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Introduction The biomechanics and fluid mechanics of swimming concern itself with the complex nature of human interactions with and movement through a body of water in unsteady conditions. The evaluation and study of the motions of unsteady water in front of and behind the swimmers’ various body parts can elucidate many things about forward progression of a swimmer [5]. Investigations …
Background On Swimming Spinal Effects Exercise fatigue is from a plethora of factors. One emerging factor is inspiratory muscle fatigue. Swimming is one of the only sports requiring intermittent hypoxia, increasing the demand for the respiratory system and increasing fatigue to the inspiratory muscles. Many swimmers also choose swimming due to the minimal spinal loading. Unfortunately, all competitive sports result …
Background On Resistance Training Resistance training in swimming has been a complicated and controversial topic for years. Some believed swimmers should not perform resistance training as swimmers want longer, lankier muscles. However, over the past few decades, resistance training has become more commonplace, with high anecdotal evidence to support its usefulness, especially in short course swimming. There are more forms …
The participation in the older groups of masters swimmers is only growing. What is more impressive is that older masters swimmers are swimming faster now than they ever have before. Along with all other strokes, the butterfly performance of masters swimmers continues to improve. Why have we seen a dramatic increase in the number of masters swimmers? What is contributing to …
Background Overtraining In Swimming Overtraining and overreaching are common in the sport of swimming. No matter if you are a high or low volume advocate, swimming requires countless hours in the pool putting one at risk for overtraining. Some coaches feel overtraining is a beneficial part of training to ‘break-down’ the athlete and make them stronger, despite the literature suggesting …
Background On Post-Activation Potentiation Strength and conditioning programs coinciding with sports require a balance of volume and effectiveness. Too often strength coaches perform too much volume in their dry-land program, preventing athletes from maximal performance in their sport. Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is a mechanism to maximally stress the muscle, overruling the governors of the nervous system, allowing maximal sprint capacity. …
Take Home Points on Do Growth Spurts Increase Injury Risk? It seems the injury rate increases during growth spurts, but research is very limited. Growing pains are common in children, yet the cause and treatment of growing pains are not well known. Some hypothesize growing pains occur from muscles pulling on bones creating discomfort. Others believe the increase in bone …
Background On Integrated Core Exercises Every athlete has performed countless core exercises to improve performance and prevent injury. However, the amount of different core exercises is countless and the most effective exercises are unclear. Integration core exercises are movements that require activation of the distal trunk muscles (deltoid and gluteal) as well as the proximal core muscles (abdominal and lumbar), …
Take Home Points on Speed of Breathing Predicts 100-m Performance The faster a national caliber swimmer can exhale air in 1 second is correlated with 100-m performance. Everyone is trying to predict athletic performance in youth athletes. Not unlike other sports, swimming research has looked at many attributes of youth swimmers, including height, strength, and lean body mass. Dr. Barbosa has …
Background On Swimmers Neck Pain Neck pain is one of the top five injured areas in swimming. This is not surprising as axial rotation and cervical extension are repeatedly performed during breathing. However, the exact mechanism for pain is unclear, especially in young males. Previous studies suggest an inverse relationship between age and range of motion and proprioception. Other studies …