I don't get the no strength training thing. I've read many threads on this subject. How could stronger arms and back pulling you through the water not be better than weaker arms and back?

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WD
http://thePoorAthlete.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/WDHutchins

I don't think it's a question worth asking really as you will get a better answer by just doing them. 2-4 minutes a day is not much of a time sink and you'll have a pretty good idea if there was any benefit in a couple weeks. Just do it and report back!

Never did them as a reasonably quick middleschool/highschool age grouper. Don't see a need for it now.

let me answer this way - seen those 13 year old girls that can swim circles around you - do you think they are doing pull ups?

I can give you neither a yay, nor a nay, however, I can at least offer some anectdotal evidence, and a question to help guide your investigations:

- I swam with two groups who regularly did pull-ups, one in high school, one post-college. Of that group, each of the 5 guys who could swim faster freestyle than me could do more pull-ups than I could. They also had skinnier legs than I did.
- Of those guys who could do more pull-ups than I, not a single one could get within about 40 lbs of my ability to do lat pull-downs. FWIW, only 1 could beat me in 100 yards of backstroke.
- I would submit that unless you are built like a 12-year old girl, comparisons to said 12-year-old girl could result in poor conclusions

Why not try doing pull-ups for 6 weeks and see what happens?

regards,
r.b.

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Bringing you Tweets @ http://twitter.com/findfreestyle and Not just a bunch of drills - A Process.

No.

Pullups are good for looking good naked. I have no problem if that's your goal, but they don't make you a better thwimmer.

If it increases the size of your guns, do them.

Because endurance swimming is endurance-limited, not strength-limited.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

All of the high school teams that practice at my pool have regular weight training sessions, which include lat pull downs

B/c there is a max force needed to pull water with your hand and forearm and it's well below that needed to do a pullup. so you're strengthening beyond what you need...what you need is better technique, body position, and endurance of the swim muscles

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Ruble Triathlon Coaching Average of 30 coached PR's per year
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They absorb too much water to be effective for swimming.

Being stronger and having more endurance will make you a better swimmer as long as your technique is there.

DO NOT listen to the idiots saying no. The only people in here saying no are the ones that are just too lazy to do weight training. Pull ups and/or lat pull downs are part of EVERY high school, college, and olympic athletes dryland and strength and conditioning program.

They don't do this JUST to pass the time.

agreed ... now the issue is that if the technique ISNT there (and since the OP is asking about it we can assume he is not of swimming background) trying to force things can lead to injuries than faster times '

funny how everyone notices weigh training programme of highschool and olympic teams but forgets to mention twice a day swims and mileage .... i think more swim time will yield more benefit than dryland training

Are you also arguing that low-rep weight lifting doesn't help with cycling? I think Lance might disagree...

Now that's funny!

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2014 --> IMFL 70.3 / IM Augusta 70.3 / IMFL

now u really want to stir things up

Slow twitches 5000 th strength training thread, bunch of folk reckon it is good, some folk say is is not and they have science to back them up. But the most amazing thing is Klehner who seems to lurk on the net looking for these threads so he can have the joy of correcting the people who post about the benefits of strength training for triathlon.

What did the idiots who published this paper do wrong? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8371657

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Jeez, here we go. Yes, I would also argue that. Lance gave up the weights early in his TdF domination days. Cycling (with the exception of track sprinting) is also endurance limited, not strength limited. That's why the strongest cyclists in the world, namely track sprinters, aren't also champions in the 4000m pursuit, although it's "only" 4+ minutes long.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Exactly, though lance used moderate weight. Love this video here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDawlrIeaVM

Actually, I subscribe to the Slowtwitch Premium package, which emails me alerts when terms of my choosing appear in posts, or when particular users post. Very handy, and well worth the $9.95/month.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

ooooh i like this one much better - it might make my sig line


"The lack of a positive transfer between dry-land strength gains and swimming propulsive force may be due to the specificity of training."

Straw man... Why doesn't the 200m gold medalist also win the mile (also only 4mins long)?

Your kidding right. Do a search.........................Please link the articles of some of the pro's doing weight lifting while NOT riding 25000 miles per year to improve there speed. There is a ton of evidence that weight training does not help cycling speed..........Now some differ about injury prevention, but the question was about getting faster. ..........If you want to use Lance, you willing to bring up all the other garbage to then