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Speedo Tip of the Week - Worth the Weight?
Michael Mejia
Jun. 4, 2007
Mejia’s Tip:
I’m often asked by parents and athletes alike when the right time is for kids to start training with weights. Knowing what a tremendous impact increasing strength and power can have on improving swimming performance, most motivated young athletes are eager to start “pumping iron” as soon as they reach adolescence. What they often fail to realize, though, is that as beneficial as lifting can be, entering into it before you’re physically ready can be a frustrating and potentially dangerous proposition.
The following are what I consider to be the three key ingredients to ensuring a successful training experience. Follow these simple rules, and you’ll not only see a noticeable increase in strength, but you’ll avoid the type of training related injuries many beginners often fall victim to.
Improve flexibility first:
Increasing your range of motion around key joints like the ankles, knees, hips and shoulders is crucial to becoming stronger. That’s because tight, restricted muscles limit your ability to generate force in the water. This is a real problem during the “growth spurt” years (typically ages 11-15), when your bones are growing at a rate that your muscles can’t keep pace with. Daily stretching exercises, specifically those targeting the quadriceps, hamstrings, chest, lats and triceps can go a long way towards alleviating the problem.
Start out with just body weight:
There’s more to getting stronger than just lifting weights. You can make substantial improvements in strength by doing simple body weight exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, lunges and squats. Besides, when you’re new to training and lack the basic flexibility to move efficiently, it makes no sense to load your body up with additional weight.
Avoid overworking the same muscles you’re pounding in the pool:
Although it might seem like a good idea to target the same muscles you’re using most in practice, (i.e. the lats, shoulders, chest and quadriceps), you’ll get better results by strengthening the muscles that work in opposition to them. An example of this would be to do more rowing work for the upper back to help balance out the shoulder joint and avoid overuse injuries like swimmer’s shoulder.
Website: http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/ViewMiscArticle.aspx?TabId=144&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&mid=196&ItemId=2589
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