I’ve been told that I’m “built like a football player” and that I “run like the Terminator”. I’ve gotten my swim repeats down to 1:10/100 yds on the 1:30 interval and 1:13/100 yds on the 1:20, but I’m definitely not satisfied. I’ve worked a lot on technique and fitness per what people on this forum have recommended.
That said, I am wondering now if there is some strong relationship between me getting faster in the pool and losing muscle weight. I know for running I SHOULD be losing muscle mass. I weigh about 172-175 lbs at 5’11 and have about 11% body fat, so there is definitely some fat to lose first. But once I have lost a few extra pounds of fat (which I know creates drag in the pool), would it be effective to lose some muscle too, say 5-10 lbs?
I am interested in seeing if I can improve my swim and my run this year…just ran an open 5k in 16:56 and I’ve heard that losing that weight really helps! I just don’t want that muscle weight loss to hurt my swim. Any thoughts? Much appreciated…
One major factor that separates elite swimmers from everyone else is flexibility. If your muscle mass is limiting your shoulder flexibility then losing some weight might help. It ll definitely help with running.
One major factor that separates elite swimmers from everyone else is flexibility. If your muscle mass is limiting your shoulder flexibility then losing some weight might help. It ll definitely help with running.
Duffman beat me to it. I was a swimmer and i’m almost grotesquely limber.
For what it’s worth, I have gone the other direction during the last 6 months or so. I used to be a real swimmer with the typical shoulder, lats, triceps, etc. That triangle shape. When I started to get serious about triathlons, I lost a lot of the upper body mass and strength and, as a result, I became a slower swimmer. This was an acceptable tradeoff for me because the few minutes I lost in the IM swim, I made up on the bike and on the run. However, recently, I decided to strike a better balance and rebuild some of that swimming strength with the help of a 2x weekly weight room session. I have added a little mass, a little strength, and now I am swimming quite a bit faster…perhaps faster than at any time during the last 5 years.
But you have the have the right muscles. If you have the thick neck, big biceps kind of build, you will lose that naturally as you elevate your bike/run training. Just make sure you have the proper swimming strength.
While being big won’t make you fast, most fast swimmers are big so its probably too much muscle mass thats holding you back. 5’11" and 175# is not untypical for an elite woman siwmmer. Allison Schmidt is currently the top 400m freestyler in the US and she’s 6’1" and looks like she’s easily 180#. Micheal Phelps is 6’4" and welll over 200 lbs. It not unusual at all to see a champioinship heat at a big meet where all 8 guys are over 6’3" and 200 lbs.
I weigh about 172-175 lbs at 5’11 and have about 11% body fat, so there is definitely some fat to lose first. But once I have lost a few extra pounds of fat (which I know creates drag in the pool), would it be effective to lose some muscle too, say 5-10 lbs?
Doesn’t look like much, does it? That is Shelly Taylor Smith, Seven-Time World Marathon Swimming Champion. During here career, she regularly beat the ENTIRE mens field and was ranked number one in the world for women AND MEN.
You can be what ever weigh you want. In swimming its all about stroke efficiency. Though being slim helps a tad when i was racing competitivelly when i was older and tok it seriously, when i was 13year old and going 435 400 i weiged more tan i do now. I was very smooth in free. On running and cycling it is a different story
One major factor that separates elite swimmers from everyone else is flexibility. If your muscle mass is limiting your shoulder flexibility then losing some weight might help. It ll definitely help with running.
Agree 100%. I’m a fairly muscular guy and find that my lack of shoulder flexibility is my biggest issue for swimming. I have a very hard time keeping my arms above my head during kick drills or when pushing off the wall and that has an effect on my glide and body position.
Currently I’m following a 10 min. shoulder stretching routine every night before going to bed, hoping that will help my swimming.
I’ve been told that I’m “built like a football player” and that I “run like the Terminator”.
sorry, just had to.
As others have stated, its more about flexibility then size so I would work on that before worrying about losing muscle mass. 5’11’’ and 175 isn’t restrictively big, even for running, although you would probably fit into the “built like a brick shit house” category. I know a few 200 lbs guys that can still put out some impressive running splits. Not elite, but definitely FOP for age groupers.
I was trying to come up with a word description of how much shoulder flexibility a good swimmer typically has, went to pictures, and most fast swimmers, barring injury, should be able to do this stretch with fingertips at least brushing each other.
I was trying to come up with a word description of how much shoulder flexibility a good swimmer typically has, went to pictures, and most fast swimmers, barring injury, should be able to do this stretch with fingertips at least brushing each other.
If you took a random group of swimmers age group swimmers that were competitive at a statewide level or above, I’d bet at least 90% of them could do the grab hands behind the back thing pictured here and 99% could at least get their fingertips to touch.
Shoulder flexability alone is not enough to make you a fast swimmer but you definitely can’t be really fast without it.
“If you took a random group of swimmers age group swimmers that were competitive at a statewide level or above, I’d bet at least 90% of them could do the grab hands behind the back thing pictured here and 99% could at least get their fingertips to touch.”
Former swimmer here. I can almost touch palms doing that.
“If you took a random group of swimmers age group swimmers that were competitive at a statewide level or above, I’d bet at least 90% of them could do the grab hands behind the back thing pictured here and 99% could at least get their fingertips to touch.”
Former swimmer here. I can almost touch palms doing that.
Same here. And at the peak of my flexibility, if I stood with my arms out straight, you could pull them behind me and cross them by a good 6".
First things first, that’s a nice 5K time to throw down, especially at your size which is really not so much big, but you aren’t a whippet anyway. Your swim is also in pretty good shape from the repeats you’ve posted. So what would you do, specifically, to lose that weight if you came to believe it would help to lose it? Why not just keep the SBR pressure on, eat good, sleep enough, keep stress levels low, and let the muscles adapt to whatever load you put on them?
No. Once you are down to those speeds, it is exponentially harder to get faster.
You now might need some 100s very super sprint fast on a very long interval. 1:10s on 1:30 is 20 seconds rest, too long to be useful for threshold and too short for anything else.
On another fora a while back, we had a discussion about how it was a sign of a former swimmer or gymnast when you were sitting on the couch or comfy chair with your feet up, and with your legs relaxed, you still automatically had your toes pointed enough that the tops of your feet were level with your shins.
sorry, just had to.