R
Radioactive Man
Guest
On Wed, 9 Jul 2003 08:38:39 -0500, "James Goddard" <[email protected]> wrote:
>"topdog" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>> endurance. Why do I say this? Because the fewer strokes you take, the more work you do, the more
>> you increase RESISTANCE. It requires more strength per stroke, pure and simple. It requires
>> muscle endurance to maintain the form.
>
>You don't take fewer strokes by stroking harder! You take fewer strokes by improving your form
>and DECREASING your resistance in the water. Improving your stroke make swimming less work, not
>more work.
For every stroke you take, there is both "input" work (how much energy you expend) and "output" work
(how much of the expended energy that provides useful propulsion in a forward direction). I think
what he means is that by taking fewer strokes, but milking every bit of useful propulsion out of
your stroke, you will swim more efficiently, meaning that you get a higer ratio of output work to
input work. But this requires sustainable strength. For example, many beginning swimmers waste first
and last part of their strokes because they're only pulling when their hand is in front of them. To
correct this problem, they must increase the sustainable power output from their triceps, lats, and
other upper body muscles. Even if they have good technique, they cannot sustain it for very long if
they don't have the upper body muscle endurance.
>"topdog" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>> endurance. Why do I say this? Because the fewer strokes you take, the more work you do, the more
>> you increase RESISTANCE. It requires more strength per stroke, pure and simple. It requires
>> muscle endurance to maintain the form.
>
>You don't take fewer strokes by stroking harder! You take fewer strokes by improving your form
>and DECREASING your resistance in the water. Improving your stroke make swimming less work, not
>more work.
For every stroke you take, there is both "input" work (how much energy you expend) and "output" work
(how much of the expended energy that provides useful propulsion in a forward direction). I think
what he means is that by taking fewer strokes, but milking every bit of useful propulsion out of
your stroke, you will swim more efficiently, meaning that you get a higer ratio of output work to
input work. But this requires sustainable strength. For example, many beginning swimmers waste first
and last part of their strokes because they're only pulling when their hand is in front of them. To
correct this problem, they must increase the sustainable power output from their triceps, lats, and
other upper body muscles. Even if they have good technique, they cannot sustain it for very long if
they don't have the upper body muscle endurance.
