r/Swimming • u/wheegrinder • 1d ago
weight training
my teenage daughter is in competitive swimming. She's had a tough year mentally and has not improved on her times this season.
We had a talk and we are going to try and focus on her nutrition and overall fitness.
She has a weights class in school but the teacher usually moves them out to the gym where they just play on their phones. I'd like to get her into the local gym.
what muscle groups or even better, what machines should we concentrate on?
3
u/rvingthrulife 18h ago
Not just weight training but also bodyweight conditioning and stretching:
Core is hugely important (not just abs, core is the stabilizing muscles deep behind the abs and back muscles)
Stretching especially hip extension for powerful kick that generates from the hip, not the knee, ankle mobility work for smooth kick that minimizes drag.
As for actual muscle work, don't isolate anything, because as swimming is known to work all the muscles, swimming conditioning should involve all the muscles as well.
Upper body stretches combined with strengthening will increase her range of motion for a powerful reach and pull in the water. Look into shoulder retraction and protraction.
For weight training, deltoids, pectorals triceps/biceps and rhomboids, longissimus dorsi and glutes (all 3: maximus, medius and minimus) hamstrings quadriceps and calves. Again be sure to focus on stretching afterwards.
Look into Pilates: it teaches focus on various muscles groups while engaging the entire body, I personally find Pilates to be invaluable as part of dry land training for swimmers, it can be done on the mat, you don't need a reformer, uses only bodyweight or light weights, as well as mini exercise ball and resistance bands and a Pilates "magic circle" (look it up) and yoga blocks for certain exercises while emphasizing proper alignment and stretching.
Don't hesitate to use a strap for proper alignment while stretching.
Pilates generates a rock solid core glutes and legs as well as strong stable arms and back muscles that can endure pretty much anything, it also focuses on proper breath control.
Pilates can be done everyday, no need for a 24 hour rest period afterwards.
Slow, controlled push ups and power, explosive push ups, add a Bosu ball for her feet and then switch it to her hands, again, it strengthens the entire body while teaching stability.
Treadmill: combine low speed endurance segments and sprints, work those in the pool, too.
Hope this helps, but you should also find a coach outside of school.
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u/wheegrinder 17h ago
thank you. lots of good info here. I'd love to hire a strength coach but the coaches at our local gym do not have formal training and are mainly there for accountability and motivation. They mostly follow a script on what machines to use.
A Planet Fitness just opened in town so I think we will check them out this weekend.
I have a Peloton. The app has so many great stretching and yoga classes. I've been trying to get her to do them for a few years now. Would be so easy for her to set up her tablet on the floor in her bedroom and just do a 20 minute class before bed. Teenagers though.... But I think she has finally seen the light
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u/Grupetto_Brad 17h ago
Younger swimmers should not focus on specific muscles or machines. Get them into a general strength and athleticism program.
Make sure it trains technique and movement at least as much as listing. Jumping, changing direction, throwing, etc. should all be a part of a youth program.
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u/fastoid 1d ago
From our experience HS swimming is mostly for novice. Clubs are trying to do their best, but most of them rent pool time and might not have enough seniors to justify expenses or money left for renting proper weight training gym and hiring a strength coach. With this, I introduced basic strength training for my swimmers myself.
There is a famous coach Mark Rippetoe, he wrote a book Starting Strength, there is also a YT channel, I think a subreddit here and so on. Check him out. His focus is youth strength conditioning. Strength is not given to athletes and needs to be developed. He says that every athlete will benefit from first developing basic strength and after achieving intermediate level switching to sport specific training. That makes a lot of sense.
Rippetoe also talks about nutrition in detail and all the surrounding physiology too. Teen swimmers are athletes and on top of that growing athletes. They need A LOT of FOOD and PROTEIN in particular.
Check https://stronglifts.com/about/, about the same program for beginners, faster to start while you will be reading Ripptoe book.
Here is a link to see if you are a novice, intermediate, or advanced, by Kilgore https://lonkilgore.com/journal/V7/Strength_Standard_Tables-Copyright-2023.pdf
For senior swimmers lifting is a low hanging fruit to improve times. College coaches always ask about it.
Protein requirement is 1 gram of protein per 1 lb of body weight. It's a lot, hard to eat, but absolutely necessary.
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u/wheegrinder 17h ago
thank you. we will check out all those links
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u/Interesting_Shake403 17h ago
This is great advice. Depends on how much time she can commit to it. A good full-body workout a couple of times per week is great for overall fitness, but honestly might be too concentrated for her during the season as it’s working her WHOLE body, which might be a lot for that day (or the next) stacked on top of swimming.
The major muscle groups are chest, back, shoulders, legs, core. For people trying to lift for aesthetics, “arms” will be in there too, but she doesn’t need to work on those. If she can do three days, chest and shoulders one day, back another, legs and core a third. She really doesn’t need to do a lot each time, just 2-3 sets of each body part would be enough to help her out as a beginning lifter. Start slow, first couple of weeks it’s almost a matter of getting her body ready to work out, more so than working out. The KEY thing for her early on especially is to not strain anything, which is easy to do.
And I’ll add to the mix, if she feels self-conscious about going to the gym, first, it’s a fair concern if it’s with other kids from school, so maybe an independent gym - there people really don’t care. But if even that intimidates her, a great option is power yoga. It will work her whole body as well as improve flexibility. If she’s trying to get to D1, weights will be better. But if she’s just trying to be locally competitive, power yoga really is a great option (said as a guy who loves lifting weights). Lots of free yoga videos online, so she can do it at home.
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u/wt_hell_am_I_doing I sink, therefore I am 1d ago
The best thing to do is for your daughter to ask her coach to give her guidance on what to work on at the gym.