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Would gaining weight help my swimming?
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Hi,

I started swimming very recently (last week). I was wondering whether gaining some weight (muscle) on the upper body would help my swimming endurance.

I have been running for a year now. My 5k time is 18'01". I have a typical runner body, ei. basically no muscle on the upper body. I am 134 lbs (61kg), for 5.7 ft (175cm).

Should I try to do some weight training exercises outside of the pool to gain muscle mass? Or the muscles will take care of themselves if I only swim regularly?

Or is it just about the technic and I should not worry about the upper body muscles?

Thanks a lot!
jerome (male, 27 y.o)
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [jerome] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, but just swimming will help you gain the necessary muscle.

Its not just technique, but obviously that's a big part of swimming

Btw, I'm about your height but have 70 lbs on you.

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Last edited by: JasoninHalifax: May 27, 17 6:48
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [jerome] [ In reply to ]
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Jason nailed it above: just swimming alone will pack on whatever muscle you need in your upper body.

Since you just got into it, focus *a lot* on technique and keep things short and intense: e.g. swim 50s and even 25s. Look up Ultra Short Race Pace Training (USPRT). I know it will seem counterintuitive but there's a feedback loop in swimming: in order to swim fast you have to have proper technique and in order to have proper technique you have to swim fast. It's virtually impossible to swim slow with proper technique (it can actually be more work).
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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This is not the time to lift weights.


18months ago I came back to triathlon after a 10yr lay-off. During that decade I kept up with running and weight lifting. Once I started swimming again I had to back off lifting weights significantly. As a result I've lost 10lbs of chest/shoulders/arms, which I'm a little aggravated about. But there's just no way my shoulders could handle swimming 5x/wk and also weight lifting.

Your shoulders need recovery time. Don't add stress to them by lifting weights while swimming is likely a major source of stress on them If, at some point you back off on your swim days, then you can add lifting weights.

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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [jerome] [ In reply to ]
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Adding 10lbs of upper body muscle from lifting will cost you more on the run than you'll gain in the swim. Just swim more and let things take care of themselves.

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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
Yes, but just swimming will help you gain the necessary muscle.

Its not just technique, but obviously that's a big part of swimming

Btw, I'm about your height but have 70 lbs on you.

Actually I was thinking that if you gain fat its not such a bad thing assuming you have the required muscle and cardio. More buoyancy? There must be a reason why pro level swimmers are not quite as lean as runners!
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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Fat isn't as detrimental for swimmers as in running, but it still isn't good to carry excess pounds. Remember the physics, for every body length you move forward in the water you have to displace at least your body weight in water. The trick is to minimize how much you have to displace, how far you displace it, maximize how much momentum will displace for you, and increase your body length as much as possible.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
Fat isn't as detrimental for swimmers as in running, but it still isn't good to carry excess pounds. Remember the physics, for every body length you move forward in the water you have to displace at least your body weight in water. The trick is to minimize how much you have to displace, how far you displace it, maximize how much momentum will displace for you, and increase your body length as much as possible.

That body length increase requirement. Can you talk to my high school football coach.....some quote along the lines of, "if I could have your acceleration off the line from 2-20 yards in a package 8-10 inches taller and 80 lbs heavier (I was 5'6" and 137 lbs there...back to the same at 51...go figure). I am not meeting yours nor my coach's requirements. At indoor track I was always first to 20 meters and could hang on well at the city level in Montreal to the 50m. Outdoor track and 100m, the game was over at 60m. On a plus note, my wing span is actually almost 6'1", so I don't really have a big excuse, since I am virtually a 5'10" swimmer (one arm extended overhead would match a normally proportioned 5'10" person)
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not talking about getting physically taller. I'm talking about doing those things in the water which make you "effectively " taller. Extending the shoulder joint for extra reach, pointing the toes, keeping a good line from your shoulders all the way to your toes without bending at the waist. That might add up to a couple of inches.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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GreenPlease wrote:
Jason nailed it above: just swimming alone will pack on whatever muscle you need in your upper body.

Since you just got into it, focus *a lot* on technique and keep things short and intense: e.g. swim 50s and even 25s. Look up Ultra Short Race Pace Training (USPRT). I know it will seem counterintuitive but there's a feedback loop in swimming: in order to swim fast you have to have proper technique and in order to have proper technique you have to swim fast. It's virtually impossible to swim slow with proper technique (it can actually be more work).

I'm glad you mentioned this because I've noticed that my technique totally breaks down when I go EZ all day pace. I guess this means that my all day pace should be faster, which is actually be easier with a more streamlined position.

2017 races: St. George 70.3 May 6 | Madison 70.3 June 11 | IM Zurich July 30 | Chicago Marathon October 8
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
Yes, but just swimming will help you gain the necessary muscle.

Its not just technique, but obviously that's a big part of swimming

Btw, I'm about your height but have 70 lbs on you.


Actually I was thinking that if you gain fat its not such a bad thing assuming you have the required muscle and cardio. More buoyancy? There must be a reason why pro level swimmers are not quite as lean as runners!
Well, the open water swimmers, until recently, had to swim in some cold water w/o wetsuits.
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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RangerGress wrote:
This is not the time to lift weights.
18 months ago I came back to triathlon after a 10yr lay-off. During that decade I kept up with running and weight lifting. Once I started swimming again I had to back off lifting weights significantly. As a result I've lost 10lbs of chest/shoulders/arms, which I'm a little aggravated about. But there's just no way my shoulders could handle swimming 5x/wk and also weight lifting.
Your shoulders need recovery time. Don't add stress to them by lifting weights while swimming is likely a major source of stress on them If, at some point you back off on your swim days, then you can add lifting weights.

Obviously we are all diff but I did not have this experience when I lifted weights. I stopped comp swimming after my first yr of college and lifted weights the last 3 yrs, with a little running (circa 10-12 mi/wk). I gained about 30 lbs of weight, roughly half fat and half muscle acc to BF measurements. When I started masters swimming right after college, I stopped weight training but did not lose any weight or muscle mass.


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
I'm not talking about getting physically taller. I'm talking about doing those things in the water which make you "effectively " taller. Extending the shoulder joint for extra reach, pointing the toes, keeping a good line from your shoulders all the way to your toes without bending at the waist. That might add up to a couple of inches.


totally agree....working on all of that. Probably even more important in back and freestyle, because half the body is always in the full extension phase while the other half is in the propulsion phase. In breast and fly, during part of the stroke you're not at "full height/extension" Maybe that's why a midget like Anthony Nesty could get a gold medal against Biondi. Almost impossible for a midget in free or back?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AYUcgPfrmk


By the way, I have similar proportions to Biondi...wingspan is 6 inches more than height.....too bad all that is 1 foot less LOL!


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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
I'm not talking about getting physically taller. I'm talking about doing those things in the water which make you "effectively " taller. Extending the shoulder joint for extra reach, pointing the toes, keeping a good line from your shoulders all the way to your toes without bending at the waist. That might add up to a couple of inches.


totally agree....working on all of that. Probably even more important in back and freestyle, because half the body is always in the full extension phase while the other half is in the propulsion phase. In breast and fly, during part of the stroke you're not at "full height/extension" Maybe that's why a midget like Anthony Nesty could get a gold medal against Biondi. Almost impossible for a midget in free or back?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AYUcgPfrmk


By the way, I have similar proportions to Biondi...wingspan is 6 inches more than height.....too bad all that is 1 foot less LOL!


Jason, also watching this Biondi "loss" and gliding into the wall while Nesty crammed in one more stroke, I wonder if when Phelps beat Cavic 20 years later in Beijing, if that "quarter stroke" and throwing his hands into the wall were something that they worked on a lot knowing that gliding in could be the "loss" vs the "win'
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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Its incremental in all strokes, although backstrokers do tend to be taller there are the exceptions (Natalie Coughlin is above average for a female, but not exceptionally tall at 5'8. David Berkoff is about 5'10 ish. The Japanese IM superstars (Hagino and Seto) are about 5'10

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
devashish_paul wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
I'm not talking about getting physically taller. I'm talking about doing those things in the water which make you "effectively " taller. Extending the shoulder joint for extra reach, pointing the toes, keeping a good line from your shoulders all the way to your toes without bending at the waist. That might add up to a couple of inches.


totally agree....working on all of that. Probably even more important in back and freestyle, because half the body is always in the full extension phase while the other half is in the propulsion phase. In breast and fly, during part of the stroke you're not at "full height/extension" Maybe that's why a midget like Anthony Nesty could get a gold medal against Biondi. Almost impossible for a midget in free or back?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AYUcgPfrmk


By the way, I have similar proportions to Biondi...wingspan is 6 inches more than height.....too bad all that is 1 foot less LOL!



Jason, also watching this Biondi "loss" and gliding into the wall while Nesty crammed in one more stroke, I wonder if when Phelps beat Cavic 20 years later in Beijing, if that "quarter stroke" and throwing his hands into the wall were something that they worked on a lot knowing that gliding in could be the "loss" vs the "win'

It's always a judgement call if you are on the last stroke and not sure if you should take that last stroke or not, it's a gamble either way, and you have about 0.1 seconds to make that decision.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for all of your answers, very helpful.
I'll stick to the swimming-only policy to develop my swimming-specific upper body muscles then.
Let's see how my shoulders react to this new stress...
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [jerome] [ In reply to ]
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jerome wrote:
Hi,

I started swimming very recently (last week). I was wondering whether gaining some weight (muscle) on the upper body would help my swimming endurance.

I have been running for a year now. My 5k time is 18'01". I have a typical runner body, ei. basically no muscle on the upper body. I am 134 lbs (61kg), for 5.7 ft (175cm).

Should I try to do some weight training exercises outside of the pool to gain muscle mass? Or the muscles will take care of themselves if I only swim regularly?

Or is it just about the technic and I should not worry about the upper body muscles?

Thanks a lot!
jerome (male, 27 y.o)

I concur with most here.

If you MUST weight train, only train swim specific muscle groups with exercises as close to stroke mechanics as possible (WASA trainer, anyone?)
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Re: Would gaining weight help my swimming? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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My experience is much different. I find my shoulders stay healthier when I couple weights with swimming, and I've had surgery on both shoulders (labrum/bicep tendon).

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also rule 5
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