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squeekers
Apr 18, 2005, 2:32 AM
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I recently joined a swim team and I am curious as to how this will ultimately effect my climbing ability. I would assume that it would be great for endurance and strength, but I have heard that there are certain muscles that you do not want to bulk up...muscle weighs more than fat. Anyone else in the same situation? :wink:
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guangzhou
Apr 18, 2005, 2:55 AM
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The muscle gain and loss of fat should help the strength side of your climbing. Just keep in mind that it's not because you are stronger that you will climb better. While strength is one of the keys to climbing harder routes, it is only a small part.
Problem wise: swimming will mean that you hands will often get water logged. This will be detrimental to your climbing in the long run. Especially if you are planning on climbing powerful crimpy routes!
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godawgs
Apr 18, 2005, 3:16 AM
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I wouldn't worry about it at all. I have been swimming for a long time; my problem has always been trying to find a way to keep weight on. If you are training more than 5000yards(meters even more so) a workout, you are gonna start burning every bit of muscle and fat off your body.
At the level of swimming I am competing, the coaches work hard to make every yard in practice completely necessary in order to prevent burning muscle. It definately is great cross training...the week after the end of my season I went to the gym and climbed 10c after not touching a rock in 6 months.
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squeekers
Apr 18, 2005, 5:00 AM
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Thanks for all the input!
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pupjr
Apr 18, 2005, 5:17 AM
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a few things i learned from 6 years of playing water polo and also having a love of climbing are, 1. your shoulders, be careful, swimming can cause lots of shoulder problems. i have tendonitus, and weak rotator cuffs. So make sure you do exersises to keep your shoulders strong, ask your trainer, coach, or search online (first two are preferable, plus they'll be able to hook you up with resistance bands.) Bad shoulders can give problems for you on overhangs, or pulling roofs, can even cause more sevre problems. 2. swimming buffs your back, big time. true it does work your whole body, but not as much as your back. Climbing also works your back So your chest gets neglected. Make sure you work your chest (push ups will do) This helps make sure the push/pull of opposite muscles are equal. (ever see those people who have the gorilla look, shoulders all hunched, that's why) Not only does it look funny, but hey, what do you know, affects the shoulders also. Hope this helps, hope you like swimming more that i did. (i was a goalie in polo)
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anykineclimb
Apr 18, 2005, 5:18 AM
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I think it would help greatly
you use your back and shoulder muscle as much in swimming as in climbing, albeit in a slightly different way. Swimming would only help by developing support muscles, strengthening your shoulders and preventing injury
you shouldn't worry about bulking up. Adding mass takes LOTS of work, besides, from what I've seen, climbers are on average are bigger than swimmers.
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akicebum
Apr 18, 2005, 5:36 AM
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This is an area I know a great deal about. Much of what was said earlier is true. I swam competitively for over a decade at a very hi level. If you want to swim and climb YOU MUST WORK YOUR OPPOSING MUSCLE GROUPS. I have a reconstructed right shoulder that prevented me from competing in college, but my climbing benefitted in a huge way.
Your back muscles are a side note to the core body strength you will build. My core strength is something I have very recently come to appreciate and it all came from swimming. As to "water logged fingers" I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you are jumping out of practice and running directly to the gym you might have some problems, but if you a give it a few hours you will be fine.
I coach triathletes and there are three exercises that I recomend to all of them to protect their shoulders: Internal and External Rotations, and Dips. A lot of people frown on Dips but between climbing and swimming you should be able to do them without much difficulty, It is best only to go to 90 degrees. The reason being that the extra distance when you pass 90 degrees is gained by stretching your shoulder capsul and the surrounding ligaments which are stretched enough by long axis strokes like backstroke and freestyle.
A huge plus is the aerobic strength you will build. Many climbers focus only on climbing and hi intensity exersises where the heart works without a training ceiling. Most swim programs are periodized so aerobic and anaerobic capacities are developed at a much higher level of efficiency. Swimming is also nice because it is coached and there is a great training atmosphere. Good luck and rip it up why while you can.
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mtman
Apr 18, 2005, 5:41 AM
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i swam competitively for 10 years and played water polo for 6 years and am currently on the UW polo team and the swimming and weight training that i have been doing have greatly helped my climbing in mussel strength and just general fitness. just watch you shoulders as pupjr said, i just got over a 6 week beak after over straining my rotator cuff climbing due weak rotator cuffs and to old swimming injuries. also if you are climbing and swimming at the same time make sure that you are getting enough protein so you can rebuild you mussels. also listen to your body and if something dose not feel right than back off, good luck and have fun
mtman
ps godawgs are you on the UW swim team?
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squeekers
Apr 18, 2005, 5:44 AM
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Again, thanks for all the responses!! - akicebum in particular. I have been climbing for awhile and have found an incredible response in stamina and (perhaps mental encouragement) performance in climbing ever since my conditioning swimming masters. It seems that climbing and swimming match far better than climbing and running! BTW, what does internal and external rotations mean?
Rachel
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bldr
Apr 18, 2005, 5:53 AM
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In my experience the combination of swimming and climbing was good for my shoulders, though I did make sure to work the shoulders as part of a dryland workout.
anThat was when I first beg climbing, now I am climbing at a decent level without shoulder problems but my back can't handle the pain of swimming so I can't say in the long term how the shoulders will fare swimming and climbing.
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akicebum
Apr 18, 2005, 7:24 PM
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Using either a theraband or some other form of horizontal resistance bury your arm into you waist, bring you arm making a 90 degree angle and pull across your torso for the internal, and then away for external. Good luck and have fun.
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quickclips
Apr 18, 2005, 8:27 PM
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I swam competitivly for....a long time. And the muscles you'll gain are mostly shoulder, back and chest and core in training you should be fine. I actually found that climbing was great for my swimming since it held my shoulders together.
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cliffhanger9
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Apr 18, 2005, 8:30 PM
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im gonna guess its called "the wave" just cuz thats what it looks like.
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republiclimber
Apr 18, 2005, 8:38 PM
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In reply to: im gonna guess its called "the wave" just cuz thats what it looks like. |
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olive
Apr 18, 2005, 9:27 PM
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In reply to: Using either a theraband or some other form of horizontal resistance bury your arm into you waist, bring you arm making a 90 degree angle and pull across your torso for the internal, and then away for external. Good luck and have fun.
I am either tired or just slow, but can you clarify this a little more, i cannot quite picture what you are saying...
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renxarox
May 22, 2005, 8:16 PM
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Swimming with injured shoulder.
I have heard that breaststroke is better than crawl when you have an injured shoulder and it seems to work for me.
I recently recovered from shoulder injury, 6 weeks after being injured I started swimming 1000m two-three times a week using breaststroke, ever since I started doing this my shoulder has felt stronger and less painful for every week that has passed.
The schedule I follow is of course very low intensity, not sure how my shoulder would feel if I followed a harder training program.
And I am pretty sure that it would have been a bad idea to go swimming during the initial recovery phase.
If anyone has more knowledge on shoulder injuries and swimming feel that my practice is a bad idea, please say so.
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