not as important as those that are produced in the muscles." Here he explains that there are Central training effects which improve the cardiovascular system through various forms of exercise, and Peripheral training effects improving only the specific muscle fibers exercised.

Exercises away from the pool can help our swimming, particularly if they provide the peripheral training effects. That is, they must work, or specifically train, the same muscles used in swimming. Other exercises that do not provide peripheral training effects (e.g. running) provide central effects that help to improve general conditioning. College swimming teams routinely advocate general conditioning workouts in the pre-season and early season in order to get the body in shape before the long swimming workouts begin in earnest.

There are four different types of dry-land activities that can help your swimming: Stretching, Abdominal Exercises, Weight Training, and General Exercises.

Stretching is an activity that can be done practically anytime. Your ability to convert your mechanical energy into propulsion in the water depends in part on your flexibility, and thus your ability to move water faster and in the proper direction. Proper stretching also helps to keep your muscles warm and limber, reducing the chances for injury. Many books on swimming have chapters on proper stretching techniques (it can be dangerous if overdone). This is one task that I have found easy to do while on the carrier.

I particularly note Abdominal Exercises apart from resistance/weight training in general for two reasons. One reason is that the "abs" are a key aspect of swimming, being the source of power for proper body rotation, propulsion through the legs, and turning. The other is that no special apparatus or machine is required to do these exercises. I recommend performing exercises that are "spine-safe" in that they do not place undue stress on the spine and lower back. Instead of full sit-ups, use crunching movements instead. A company called Health for Life publishes a small manual called Legendary Abs II that I recommend because I have seen college programs like Stanford University pick up on the same exercises. I too have no problem doing these exercises aboard ship.

Many advocates of Weight Training advocate "circuit training" among various exercise stations. They also recommend specifically targeting the muscles like shoulders, back and arms for the peripheral training effects. Jane Moore, in her April president's letter to the WetSet, also advocated resistance training to combat the effects of aging. Again, many swimming books have sections on weight training, although not all agree on the specific exercises that should be employed. Maglischo, for example (p. 644), recommends against push-ups, military presses and dips because of the strain these exercises exert within the shoulder. If you can find a good fitness club or gym with a weight training room, there is usually a certified trainer there who can advise you on starting a beneficial program. Also, it is a good idea to lift after swimming if you choose to do both on the same day. I am fortunate enough to have two small weight rooms aboard my carrier, but rarely use them because I must share the facilities with 5000 other sailors. When I do get into the gyms, I use the machines for triceps presses, lat pulldowns, chest presses and leg curls.

There are a number of other exercises that I do aboard ship which should help my swimming to some degree. I have a pair of stretch cords that I use for resistance training either with swimming stroke movements or with pressing/pulling movements. Jogging on the flight deck or riding stationary bikes help with cardiovascular fitness and leg strength. Other fitness exercises often mentioned for improving swimming include the use of dry swim trainers or swim benches and medicine balls. Also mentioned are plyometric exercises utilizing powerful jumping movements.

Hopefully, these ideas will help you become a better swimmer as well as a more rounded athlete. Personally, I can't wait to get home and find out for myself if they work (My coach already wrote me to say that she'll be having 3000 meter workouts with 3x400IM descending at 5:00 A.M. when I return).

About the Author

Dan Frost is past vice-president of the Masters Aquatics Coaching Association. Taken from Masters Aquatic Coaches Association, and reprinted from the Wet Set, July 1996)

Source : Alexandria Masters Swimming

Swimming Machine

2007-06-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

A swimming machine is a resistance swimming apparatus, often self-contained, enabling the swimmer to swim in place. This may be accomplished either by accelerating the water past the swimmer or by supporting the swimmer, either in water or on dry land. The first type, known as a countercurrent swimming machine, usually consists of a water tank at least twice as long and about one and a half times as wide as an average person with the limbs extended. The swimmer swims unrestrained against an adjustable stream of water set in motion by means of mechanical devices, such as jets, propellers or paddle wheels.

Countercurrent swimming machines made their appearance in the 1970s, initially in the form of pump-driven jetted streams, which caused a certain amount of turbulence and an un-natural swimming environment. They were followed up in the 1980s by propeller- and paddle-wheel driven machines. These provided a smoother stream of water. Many users find them relatively easy to swim in, though some are bothered by the considerable chop – inherent to these small pools, especially when performing symmetrical strokes such as the breaststroke or the butterfly. These machines are also criticized for being expensive, noisy, and wasteful of energy. (A typical machine requires special power connections delivering 3 to 4 kW for the pressure-driven machines, and 6.5 to 11 kW for the volume-driven machines, aside from any power needed to heat and filter the water--usually an additional 5 kW for an electric heater and around 1.5 kW for a pool pump and filter.)

Two types of exercise machines make up the second group. Hybrid systems - self-contained micropools similar to the counter-current type but using a flexible tether to keep the swimmer in place are one type. These systems, being human powered, need neither machinery or electricity but have to be carefully designed to suppress wave formation. The second type of swimming machine allows a person to remain on dry land while simulating certain swimming strokes. Machines of the latter type however can not compensate for the weight of the body and the limbs and thus deprive the user of the benefits of exercise in an aquatic environment. However, the higher effort required by such machines, in the absence of the metabolic effects of immersing the body in water, makes these devices more effective than true swimming if one's purpose is to achieve weight reduction. Similar in purpose, but not qualifying as swimming machines since they require access to a swimming pool, are various tether systems.

Pressure-Driven Machines

These systems depend on one or more pumps. The best ones are engineered to maximize the volume of water delivered, at the expense of high head which here is not needed as the water need not be lifted, only set in motion. Discharge rates of 13 L/s (200 US gal/min) and more are possible, from motors of three or four horsepower (2 or 3 kW). One of the earliest models on the market - introduced in 1973 - was the Badujet which is available only in the form of a bare propulsion system, to be installed into either an existing or newly-built pool.

Also in this category are a number of swim spas, usually fiberglass shells equipped with several pool pumps to set the water in motion. Seen as more convenient since they come pre-assembled, the quality of the swim has been criticized as being somewhat turbulent, as the strength of the current comes from the speed and pressure of the discharged water, rather than its volume.

Volume-Driven Machines

In the 1980s a new type of machine made its appearance. In an attempt to correct problems of turbulence and resulting discomfort from swimming against a jet of water, systems were devised to set the water in motion in a smoother fashion. The first, in 1984, was the SwimEx, developed by Stan Charren together with two MIT-trained engineers. This machine, consisting of a fiberglass pool with the machinery housed in an adjacent compartment, sets the water in motion by means of a paddle-wheel, thus generating a steady stream of water as wide as the swimming pool itself.

In the late 1980s the Endless Pool® was developed by James Murdock, in an attempt to build a less-expensive alternative to the SwimEx. This machine places the water-moving equipment - a large propeller encased in a stainless steel box and powered by a remote hydraulic pump, and its stainless steel water circulation tunnels - inside the body of a vinyl-lined metal pool. Its stream of water is narrower than that of the SwimEx, though the swimming experience is comparable. A couple of copy-cat systems have sprung up since its introduction.

Around the same time, the Swim Gym, a propeller-driven propulsion system developed by engineer Peter Davidson became available commercially. This machine is encased within a large (10" diameter) PVC tee which is then incorporated into the concrete wall of a swimming pool. It delivers a current equivalent to that produced by the Endless Pool.

Hybrid Systems

A number of "still-water" mini-pools have been built over the years, designed to be used in conjunction with various resistance-swimming tether systems. These human-powered devices combine the self-contained aspect of counter-current swimming machines with the low cost and simplicity and freedom of movement of tether systems used in athletic training. They have major cost and energy-use advantages over mechanical swimming machines. They are valuable for aerobic exercise, endurance and strength training, and for stroke practice. However, they cannot replicate open water conditions, in which the water courses at speed past the swimmer, so that for competition training their use has to be combined with open-water practice. One example of such a device is the Swimergy Swim System, which also makes use of wave-reduction technology.

Dry-Land Swim Training Machines or Swim Benches

Since the 1800s, a number of dry-land swimming simulators have been designed to hold a person in a position in which swimming motions could be carried out. The earlier swim training devices were devised for swimming instruction, while later machines were built for the purpose of physical exercise. The Vasa Trainer, Vasa Ergometer and DrySwim Trainer and Exerciser are examples of the latter type. These machines of course are completely silent and require no electricity.

The Vasa Trainer, introduced in 1988, is a sport-specific, strength training machine. You can do over 200 exercises for strength, endurance, power, and rehabilitation, making the Vasa Trainer one of the most versatile exercise machines available today. It works by lifting your body weight up the inclined monorail and then lowering it back down. It has many slope incline settings as well as several other options for changing resistance. It allows swimmers (and surfers, triathletes, physical therapists) to simulate swim strokes to improve technique while increasing functional strength.

The Vasa Ergometer was introduced in 2004. The "erg" allows athletes to simulate swim strokes with variable wind resistance that can be adjusted to feel like a fast or slow current. You can vary the resistance, your stroke rate and your stroke power to fine tune each workout - from light, range of motion, rehab work to swim-set simulations to race intensity simulations to maximum power intervals. An electronic performance monitor that provides precise feedback for: time; distance; pace; stroke rate; right & left arm force; and watts. If one side is weaker than the other, the monitor displays it. It is ideal for doing repeatable training workouts, performance testing, or even indoor racing without getting wet. This latter point is important and useful for those people who have allergies, skin problems or respiratory ailments caused by swimming in harsh pool environments.

The DrySwim Trainer and Exerciser, invented by Swim Coach James Davis and Chief Engineer Paul Dowd, is the first truly ergonomicly designed exercise machine for swimmers. The DrySwim Trainer conforms to the natural and desired body rotation to maintain a steady pace while conserving energy and swimming with “the body” and not just the “arms and legs”. There is nothing that you can do in the water that you can't do on the DrySwimTrainer. You can train distance or sprints. You can do long workouts or short ones. You can do drills including "the catch up" or "single arm drills". In fact, swimming on The DrySwim Trainer burns more fat then swimming the same workout in the water.

Source : Wikipedia

Dry Swim Trainer : The Next Best Thing to Water

2007-06-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

The history of Swim Machines and Dry Swim Trainers is a rich one. Since the 1800s, a number of dry swim trainers or simulators have been designed to hold a person in a position in which swimming motions could be carried out. The earlier devices were devised for swimming instruction, while later machines were built for the purpose of physical exercise. Swim machine inventors had many early dry swim trainer models before inventing ones that really work. And so, efficient freestyle swim training can now be accomplished in a totally dry home or health club setting.

Today, a quick glance at most swimming magazines will reveal ads for these dry swim trainers. Their use to clubs and competitive swimmers is very much a topic of current debate in sports science. Although swimming strokes each involve a unique, integrated pattern of neuro-muscular and joint actions, the body position and movements involved in dry swim trainer exercise suggest that this type of training may effectively imitate actual swimming. The potential advantage over true swimming, of course, is the possibility of increasing resistance to movement in excess of that usually encountered. Thus the overload principle of training can be allowed to take effect - the artificially increased training stimulus should hopefully result in greater power gains. Another use may be in observing an individual swimmer's stroke pattern so that immediate instruction and feedback can be given. Those who can afford to purchase a dry swim trainer can also have a computer-interfaced system for analysis of power output and movement pattern on-screen.

A recent study, from the same laboratory in Japan that carried out the work on hand paddles, has compared the peak oxygen uptake between dry swim trainer exercise and arm-stroke-only swimming. The authors had correctly identified a gap in the research where no one had yet determined whether the two forms of exercise actually required similar amounts of oxygen under maximal conditions.

The researchers found that the use of these ergonomic exercise machine for swimmers, when performed at the maximum intensity possible, required over 20 per cent less oxygen than arm-stroke-only swimming. A possible reason for this appears when one considers that oxygen requirements are very highly related to the size of the muscle mass involved in the exercise - in other words, does dry swim trainer exercise use less muscle? Most dry swim trainers require the user to work against a resistance while pulling the arm to the rear position, but during the recovery little or no resistance is felt, or the arm may even be drawn forward. However, during actual swimming, voluntary recovery must take place with some considerable physical effort, which ultimately has an oxygen cost associated with it.

An additional reason may be that the torso is completely supported on most dry swim trainers. The dry swim trainer conforms to the natural and desired body rotation to maintain a steady pace while conserving energy and swimming with “the body” and not just the “arms and legs”,
whereas during swimming the postural muscles of the upper body must be recruited to both maintain optimum horizontal positioning and initiate rotation around the head-feet axis.

In summary, this very recent research suggests that the cardiovascular stress induced during dry swim trainer exercise is not comparable to that met in arm-stroke-only swimming. Thus, if the perceived advantage of dry swim trainer exercise exists, it should certainly be combined with significant amounts of traditional training to ensure a proper training stimulus (Ogita and Taniguchi, 'The comparison of peak oxygen uptake between swim-bench exercise and arm stroke', European Journal of Applied Physiology, 1995, vol.71, pp 295-300).

Source : Peak Performance

Where Swimming Started

2007-06-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Drawings from the Stone Age were found in "the cave of swimmers" near Sura in the southwestern part of Egypt. Written references date back up to 2000 B.C. In 1538 Nicolas Wynman, German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book. Competitive swimming in Europe started around 1800, mostly using breaststroke. The front crawl, then called the trudgen was introduced in 1873 by John Arthur Trudgen, copying it from Native Americans.

Swimming was part of the first modern 1896 Summer Olympics games in Athens. In 1900 backstroke was included as an Olympic Event. In 1902 the trudgen was improved by Richard Cavill, using the flutter kick. In 1908, the world swimming association Federation Internationale de Natation was formed. Butterfly was first a variant of Breaststroke, until it was accepted as a separate style in 1952.

Technique

The human body is composed primarily of water, and it has a very similar density to water. Roughly, 70% of the body is water; while the lungs are filled with the air, the body is slightly less dense than the surrounding water, which exerts a buoyant force on it. Thus staying afloat requires only a slight propelling of water downward relative to the body, and transverse motion only a slight propelling of water in a direction opposite to the direction of intended motion. This propelling is accomplished by using the hands and forearms as paddles, and by kicking the legs to push water away from the body (though kicking accounts for relatively little overall). Since salt water (e.g., the ocean) is denser than fresh water (e.g., most swimming pools), less effort is required to stay afloat in salt water than in fresh water.

A number of swimming styles have been developed based on the implementation of some or all of the following principles: The torso and the legs should be kept as parallel as possible to the surface of the water. Dropped legs or a slanted torso dramatically increase drag. The hand should be extended forward of the head as much as possible. This increases the average length at the water-line, substantially increasing speed.

Recent research has shown that hand force applied to the water is really generated by the rotation of the hips, and not by the muscles of the arm. The muscles that pull the arm through the water are attached within one inch of the top of the arm. With a 21" arm, the lever ratio is 1:20, which means that a 100 lbs. of pull by the shoulder muscles produces only 5 lbs. of force at the hand as it pushes back against the water. The torque generated by the larger, stronger hip muscles, on the other hand, whips the hands through the water, much like golfers or batters whip their clubs and bats through the air with a fast turn of the hips. Elite swimmers who were able to make modest increases in the acceleration of their hips doubled their peak hand force output.

The time spent on the side should be maximized so the shoulders do not break the water-line and do not produce bow waves. This reduces the frontal cross-section, reducing drag further, and also increasing the ratio between the body's water-line-length and width. Similar improvements are possible by orienting the narrowest direction of head, hands, legs and arms into the water. The torso is by far the most critical. The motion of the hand, arm, and leg from the back to the front should be in the air for as much time during the recovery stroke as possible, and in the water, oriented as hydrodynamically as possible, because the returning appendage has to move at least twice as fast as the swimmer, and in the water generates eight times the drag (which increases with the cube of the speed) of an equal amount of torso frontal area. Rotating your shoulders also adds power to one's pull by using abdominal muscles to help pull the arm through the water.

The basic "catch" of the water is not nearly as critical as the above items. Most swimmers simply grab water with their hand flat, or the fingers slightly spread, and then draw it smoothly down their body. None of the above techniques require improved strength. With strength training, the hands and feet can be extended further into the water, gaining more propulsion. For beginners, increased strength brings only small improvements if the above strategies (minimising drag and lengthening water-line) are not optimal.

Another technique that can help an athlete swim at a higher performance level is proper breathing techniques. Breathing correctly can make you swim faster and make it harder for you to be fatigued. Competitive swimmers take in one breath and gradually let it out over three to four strokes. As the race progresses and the swimmer becomes tired, less oxygen from those breaths reach his muscles. You can practice and teach your body how to run on less than normal levels of oxygen. Take a deep breath at one side of a pool, submerge yourself fully, and kick like a dolphin. Try to simulate a torpedo. Try crossing the pool with one breath, and once you can do that extend the distance. Another way you can practice endurance is by taking a breath and letting it out over six strokes (while freestyle swimming).

Skeletal animation and computational fluid dynamics allow simulation of swimmers. This allows to quantify forces on joints and muscles, and, if multiple simulations are employed, to compare different styles or individuals. By means of computer graphics or motion capture the simulation can be compared to real swimmers. While this removes many doubts, it is still guess work needed to create new styles, it is a didactic challenge to formulate a manual for swimmers, and the feel of the water is still needed to close a control loop so that the swimming styles does not drift away afterwards

Competitive swimming

The goal of competitive swimming is to be the fastest to swim a given distance. Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century, and currently comprises 34 events - 17 male events and 17 female events. Swimming is a popular event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 13 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50 meter pool. Competitive swimming's international governing body is FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation), the International Swimming Federation.

The four competitive strokes are the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle (frontcrawl). Also, there are different times to get to different levels in these strokes. These strokes can be swum individually or together in an individual medley.

Recreational swimming

The most common purpose for swimming is recreation. Recreational swimming is considered by many a good way to relax, while enjoying a good full-body workout. Several swimming styles are suitable for recreational swimming; most recreational swimmers prefer a style that keeps their head out of the water and has an underwater arm recovery. Breaststroke, side stroke, and 'dog paddle', are the most common strokes utilized in recreational swimming, but the out-of-water arm recovery of freestyle or butterfly gives rise to better exploitation of the difference in resistance between air and water.

The butterfly stroke, which consists of out-of-water recovery with even symmetry in body movements, is most suited to rough water swimming. For example, in a record-setting example of endurance swimming, Vicki Keith crossed the rough waters of Lake Ontario using butterfly. Most recreational swimming takes place in pools, where the water is calm. Therefore freestyle (which does not work as well in rough water) is suitable.

Occupational swimming

Some occupations require the workers to swim. For example, abalone divers or pearl divers swim and dive to obtain an economic benefit, as do spear fishermen.

Swimming is used to rescue other swimmers in distress. There are a number of specialized swimming styles specially for rescue purposes (see List of swimming styles). Such techniques are studied by lifeguards or members of the Coast Guard. The training of these techniques has also evolved into competitions such as surf lifesaving.

Swimming is also used in marine biology to observe plants and animals in their natural habitat. Other sciences use swimming, for example Konrad Lorenz swam with geese as part of his studies of animal behavior.

Swimming also has military purposes. A swimmer in the water or under the water can be difficult to detect, especially at night. Military swimming is usually done by special forces, such as Navy SEALS. Swimming is used to approach a location, gather intelligence, sabotage or combat, and to depart a location. This may also include airborne insertion into water or leaving a submerged submarine through a hatch or the torpedo tubes.

Swimming has become a professional sport as well. Companies such as Speedo and Tyr Sports, Inc. sponsor swimmers just as Nike sponsors basketball players (Nike also sponsors swimmers). Cash awards are also given at many of the major competitions for breaking records.

Ocean swimming

Ocean swimming is the sport of swimming and racing in the sea. Ocean swimming is popular in Australia, America and the Pacific Islands. Famous swims include the Alcatraz challenge which is a swim from Alcatraz island to the mainland.

Swimming for exercise

Swimming is an excellent form of exercise. Because the density of the human body is approximately similar to that of water, the body is supported by the water and less stress is therefore placed on joints and bones. Therefore, swimming is frequently used as an exercise in rehabilitation after injuries or for those with disabilities.

Resistance swimming is one form of swimming exercise. It is done either for training purposes, to hold the swimmer in place for stroke analysis, or to enable swimming in a confined space for athletic or therapeutic reasons. Resistance swimming can be done either against a stream of moving water (often termed a swimming machine) or by holding the swimmer stationary with elastic attachments.

Swimming is primarily an aerobic exercise due to the long exercise time, requiring a constant oxygen supply to the muscles, except for short sprints where the muscles work anaerobically. As with most aerobic exercise it is believed to reduce the harmful effects of stress.

Source : Wikipedia

Test Post

2007-06-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

Check out ABC.com for the American Inventor show featuring Dry Swim Trainer Invention.