I can't sleep. I was sliding around on the bed, looking for a comfortable position and
nearly fell off.
And then it ocurred to me that the solution can be proven so simply, how could it have been missed?
Or maybe not, because it's late.
Lie on your stomach in bed and then gradually "shimmy" down towards your feet until just your torso
is on the bed and your legs are hanging over the edge. Make the edge of the bed hit you about
mid-thigh. Your toes will hit the ground.
Isn't that position a darn close approximation to freestyle swimming?
Your torso is supported by the bed but your legs are not so they hit the ground. The air in your
lungs while you swim (and they are NEVER completely empty) always provide some support to your
torso. But there's no oxygen in your legs. The fat will help them float a bit - more helpful for
females than males (see Weisenthal posts on CT scans of human legs) But the bones, muscles, and
tendons have no buoyant force to them. They'd sink to the bottom of the pool (and pull your body
with them) just as your feet hit the ground beneath your bed.
So while lying in your bed as I've described above, make your legs horizontal.
Did you push your chest harder into the bed to straighten your legs? Or did you tighten the muscles
in your lower back and pull your pelvis and legs up to horizontal that way?
I'll bet you that there's a concise description of that mechanical model in the World of
architecture. (Except I don't know what it is, does anyone else?)
If there is, the description would go something like this - the simple mechanical support on one
side of a beam is transferred out away from that beam along a rigid line. The rigidity of the line,
which is of course crucial, is provided by the muscles in your lower back.
Okay, I'm going to go to bed again and lie on my back now. If anything comes to me regarding
backstroke, I'll be sure and fire up my computer again 🙂 Or not.
Eric