Training

 Gym For Swimmers

When doing sport specific gym training, it would be best to consult a personal trainer, physician or bio-kineticist but as this is not an option for all of us, here are some simple rules to follow:
When working out in the gym, it is important to work the muscles in the way they were originally designed to be used. This means you should avoid muscle isolating machines and workout using variations of 6 basic movements which are the squat, deadlift, lunge, push, pull and twist. These movements will ensure that the muscles are used in the correct way and hopefully result in faster times in the pool.

We will look at each movement in depth throughout the next few days.


Front Quadrant Swimming

The idea behind front quadrant swimming is to maximize efficiency through the water and get the most out of each stroke. The most efficient body shape in swimming is the streamline position.

 

 In order to move more effectively and dispense less energy, we try to maintain this streamline position for as long as possible through the stroke cycle, to do this we delay the backward movement of the pulling arm and allow the other arm to catch up. This results in a more energy efficient movement and allows us as swimmers to go faster.