Any Advice for Swimmers?

Hi all,

I'm on day 2 of the fundamentals.

I swim on a Masters team and I'd like to qualify for World's next July in Budapest. This is forcing me to re-design my training regiment (ortho-kinetic corrective weight lifting, stretching more, & swimming less at first, so I can develop the muscles in my back & use more of them during my freestyle & back stroke (bc I've been swimming incorrectly for the past 20 years, my pecs, triceps & shoulders were doing all the work).

Im on a lifting program that focuses of proper technique (pinched the shoulder blades, tuck the butt in, engage the core, etc). It mostly focuses on developing back muscles, but some leg/glute work too.

Should I suspend this program during the fundamentals course? 

At what point should I start incorporating swimming back into my training? 

Would love to hear from any swimmers out there with experience in GST.

Chris

Hi Chris, 

Thank you for reaching out. Exciting goals you have in the upcoming year. 

Many athletes use the GymnasticBodies program as cross training to improve other physical activities. GST is designed to make all joints mobile and strong in their full range of motion. If you are weight lifting you are going to continuously be getting tight which may take longer to see mobility results. Making GST your primary fitness then integrating your lifting and swimming you will see much better results. Me personally I am not a swimmer however I can see how all the GB shoulder strength and mobility will take your swimming to a whole new level.

Once you complete the Fundamentals I recommend you continue with the Handstand one and Foundation One both courses focus heavily on shoulder development, which will be a great addition for your swimming. 

I'm no GB coach, but given that you are training for competitive swimming, you need a strength program that properly integrates with your training for that sport. Suspending training of the sport itself for the secondary training is not an option with your goal in mind.

GB is probably the most well-rounded training modality out there, but it's a completely different beast when recommending programs to competitive athletes.

Would be interesting to hear what others have to say.

MY best suggestion is maintain or improve the balance between your muscles-chains. imbalances will reduce the efficiency and efficacy of the movement. I'm actually preparing (in collaboration with a climbing school) a guy who won the european competition of the climbing and we have a good opportunity for tokyo 2020. Analyzing his posture I noticed that he has same typical problem of swimmers especially for who is concerned with free-style and butterfly. basically the anterior chain is very tight and strong while the posterior is weak and stretched. focusing yourself on T-spine work will maintain your posture in a good shape with a low probability on swim style modifications.