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swim cord exercises
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I'm going to be on a rather long business trip in august. From what I can tell now I'm not going to be able to swim during that time as there aren't any pools nearby and my workhours r going to be pretty long. So, I'm thinking to get swim cords but have no idea on how to use them so that the workout makes sense.
Does someone here has workouts, I mean, I can't imagine pulling at those cords for an hour to substitude for a good IM swim.
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Re: swim cord exercises [lmar77] [ In reply to ]
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It's actually fairly decent particularly if you can get a metronome. I'd post this question on the USMS forum, as the "real" fish over there are more likely to have used them (college teams often do).

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Re: swim cord exercises [lmar77] [ In reply to ]
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There's a series of exercises in Going Long by Friel and Byrn that are good. (The book is otherwise mediocre but if you're new to IM training, for example, it's not bad reading at all).

Tubing (what she calls working out with dryland swim cords) is a significant component of Sheila Taormina's Swim Speed Workouts (and are described in her book Swim Speed Secrets). I most highly recommend both.

If you google Sheila Taormina tubing, lot of great videos, drills, ideas.

Also, don't underestimate what you can accomplish in a small hotel pool with a swim bungee system (like Aquavee).

Once you figure out how to correctly transfer the parts of the swim stroke to the swim tubing, putting workouts together is fairly easy. This is generally what I do if I'm not going to swim on a particular day--either 2x20 min or 1 30-min session.

1-2 min or 3-5 sets of 8-10 reps each of catch, then pull, then push phase (what Sheila T calls diagonal), then finish, then 1-4 minutes of full stroking. Rinse, repeat.

This can also be done very effectively as butterfly (both arms at once) and I've found it transfers very well to actual freestyle swimming in water.

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Re: swim cord exercises [lmar77] [ In reply to ]
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Re: swim cord exercises [lmar77] [ In reply to ]
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it really doesnt not do the same thing as a swim workout at all. With swimming the biggest thing is the "feel" of the water which a swimmer will loose if they are out of the water for 3-4 days. A swim cord workout will keep the muscles in shape but really will not be great for staying in swimming shape. Swimmers use the cords to strengthen certain muscles as well as a warmup and wardown excersise.

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Re: swim cord exercises [lmar77] [ In reply to ]
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I really like stretch cords but, as others have mentioned, they will mostly serve to keep the muscles conditioned. The underwater pull motion is a fairly unique motion, in that most people aren't likely to use this combination of muscles repetitively throughout their work day. So, there's some advantage to keeping the muscles engaged via stretch cords or weight machines.

IMHO, I wouldn't try to use the cords to replicate your swim workout, in terms of length. There's a big difference between bending over and pulling on these for an hour and being suspended in the water, especially in terms of the pressure it places on your shoulders and back. If you do want to pull for that length of time, consider getting the light resistance kind. (The heavy resistance are for sprinters and are designed to be used for 30-60 seconds at a time.)

The in-pool stretch cords that Mikex posted are also good -- although I bought mine, rather than making them. They work well if you have a small hotel pool. These will help you retain the feel of the water while you are out of town.

Google "stretchcordz". They make both the dryland stretch cords and the stationary swim belts.

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