Elon is one of the most innovative entrepreneurs of our time, maybe ever. Some people love him and others hate him. What you can't deny is what he has accomplished. Starting Tesla and SpaceX, almost at the same time, is an insane feat to try, let alone successfully accomplish. So, it stands to reason he may be able to teach us all a thing or two.
Previously, we discussed the idea of tight upper traps due to them being overly lengthened. This is very common in not only swimmers, but a lot of other athletes, too. If you haven't read part 1 yet, you can find it on our blog. Today, we're going to discuss why upper traps get tight for the a different reason: they're always "on." Bear in mind, a muscle can feel tight for generally two reasons: 1) the muscle is overly lengthened, or 2) the muscle is always on. Part 1 covered the former, and now we'll cover the latter.
I recently got a question on our preference of either pull-ups or chin-ups for our swimmers, and my initial response was that I like both, and it just depends on an athletes evaluation and program, as well as where they are in their season. After thinking about it more, it seemed like a good post idea because there is more that we can discuss.
By far, the most common musculoskeletal complaint in the swimming population is shoulder pain. This should make a lot of sense as the repetitive overhead nature of swimming doesn’t allow much room for error. For example, an elite freestyle swimmer can take anywhere between 20 and 25 strokes every 50 meters. Let’s say you train 7,000 meters per day; that’s between 2,800 and 3,500 strokes every single day. If that same swimmer trains six days per week, that’s as many as 21,000 strokes per week and nearly 1,000,000 in a year. One stroke is not typically going to cause an injury, but this many reps, over time, certainly can.
Dryland training is crucial for swimmers that want to compete at a high level. There’s a reason why virtually all elite swimmers do some form of it and USA Swimming advocates it. It can prevent injuries, correct imbalances, and improve performance in the water. Overhead athletes, including swimmers, present with some unique considerations that need to be taken into account when completing a dryland training program. We’ll cover three common dryland exercises that are not good to do because of their injury risk, and we’ll provide alternatives so you can train safely.
As it turns out, the difference between first and eighth place can highly depend on how well a swimmer starts and executes his or her turns. Swimmers can achieve their fastest speeds off the start, so being strong in this area can be a game-changer in boosting performance and gaining an advantage over competitors. Turns are crucial to performance as well with the underwater phase making up as much as 30% of the distance covered in a race (1).
