Swim Sci

How to Review Swimming Research Part I

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Evidence-based coaching is a hot topic around sports. However, balancing evidence and actuality is difficult. Many coaches fall into one category, evidence-based or results-based. Unfortunately, a balance is essential for maximal success and progression of sport.

Many of those fearing evidence are unable to comprehend or adequately review articles. This is not a knock at coaches, but we are currently in the information overload era. It is difficult to siphon through the garbage and find useful, pertinent, trustworthy information. Also, research articles do not always tell the story. These pieces are peer-reviewed leading to miscalculated human error. These reviewers do the best they can, but it is impossible to know every research article on the Earth and disregard every bit of false information, especially when many researchers’ post articles with monetary or credential on the line (promotions, tenure, dissertations, etc.).

On the other hand, many of those evidence-base coaches commonly fall behind the curve as elite athletes and coaches are always ahead of research. This isn't because researcher's are dumb, but research takes time. Whether it is time to pass through the review board or simply time to do the methods, it takes more time a case study a coach is able to perform.

Finding a balance is a must, but first it is essential to know the different types of research, how to find this research, and how to review a scientific article.

Common Types of Research
Experimental Reports: This is the form of research in which a research, typically at a university or company, idea is trialed and tested. This form of research is typically controlled trying to find direct cause and effect, but is a microcosm for life. An example of an experimental report is trying to see if creatine ingestion improves a 50-meter sprint, compared not taking creatine.

Case Studies: A researcher, medical professional, or anyone else keeps track of one client/patient which has improved with a form of implementation. This form of research is quicker than experimental reports, but only gives results on one person. This one person is unique and received unique opportunities which are unable to extrapolate to everyone.

Surveys: Surveys are a means to collect a lot of data on a large population. Unfortunately, these results are not controlled and the results are questionable due to what the person does outside of the study. An example of this is the Farmingham Heart study, where surveys are being given to a population over an extended period to track heart disease over time.

Theory Papers: These papers are as they sound, it is a research discussing a theory they have on a particular subject. Typically these theory papers are based on anecdotal results or a case study. Most often this theory is based on science, but is not supported by hard research.

Reviews: Large reviews bring all the information on a topic together. There are different types of reviews, one is systematic review which takes a look at all the databases and finds information on a topic. Typically, these reviews attempt to exclude poor research and draw conclusions based on all the studies.

Position Papers: Large organizations like to state their opinions. These large organizations do this in the form of a position paper. For example, if swim coaches believed swimmers should breathe every 3, then ASCA could release a position paper, supporting their case for breathing every 3.

Conclusion
The best coaches are able to process new research and adapt it to their training program as well as confirm/refute any research in surrounding their anecdotal evidence. This ability enhances the sport. Stay tuned for part II and sign-up for the Swimming Research Review and receive reviews of all the new research on swimming for only $10/month. June issue is schedule for release June 15.

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

Kick Board Bobbers

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Bobbing up and down on a kick board while pushing through a 1,000 yard kick set is common on most swim teams. Unfortunately, the kick board provides a base of stability for the arms and core which is not present during swimming. Moreover, a board allows an athlete to use a pivot to propel themselves forward via the spiral line described by Thomas Myers in Anatomy Trains.

Don't get me wrong, kick boards and kicking are essential for swimmers. Every coach knows elite swimmers have a strong powerful kick, unfortunately, I feel many coaches teach this incorrectly, especially for swimmers with low back instability.

For injury prevention and swimming success, core endurance is essential. Unfortunately, a board promotes cheating, as many unstable swimmers are able to use their arms (likely their lats) to stabilize their body and push-off. If you take this bobber off the board, many of them are poor kickers. Therefore, does using a board with kick board bobbers improve their swimming? I know it does, because they still improve their leg endurance and strength, but I think it can be better, especially if you are a sprinter where less hip rotation and more core stability is required.

In a recent interview with Dr. Prins of the University of Hawaii, he discussed the importance of core and hip stability in swimming. By the way, do yourself a service and buy The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II, great read! In the book and echoed throughout Friday Interview: Dr. Prins, he discusses his intriguing methods for measuring the role of stability in and out of the water. A common misconception surrounds swimming about the amount of hip rotation in freestyle, especially sprint.

In athletes with poor core stability or those who use a heavy hip driven stroke, they rely on their rotational strength to drive their legs. However, in sprinting (swimming or kicking with a board) the athlete must use less hip rotation to keep the body in a straight line or streamline position. Too often those with poor sprint kicking and swimming ability go hand in hand and I (yes I, no research here) think it is due to poor streamline and core stability.

For athletes with low back pain and those needing to improve their sprinting (I'm not talking only 50 freestylers, this includes those who can't change speeds in and out of walls). To improve your sprinting make sure your hips are stable, derived from a strong core. Therefore, if you use a board, make sure you are not bobbing! Keep the core locked, the spine long and finish your kick!

If you are not using a board, the athlete must stabilize their core to move forward and speed will directly correlate with an improvement in core stability, especially in long course where the swimmer is unable to use the aid of walls and dolphin kicking.

To conclude, kicking with a board isn't bad. It improves leg endurance and strength, both essential for swimming success. However, in those swimmers with difficulties sprinting and changing speeds or those bobbing side to side with the board, it is likely they are using the board for stability. Make sure they are not bobbing on the board or force them to stabilize without a board for improvement!

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

Bonus Tuesday Interview: Dick Shoulberg

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Coach Dick Shoulberg for our Friday interview. Notes from our conversation follow below. The founder and longtime coach at the Germantown Academy, Coach Shoulberg has coached eleven Olympians and been on the United States coaching staff for several international meets, including the Olympic Games. For a more complete list of Coach Shoulberg’s coaching accomplishments, please visit his page at the Germantown Academy.

1. Please tell us how you got started in coaching
Started as lifeguard at age 16. Many little kids at the pool didn’t know how to swim and needed instruction. Then moved onto YWCA and summer league coaching. Moved to Germantown Academy in 1969 and become aquatics director and started age group swim program. In the program, we’ve been fortunate to place several kids on international teams and send many more to swim in college programs.

2. Who has most influenced your career with swimming?
High school track coach, Mr. Lewis was an early influence. In swimming, Doc Counsilman stands out. Also went and visited other coaches along the east coast. Attended many clinics/conferences and learned from coaches there. Watched great teachers outside of swimming (ballet, boxing). From observing others I was able to from my own thoughts and design my own style.

3. In 'The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II' you write about 'Power Training in the Pool', can you briefly discuss your favorite tools you use in the pool?
Five gallon bucket with six foot rope tied to swimmer’s waist attached to a belt. It’s a form of Accommodating Resistance: the faster you go the harder it gets. Also develops feel in addition to power.

4. At what stage of development do swimmers incorporate power training?
No specific age requirement. Depends on swimmer’s ability level: fitness, strength, technique, maturity, among other factors). Some high level 7th/8th graders use the buckets, while some high schoolers don’t. When a kid graduates to bucket training it is seen as a “badge of honor” (their words)

5. How do you incorporate these tools within a practice and throughout a season?
3 days per week/28 minutes per session. Can be morning or afternoon. Not everyone can use them simultaneously due to lane space, which is why team is split AM/PM.

Season planning: Increase bucket training shortly before taper. Also, talked to physiologists with USA Swimming, who recommended maintaining some bucket training up to 24-48 hours before goal race. We first learned of this strategy seeing how well the Soviets performed at the 1992 Olympics after training this way.

6. How do you integrate resistance training out of the pool with power training in the pool?
28 minutes of dryland before morning practice (which is only 70 minutes during school year); 45 minutes at afternoon practice (two hours and fifteen minutes practice). We regulate the intensity. Dryland for us includes TRX, kettlebells, stationary bike, VASA trainer, plyometrics, and other tools.

Dryland is important for injury prevention, especially muscle groups that don’t get stressed in the water or that get stressed in imbalanced ways.

7. Do you feel power training is important for every stroke and distance specialist? If so, how do you have these types of swimmer use the tools differently?
All swimmers in our program do 28 minute power sessions. We vary the rest and intensity based on specialty: sprinters have higher intensity but longer recoveries; distance has lower intensity but shorter recoveries.

However, stroke and distance specialty are only two of many factors that affect our use of power training (stroke technique, body composition, etc)

8. In your chapter in 'The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II' you praise the Vasa Trainer. Please discuss why you like this piece of equipment and how it translate to success in the pool?
Best single tool available outside the pool. We have nine Vasa trainers set up within six feet of the pool (we call it “Lane 7”). Athletes do 16-28 minutes of work in various forms of intervals. We monitor heart rate during the Vasa sessions and can be evaluate the athlete’s condition based on how long it takes heart rate to recover after intense efforts. We can work on stroke technique and communicate with the athletes in real-time unlike the pool, where you have to wait until a rest interval.

9. Your programs have never feared distance. How do you defend high yardage to those who are critical of it, particularly with most swimming races less than five minutes?
There are millions of ways to make fast swimmers. I have nothing against low volume programs; many great swimmers did low yardage. However, based on what we see in our program, the most accomplished athletes who achieved international ranking did high yardage. We had some swimmers with better technique and talent, but they didn’t achieve as much as those willing to put in more volume.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Coach!

Should Female Swimmers Train Differently Than Males: Part III

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Mon, 28 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

In Should Female Swimmers Train Differently Than Males: Part I of this series, we explored differences in exercise physiology between males and females. One hypothesis emerging from that discussion was that females might demonstrate greater fatigue resistance. Though it’s a tough hypothesis prove due to the myriad of training variables, it’s worth considering for interpreting individual adaptations. Last week we discussed differences among youth and adolescents in Should Female Swimmers Train Differently Than Males: Part II. In this post, we’ll cover multiple areas, but will mainly focus on stress. Folklore may suggest females would be stressed than males (“drama queens”), but you can find many examples of high stress and low stress athletes in both genders. In truth, many differences lie in the art of coaching more than the science.

Consider this interview excerpt with Coach Anson Dorrance of the University of North Carolina women’s soccer team, one of the most successful programs in all of college sports…

Interviewer: Could you elaborate a little bit more on the obvious differences you see in coaching males and females?

Coach Dorrance: Well, it would take me forever because there are so many it'd be hard for me to recount them all. But they're motivated differently. You can't lead women with the intensity of your own personality. A part of what motivates a man is for the coach to actually scream at him during the game to get him going, and that does get him going. And a lot of the times, obviously being a male I understand this, half the time the reason you start playing is you're so irritated at the criticism. And that feeds your adrenaline….

That's totally ineffective with women. What happens when you are that way with a woman, unless you have a very good and close personal relationship with her is that you are going to actually shatter her confidence. And it's a totally ineffective way to lead women athletes. And I know that what's common in sport psychology is we all want to believe the way to motivate everyone is the same way. But I'm here to testify, John, it's not (Silva 2011).

This excerpt is only a snapshot of Coach Dorrance’s full answer, but it gives the idea that differences are often more art than science. In terms of science, there’s probably not enough evidence to support female specific training, but there is ample evidence in gender differences to refine our explanatory models and understand the nuances of the individual athlete’s adaptation.

One area where males and females differ profoundly is in the endocrine system. We discussed how estrogen and testosterone affect adolescent development in the previous installment. Another avenue through which hormones affect performance is the body’s stress response. Is there a difference in how females and males react to different stressors, both physical and mental? Again, this isn’t something you can ever prove with certainty due to the wide variety of training approaches and individual responses, but some common patterns do emerge.

Cortisol levels are a common stress measurement. While cortisol testing requires a lab, you can observe potential signs and symptoms of elevation via observation. In athletics, we’re most commonly concerned with training load, but school stress, social stress, and poor nutrition (among other things) can also elevate cortisol. With females, amenorrhea is also tied with cortisol levels (Ding 1988).

Since we’re talking hormones, we’d be remiss to ignore contraceptive use. Yes, it’s an off-limits area for many male coaches with their female athletes. But it’s important enough to have been studied repeatedly in the literature (Vaiksaar 2011, Reichichi 2008), and fairly recently among swimmers. Reichichi (2012) studied competitive swimmers and found monophasic contraceptive cycle did not impair 200m swim performance, though it may affect blood lactate readings, due to increases in fluid retention, plasma volume, and cellular alkalosis.

As for physical training differences, several studies examine cortisol levels in swimmers and other endurance athletes. Tsai (1991) studied elite male and female endurance athletes over a full competitive season. Athletes were tested three times: preseason, midseason, postseason. Women began their seasons at higher cortisol levels and increased significantly during the season compared to men.

However, after a three day training increase, O’Connor (1991) observed no differences in psychological or physiological responses between males and females. Though cortisol levels are a sign of stress, they are not necessarily a real-time indicator of performance. In fact, in the short term, elevated cortisol may reflect the exact response we’re seeking as part of a sympathetic nervous response to peak for racing (the “fight” part of the fight-or-flight dichotomy). It’s a greater concern when levels are chronically elevated.

In the O’Connor study eighteen female and twenty two male college swimmers increased daily training volume from 6,800m to 11,200m for the females and from 8,800m to 12,950m for males. Stroke frequency, perceived exertion, fatigue, and muscle soreness all increased. Clearly this was a taxing effort for all, but in the short term, the stress response was the same for both genders.

The results may change for swimmers on dry land. Chatard (2002) studied a mixed gender group of swimmers over a 37 week period. Cortisol increased with volume increases and as the season progressed. Athletes completed sixty eight races during this time frame. Although they observed no link between cortisol and race performance, cortisol was a reliable marker of dryland stress among the females.

“Dryland” is a broad label, and can mean everything from easy stretching to intense lifting. Nevertheless, given the frequent bone density problems of female aquatic athletes, it could be that dryland is more stressful, especially in an elite sample where athletes have spent much of their lives immersed in water for up to 4-5 hours a day. This is just speculation on my part, but it is one possible explanation.

Another explanation could be the heat dynamics of land exercise versus aquatic exercise. Filaire (1996) conducted a female-only study, but compared swimmers to handball players. Handball players had higher cortisol levels, with one theory being the natural cooling provided by water for swimmers.

Training and racing can induce emotional stress too (see, The Cause of Choking and How to Avoid It). In a fairly lengthy study, Raglin (1991) followed 84 female and 102 male swimmers over a four-year period to examine psychological stress. Ratings for depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, and confusion all correlated with alterations in training yardage in both genders. Tension was higher in the female swimmers each year and did not abate with yardage reductions.

Kivlighan(2005) studied collegiate male and female rowers and observed that cortisol levels rose in preparation for competition. Levels remained elevated over pre-event baselines and forty minutes post-competition. The sample included both experts and novices in both genders, with the only significant differences in the novice females.

Conclusion
Remember, not all stress is bad, so long as we have appropriate opportunities for adaptation to occur. There’s probably not enough evidence to create gender paradigms for all, but knowledge of physiology and reported findings unique to each gender can help individualize based on the athlete’s characteristics, whether female or male.

References

Tsai L, Johansson C, Pousette A, Tegelman R, Carlström K, Hemmingsson P. Cortisol and androgen concentrations in female and male elite endurance athletes in relation to physical activity. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1991;63(3-4):308-11.

Kivlighan KT, Granger DA, Booth A. Gender differences in testosterone and cortisol response to competition. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2005 Jan;30(1):58-71.

Chatard JC, Atlaoui D, Lac G, Duclos M, Hooper S, Mackinnon L. Cortisol, DHEA, performance and training in elite swimmers. Int J Sports Med. 2002 Oct;23(7):510-5.

O'Connor PJ, Morgan WP, Raglin JS. Psychobiologic effects of 3 d of increased training in female and male swimmers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1991 Sep;23(9):1055-61.

Raglin JS, Morgan WP, O'Connor PJ. Changes in mood states during training in female and male college swimmers. Int J Sports Med. 1991 Dec;12(6):585-9.

Filaire E, Duché P, Lac G, Robert A. Saliva cortisol, physical exercise and training: influences of swimming and handball on cortisol concentrations in women. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1996;74(3):274-8.

Silva J. Psychological Aspects of Competition: An Interview with Anson Dorrance Head Women’s Soccer Coach at The University of North Carolina. Journal of Excellence. Issue No. 11.

Ding JH, Sheckter CB, Drinkwater BL, Soules MR, Bremner WJ. High serum cortisol levels in exercise-associated amenorrhea. Ann Intern Med. 1988 Apr;108(4):530-4.

Rechichi C, Dawson B. Oral contraceptive cycle phase does not affect 200-m swim time trial performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Apr;26(4):961-7.

Vaiksaar S, Jürimäe J, Mäestu J, Purge P, Kalytka S, Shakhlina L, Jürimäe T. No effect of menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use on endurance performance in rowers. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Jun;25(6):1571-8.

Rechichi C, Dawson B, Goodman C. Oral contraceptive phase has no effect on endurance test. Int J Sports Med. 2008 Apr;29(4):277-81. Epub 2007 Sep 13.

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

Weekly Round-up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 27 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Friday Interview: Dr. Jan Prins

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Something unique for our readers in this week’s interview. What follows are notes from a phone interview I conducted with Dr. Jan Prins, PhD. Dr. Prins is the Director of the Aquatic Research Laboratory at University of Hawaii at Manoa along with Founder and Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Swimming Research. He is one of the contributors to The Swim Coaching Bible, Volume II. You can find more information about Dr. Prins at his website Swim Hawaii.

1. Please introduce yourself to the readers (how you started in the profession, education, credentials, experience, etc.).
Been in the sport forty years as coach and researcher. Former lead assistant under Doc Counsilman at Indiana and former head coach at University of Hawaii. Currently a professor at University of Hawaii and operates a biomechanics lab for swimming. Lab has four synchronized underwater high speed cameras to capture all stroke angles. Many labs have synchronized multi-angle but few have high speed. It took five years to set up due to high costs. Lab is also equipped with biomechanics software to assess stroke kinematics. Has spent most of his research career studying freestyle. Next focus will be turns and breakouts. Frequent presenter international biomechanics summits, not just in swimming.

2. In The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II, you write about 'applying science to your coaching'. How can coaches improve their application of science in sport?
Journal of Swimming Research now has two parts for each published article: a manuscript and a coaching application section. Coaches are often turned off by scientific mumbo jumbo. Important to simplify but don’t mindlessly recycle ideas.

Example: “roll the body; lead with the hips”…These ideas make no sense in light of the research. Unfortunately, people have used these ideas for so many years, but it’s important to make the information accessible or coaches get blurry eyed when the science gets too technical. As both a coach and researcher, he understands the importance of applying research to the deck.

Important to be patient. Treat each swimmer as an individual. Most top coaches have programs tailor made for the individual rather than putting everyone into same program.

3. You also discuss stabilization of the spine in The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II, could you briefly describe this importance?
Because water is unstable, stability must come from the hips. Hips are translators of velocity and roll in reaction to movements of the hands and feet. Hip velocity tells us how fast you are going. People assume you roll your body but that is incorrect. Previous biomechanical models were based on fixed resistance (land), but water is an unstable medium. Hip stability allows force transfer initiated by the hands and feet. Roll occurs naturally via arm extension. Don’t try to swim on your side like a fish.

4. What are the most common biomechanical flaws for each stroke between elite (National level) and ultra-elite (Olympic level) athletes in each style of swimming?
Elite athletes have very few technique flaws, but breakout velocity can vary widely between elites. That will be the next key research area. If there is a common flaw, it is slipping water on the weak side.

5. Do you have any future progressions or predictions on biomechanics?
Future research will address “interference drag,” which refers to body parts creating drag upon each other. Soni’s breaststroke pull (rounding out early) could be one way to minimize interference drag. Lochte’s arms exiting the water sooner in backstroke may be another way to minimize interference drag. This has not been formally studied yet, however. Other areas for future research include optimizing pull width in breast and fly.

More recognition that swimming is a learned skill like golf or tennis. Tennis pros and golf pros have coaches helping them with technique constantly. Takes continual awareness to keep refining stroke. Doesn’t happen overnight. Small things you do in the stroke can add up via thousands of strokes. Bad “strokes” in golf/tennis give you instant feedback when the ball goes off target. Technique flaws in swimming are more subtle.

6. One of the last topics you discuss is research equipment in swimming, what research equipment do you think is mandatory for a swim team?
TV monitors and cameras on deck allow coaches to give instruction and swimmers to get instant feedback on deck. Waterproof iPads can be placed into the water and create even faster feedback. However, video analysis is still subjective without biomechanics software.

7. You were the head assistant coach at Indiana University with "Doc" Counsilman, what was one thing most people didn't know about "Doc"?
Most people don’t realize how much emphasis he placed on stroke mechanics. Every Sunday when there wasn’t a meet (approximately forty weeks per year) was spent filming underwater from 8AM-3PM. Hard to appreciate what he accomplished with video in the 1970’s without the modern conveniences such as advanced video equipment and underwater windows!

Thanks for a great interview Dr. Prins!

Kicking Improves Arm Strength?

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Ever have a swimmer who only kick a season and gets better? How does this happen?

Cross-education is a phenomenon where the opposite side of the body increases in strength after resistance training to the one side. For example, if you perform biceps curl on your right, then your left biceps increases strength. Recently, the antagonist muscles have been shown to increase in strength on the contralateral side. With the same example, not only does the left biceps increase in strength, but so does the left triceps!

The physiology/neurophysiology behind this phenomenon is unknown, but is potentially due to an overall increase in nervous system signaling.

While working on the Swimming Research Review, I came across a recent article on this topic and started thinking, does strengthening extend to the lower extremity if a swimmer only does upper extremity work. Conversely, do the arms increase in strength/endurance if the swimmer only kicks for a season (ie if they break their arm)? These are questions coaches have wondered for years and research is starting to validate or provide a few answers. Be the coach finding the answer and asking the tough questions to better the sport!

References:

1. Sariyildiz M, Karacan I, Rezvani A, Ergin O, Cidem M. Cross-education of muscle strength: cross-training effects are not confined to untrained contralateral homologous muscle. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2011 Dec;21(6):e359-64.

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

Hyperoxic Air in Swimmers

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Swimming is a unique sport in many realms, specifically breathing. This uniqueness inspired many posts on the subject, The Forgotten Rib Cage, Breathing During Sprinting, and Breathing During Swimming. In short, in events longer than 50 meters, the more oxygen consumed the better. However, this oxygen consumption must not impede forward propulsion.

Seldom are swimmers able to breathe efficiently, but if done properly, results similar to Sun, Torres, and Magnesum; frequent breathing and maximal results.

Despite breathing excessively, even high frequency breathers are unable to prevent all the negative effects of oxygen deficit. Therefore, current research suggests consuming hyperoxia (respiration of air containing a higher partial pressure of oxygen than ambient air) enhances arterial hemoglobin saturation as well as the amount of oxygen dissolved in plasma (Powers et al., 1993; Peltonen et al., 1995).

Hyperoxic (HOX) breathing is also known to augment delivery of O2 to working skeletal muscle cells (Knight et al., 1993; Prieur et al., 2002), as well as the diffusion of O2 into the mitochondria (Knight et al., 1993; Richardson et al., 1999; Prieur et al., 2002).

Obviously, breathing hyperoxia during a race is impossible, but during lactate sets or meets with frequent swim races, this is a possibility. More current research suggest using hyperoxia improves swimming peak and mean power after multiple fifty-second efforts (Sperlich, 2011).

Despite this well documented research for over the past decade, hyperoxia is rarely used even in elite athletes. This is due to the gap between coaches and swimming research. To stay up to date with these trends in research and enhance your coaching and swimming career, subscribe today to the Swimming Research Review and be the best coach possible!

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

Should Female Swimmers Train Differently Than Males: Part II

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Last week we discussed gender training differences of post-pubescent athletes. This week we’ll explore differences in younger athletes. We’d all agree adolescence is a volatile life stage. Boys and girls develop at different paces and thus can have markedly different responses to training, despite being the same or similar age. In this light, the most important consideration is not always gender but instead recognizing periods of rapid growth and acting appropriately on these changes. Many of the post-growth spurt training accommodations are similar for boys and girls, but girls typically hit their growth spurts sooner.

Early teen years are critical for swimming development, but the least experienced coaches are often the ones in charge young age groups. That’s hardly specific to swimming, but coaching age groupers is often “paying your dues” to move up the ranks, as if these ages are unimportant. To the contrary, these years are foundational years and have a profound impact on the rest of a career. It would be presumptuous to call these years “make or break” without definitive evidence, but when you consider the physiology of what occurs during adolescence, certain things happen to the body that will never happen again during the athlete’s life. Coaches must be “sensitive enough to know gender-related differences but not so much so that they form incorrect stereotypes and over-generalize” (USA Swimming 1998).

A key concept in discerning gender differences is Peak Height Velocity (PHV). PHV simply represents the main growth spurt. Every individual is different, but on average girls will achieve PHV sooner than boys. Consider the charts below (from Canadian Sport for Life). The vertical axis represents average yearly growth; the horizontal axis represents age.

PHV typically occurs in girls between ages 11 to 13. Boys typically reach PHV between ages 12 to 14. Note the sharp upticks in both curves preceding PHV. Based on PHV timing, a rapidly developing 12 year old girl may be at a similar development stage to a normal 14-15 year old boy. Interestingly, USA Swimming motivational times align closely with these developmental stages as many girls’ times in the 11-12 age group are less than a second behind boys for similar performance levels (B, BB, A, etc.), which is closer than any other age group.

Training implications: VO2 max, a measure of aerobic capacity, improves significantly during the most rapid phases of growth: 11 to 13 for girls; 12 to 14 for boys (Geithner 2004). Some believe the growth spurt and concomitant increase in aerobic capacity represents a “sensitive period” with a window of opportunity for aerobic training. Think of this period as a time when aerobic training may net a greater return on investment than investments in other areas, as if comparing a financial investment with 5% return versus one with 10%.

While the concept of sensitive periods is widely recognized by many federations, the training implications are not universally accepted due to the present lack of formal research (Ford 2011). Lack of research doesn’t invalidate the concept; it simply means more evidence is needed. Nonetheless, it’s a concept with a sound theoretical basis and is certainly a more targeted than throwing everyone into the same workouts based strictly on time and then later guessing why some improve dramatically while others languish behind. At the very least, it is indisputable a 13 year old girl during a growth spurt is in a very different place in life compared to a late maturing 13 year old boy. Some girls may not reach their PHV until later, and some boys may reach it sooner, but on average expect changes to occur at certain ages.

The corollary to exploiting aerobic gains around PHV is the aerobic base prepares swimmers for anaerobic training in the mid-teen years, after the swimmer has added stature. Boys will add muscle mass via testosterone release. However, girls produce estrogen during these years meaning muscle gain often comes with fat gain. The years after PHV can be trying mentally too. Girls may experience rapid progress during their growth spurt, but struggle with their “new” bodies.

No matter how hard they try, maintaining lean body composition can be difficult, not to mention the emotional toll. It can be frustrating for athletes, coaches, and parents when improvement stalls during this phase, but it’s important to recognize nature’s work and have some patience. Further, if the athlete does not put on weight when expected, it may indicate overtraining or poor diet, both of which require specific interventions.

Managing a team of adolescent personalities is far more art than science, but it helps to understand general personality tendencies. Boys are generally more focused on tangible goals and competition. Think of this as establishing pecking order as in the wild. Girls value learning new skills and the social aspect of sharing activities with friends. If boys want to duke it out and compare times, it’s not productive to resist that tendency. However, since only one person can win each race (other than relays), boys should be reminded to compare themselves to their own past performances rather than investing too much into placement. Likewise, girls pursuing athletics merely for social inclusion is not to be confused with disinterest. It simply comes with the territory at that age.

Conclusion
Adolescence is obviously a time for profound physical and emotional changes. Understanding the unique tendencies of both genders can help optimize training stimuli during rapid growth periods. More study is required to validate the energy system implications, but there’s no doubt swimmers will vary based on gender-specific changes to their bodies during adolescent years.

References

Geithner CA, Thomis MA, Vanden Eynde B, Maes HH, Loos RJ, Peeters M, Claessens AL, Vlietinck R, Malina RM, Beunen GP. Growth in peak aerobic power during adolescence. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Sep;36(9):1616-24.
Ford P, De Ste Croix M, Lloyd R, Meyers R, Moosavi M, Oliver J, Till K, Williams C. The long-term athlete development model: physiological evidence and application. J Sports Sci. 2011 Feb;29(4):389-402.
USA Swimming Sports Science Summit 1998
Canadian Sport for Life Resource Paper

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

How Garmin 910xt can optimize your Swimming Experience

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

If you like to channelize your potential by indulging in multiple sports then Garmin has come up with their best-till-date product Garmin 910xt for you. It is a striking widget that can help you to optimize your performance in cycling, running and swimming. With this exquisite range of attributes, it cannot possibly let you down.

Swimming is a great sport which works out all your major muscle groups, and thus brings out an overall well being, but what would be even better is if you could measure how well you are performing. The 910xt by Garmin is designed both for open water as well as pool swimming. There is a one button switch that shifts you from one sport to another.

As you pick swimming, it gives two basic options, Open Water or Laps. Based on the length of the pool, it provides seconds per length for that pool and gives you performance parameters such as strokes per length, time taken per 100 yards, tracks pace, distance, heart rate and elevation. Other swim metrics including swim stroke recognition, heart rate in beats per minute, distance, pool lengths, average, and zones, swim pace, swim interval time, stroke-per-length and stroke count also come in handy with this appliance.

Not only Garmin 910xt gives the ability to compare swim workouts but also has the ability to read Swim Golf (swolf) score to determine your proficiency by determining the time taken and the number of strokes taken per lap. Combination of a sturdy design and simple operations make it useful for water sports other than swimming too. Another good point for the swimmers, Garmin 910xt watch can also demonstrate graphical stats to for swim workouts.

To track Heart Rate under water, it gives you the liberty of measuring your distance without pressing the lap button each time, which of course is a hindrance in your swim activity. The lap button can be pressed to take a break, and resume later. An excellent feature is that it also keeps a track of switch between the stroke style, and it adjusts it automatically. If you opt for Open Water option, gadget comes forward with capacity of stroke distance over swim. While if you go for Pool setting, distance-per-stroke is computed for each lap.

Garmin 910xt is also compatible with ANT+™ power meters, like Vector™ and Garmin’s pedal-based devices. It does not only provide you with real time data so that you can see how well you are performing under water, but it also lets you transfer your data to satellite or to your personal computer so that you can set goals for yourself and then keep a track of how well you are achieving them on swim metrics.

Easy-to-read and sturdy look and feel combined with an easy-to-wear and carry wrist strap makes Garmin 910xt a favorite among swimmers. Also if you combine running and bicycling experience with swimming, it is an optimal device for you. Go for this versatile gadget and you would not regret it.

By Kathrine Switzer is an ardent cyclist and devoted writer. She is obsessed with high tech gadgets like Heart Rate Monitors, Bicycle Computers and related fitness apparatus. She would be delighted if you follow her writings on various fitness, health and technology blogs or simply on twitter @KathrineSwitzer

Weekly Round-up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Friday Interview: Dick Hannula

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

1. Please introduce yourself to the readers (how you started in the profession, education, credentials, experience, etc.).

Dick Hannula - My first high school teaching position included coaching boys' swimming. Having been a high school and college swimmer, that got me the teaching position. Coached high school boys' swimming for 32 years. Founded the Tacoma Swim Club and the head coach for 42 years.

2. Who has most influenced your career in swimming?

John Tallman and Bob Miller. John, a former U of Washington coach from the scientific standpoint. Bob, a former Cascade S.C. coach, from the "hard work" ethic.

3. As a co-editor for The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II, I'm sure you were involved in deciding which coaches contributed to each chapter. How does this process work?

Nort Thornton and I selected the authors. The best coach that we considered the most qualified for a particular topic was approached first.

4. A lot of our readers are interested in contributing to the sport of swimming (in regards to writing), how would you suggest they get started?

Submit articles to the American Swim Coaches Association (John Leonard) and/or to NISCA (Tom Caccia - editor) for possible inclusion in their respective Journals. The same could be done to Swimming World magazine.

5. If you had to pick one, which is your favorite chapter in The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II?

I would hate to pick one as my favorite as I enjoyed and learned from each chapter. Since I am now retired, I appreciated Ch. 4 - Mastering Swimming Through The Years - as an incentive to maintaining personal fitness through all the years of life. I also found Chapter 24 - Positive Communication, Positive Results - to be of use beyond my active coaching years. This chapter was big on the art of coaching and that seems to be where most coaches fall short.

6. In The Swim Coaching Bible Volume II, your chapter discusses starts and turns. In the beginning of the chapter you talk about the importance of streamlining. What is the biggest flaw seen in streamline?

Not staying with it day in and day out. Swimmers in intense training often begin to ease off in continually streamling (really super torpedo streamling) off every wall in practice. Coaches must not compromise on this aspect with their swimmers.

7. Do you coach biceps against the ears or slightly behind the ears? Or does it depend on flexibility/strength? If so, how d you determine which style to use?

Behind or on the far back portion of the ears.

8. What is your view on the front-weighted and rear-weighted track start?

Good question and the newer starting blocks are increasing emphasis on the back weighted. We had flat starting blocks through most all of my coaching and front weighted was the norm.

9. How will the new Omega track blocks alter starting biomechanics?

No experience with this starting block but it should lead to major thrust from the back leg and a more direct flight pattern off the blocks - out and less up.

10. What is the biggest flaw seen in freestyle and backstroke turns? How do you suggest addressing this flaw?

I always go back to streamlining as the major flaw in most cases. Another would be the slowing down of the momentum into the wall. The ability to use a solid strong arm pull on the final approach to get your feet on the wall with the most momentum possible.

11. What is your favorite attraction at the Point Defiance Zoo?

I haven't been to the Pt. Defiance Zoo in a huge number of years but when I did I focused on the aquarium. The Pt. Defiance Park was where I did almost all my running for more than 30 years.

12. What projects can we look for you in the future?

I hope I have written my last book but I probably will continue to write articles for the NISCA Journal (National Interscholastic Swim Coaches' Association). This is something I have done for a great number of years.

Thanks Dick!

We highly suggest picking up the Swim Coaching Bible Volume II, great read!

Two Styles of Fly

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Sports science is always lagging behind the top athletes. At Swim Sci, we strive to stay true to sports science with products like the Swimming Research Review, but realize elite athletes are ahead of the research. Science confirms theories to improve athletes outside the top .001%. This piece speculates on the most commonly seen forms of butterfly. These types of fly have minimal research supporting their efficiency, but are seen at any top swim meet, suggesting efficiency exist. This piece attempts to step beyond the research, hopefully providing researchers an area to look and non-elite swimmers to improve.

Elite flyers typically use two different styles. The body driven and shoulder driven strokes, with associated pros and cons.

Upper Back of Phelps vs. Cavic

Shoulder Driven

PROS: This style focuses on the shoulder muscles to maximize propulsion. In this stroke, the shoulder blades are held together, providing a stable base for the arms to propel the body forward. This stroke uses no outsweep during the entry, but goes directly into the catch. Going right into the catch increases stroke tempo, stroke rate, necessary for 50 and 100 (most likely yards) distances.

CONS: Does not concentrate on the whole body, specifically the core, causing poor force transferring from the chest to the feet. This leads to high lactic acid and hydrogen ion production. Moreover, the higher tempo increases the amount of strokes and increases the likelihood of fatigue, once again increasing lactic acid and hydrogen ion production. A rhythm is harder to maintain with this style, since the stroke concentrates on the upper body and a higher tempo. Hard/Impossible to maintain tempo and speed for 200 and whole 100 meter distance.

BENEFITS: Swimmers with a strong upper body, short torso, swimming sprint fly (50 meter and yard, 100 yard, some 100 meter).

Body Driven

PROS: Uses the body as a whip to transfer energy from the chest to the hips to the feet. More rhythmic style as it uses the whole body, decreasing lactic acid and hydrogen ion production. It allows swimmers to breathe more often, as it uses higher amplitude with the body. However, the higher amplitude is seen to bring the hips up, not the chest up. Uses an outsweep following the entry to increase distance per stroke.

CONS: Use of outsweep results in a slower tempo and does not use stable shoulder blades to propel the body forward.

BENEFITS: Swimmers with a slower tempo, longer torso, swimming middle to distance fly (100 meter, 200 yard and meter).

Hips of Phelps vs. Cavic

Hybrid

Similar to the three styles of freestyle, a combination of these fly styles is possible during the 100 and 200 yard/meter races. However, this is less commonly seen as fly is a more rhythmic stroke than freestyle. In the future, a hybrid stroke may be more common, but isn’t typically used by elite flyers.

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System and Swimming Research Review.

Tips to Improve Shoulder Inflammation

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Inflammation is the first stage of any musculoskeletal injury. This process involves infiltration of many inflammatory signaling cells (cytokines). If irritation continues, than inflammation will not subside. Therefore, it is essential to improve inflammation as soon as possible. Once inflammation resolves, assessing muscle length, strength, and timing is essential.

In some cases, inflammation surrounds the joint, in other cases the bursae are inflamed, as in bursitis. Bursae are closed, round, flattened sacs that are lined by synovium and separate bare areas of bone from overlapping muscles (deep bursae) or skin and tendons (superficial bursae). They are present in areas of high friction and believed to decrease rubbing and absorb some of the pressure associated with the joint.

Deep bursae develop in fetal life, whereas superficial bursae form within months to several years after birth, suggesting that direct pressure and friction stimulates their development. For example, some of these sacs develop in response to environment, suggesting swimmers would have a higher volume of bursae in the shoulder to handle the high volume of overhead movements in swimming.

Whether you have bursitis or joint inflammation, decreasing inflammation is essential for improvement. Think about it, if you have too much fluid in a confined area, then mechanical pressure increases on nocioceptors (read TENS for shoulder pain) and pain persist. Luckily, everyone has the tools at home to improve inflammation with minimal cost or drug prescription from a physician.

Tips to Improve Shoulder Inflammation

Improve your diet: Improving your Omega-3 profile decreases inflammation. Read more about anti-inflammatory foods.
Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS): Storied physician Dr. Janda suggests taking 600 mg three times a day to improve inflammation (for a 150 pound athlete). This high dose ensures the blood reaches titer level. Make sure to take this dose with food to decrease stomach irritation and if you take other medication, make sure no potential side effects are present. If stomach irritation occurs, decrease intake immediately.
Ice: Ice the joint for twenty minutes three times a day to decrease pain via counter irritation and relax the anti-inflammatory cytokines.
Kinesiotape: Certain taping procedures are believed to help move excess fluid from the joint to the lymph nodes to resolve inflammation.

For more tips on inflammation and improving shoulder pain, buy Swimmer's Shoulder System today.

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

Community Accelerated Information

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Information integration has transitioned over the past decades. People used to gather information from one source, assuming the information was correct and complete. These were the days of newspapers and one swim program per city. During this time no one questioned the popular belief or opinion. In swimming, swimmers swam on one program, then coached at the same program transferring the team's philosophy and belief. This method of information helped programs be on the same page and work in harmony. This harmony helped team's work together, but information was static. No new information came in, impaired creativity and perpetuated ecclesiastical beliefs.

New technology has changed information; unfortunately many swim programs remain stagnant. Think of all the new technology and information available to anyone on the internet. Every morning I open Google Reader to 50+ articles ranging from swimming, rehabilitation, prevention, science, and fantasy baseball (Razzball has the best humor and information, trust me). Despite the information influx, progress isn't automatic.

Now, obtaining information is easy, but siphoning through all the information is difficult, but essential. Everyone with a keyboard has a blog, vlog or www.creedthoughts.gov.www\creedthoughts where they profess their new, ground breaking information to their loyal readers. Luckily, when used properly this flux of information can accelerate progress, creativity, and learning for the whole community via community accelerated information (CAI).

Youtube has brought videos to everyone over the world. Some dancing and singing groups have formed via Youtube, creating dance groups from across the globe. This integration has brought people together who would have never met before. More importantly, learning and progressing oneself is easier via Youtube. If you're a motivated high school swimmer on a local YMCA team with minimal resources and a volunteer coach it is possible to watch and learn from elite athletes and coaches online on Youtube or other websites. This doesn't only improve amateurs, but elite athletes and coaches benefit as well (see Mirrored Swimming and Underwater Video Analysis Software Review).

No time

As a coach or avid swim fan, you are undoubtedly busy. Therefore, you are unable to siphon through all the crap on the internet and find, reliable, beneficial articles. The goal of the Swimming Research Review is to accelerate learning and information by providing a reliable, unbiased review of all the current literature pertinent to enhance the sport of swimming.

Professions Image
I've observed many coaches who back into the sport of swimming. Whether they see no other options or wish to prolong their senior swimming campaigns, many swim coaches don't view their job as their profession. This group solely views their involvement as a paycheck. These coaches will fall behind in a CAI world. CAI will leave some coaches behind. Don't be forgotten and grouped with mentally impaired physical education instructors, be creative, innovative and advanced! Take part in CAI and let Swimming Science review all the research studies and summarize the important aspects of each piece. This will save you time, money, and sanity to become a better coach!

Swimming Science is expanding on the idea of the weekly round-up with a monthly Swimming Research Review. For $10/month, you will receive a review of 30-50 publications summarizing recent research on swimming, injury prevention, physiology, strength and conditioning, and biomechanics. The cost of all these journals would amount to over $1,000 per year can be yours for only $10/month.

If you're a coach, we know you're busy and don't have time to do all the research, let us congregate all the articles and tell you the important points to make you a better coach and swimmer! Sign-up today for the June issue!

Should Female Swimmers Train Differently Than Males?

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Swimming is a unique sport in which female performances can approach and even exceed the men with regularity. Even compared to running (another sport with high female participation), gender performances in swimming are more closely aligned, particularly as event duration increases (Tanaka 1997). In swimming, males and females with similar fitness often train alongside each other; almost in equal proportion at the early age group and masters environments. If you’re a guy who can’t take losing to girls, age group and masters swimming are the wrong places for you! In this article, we’ll address physiological and training differences between genders in post-adolescence. The physiological differences can be profound during the teen years and merit a separate article.

We have many options for establishing training groups. At one extreme we have one program for an entire team. At the other extreme we have individual programs for every single swimmer. Most teams meet somewhere in the middle. Can inherent gender differences help refine our training approaches to make the best group training compromises? In general, both lab experiments and race results indicate female athletes are relatively more resistant to fatigue, when fatigue is measured as the ability to sustain a workload at a given percentage of max effort. As event distance increases, females close the gap to males. In fact, some of the best times in open water challenges belong to female swimmers (Tanaka 1997) .

But while comparing performances is interesting, it doesn’t give us all the information we need to assess training implications. Different athletes, whether male or female, can respond to training stimuli differently even if fitness levels are similar. Some variables are difficult to isolate in the field, though gender is a fairly easy one to identify!

While females generally demonstrate better fatigue resistance, this condition is not absolute. Avin (2010) observed that gender differences in fatigue resistance are task and muscle dependent. In isometric contractions to failure at 50% of max capability, women were more fatigue resistant than men at the elbow but not at the ankle. However, men produced greater peak torque values at both joints. Peak pain, rate of pain increase, peak exertion, EMG, and baseline physical activity did not differ between sexes.

Perhaps the most critical implication of gender differences is recovery. One corollary to increased fatigue resistance is rapid recovery, though the two conditions aren’t always linked. Recovery differences are clear in literature of both strength and energy production. Judge (2010) compared recovery times of males and females after a series of 5RM (rep max) bench press efforts, which were used to establish 1RM. Subjects performed bench press tests over three weeks with varying recovery periods : 4, 24 or 48 hours. Males demonstrated significant strength loss in all but the 48 hour recovery period. Females did not experience strength loss at any rest interval.

Hakkinen (1993) noted similar results in a muscular endurance test, a 20RM squat. Within first hour post-test, females lost significantly less strength compared to males, but at subsequent checkpoints (2 hours, one day, two days) the recovery rate was similar. Despite these differences, it does not follow that female dryland training should focus on endurance. In fact, many suggest that females have a greater need to train for strength and power.

Although formal research is limited as to recovery differences in the water, we can glean valuable information from metabolic studies on land. Esbjörnsson-Liljedahl (1999) compared females and males in a single 30 second sprint test. Females demonstrated lower blood lactate production but there was no difference ATP, creatatine phosphate, and glycogen loss in Type II (fast twitch) fibers. However, women lost less glycogen than men in Type I (slow twitch) fibers. During a repeated sprint task, Esbjörnsson-Liljedahl (2002) also found that females had smaller reduction and faster recovery of ATP.

One mechanism behind the results discussed above may be that added growth hormone release promotes faster regeneration. Both continuous exercise and repeated sprint exercise have been shown to induce a greater growth hormone release in females. Pritzlaff-Roy (2002) conducted graded treadmill testing and noted that each increase in exercise intensity resulted in a greater incremental increase of growth hormone in women as compared to men. Similarly, Esbjörnsson (2009) observed that both growth hormone and insulin response were greater in females after repeated sprint exercise.

Another factor to explain performance differences is economy, which is simply the energy cost exercise. Females generally are more economical in the water, due in part to having less overall lean body mass and possibly more adipose tissue (fat mass). Increased muscle mass offers greater power production but comes at a higher energy cost. The differences in swimming economy are greater as compared to land-based activity due to the added buoyancy by having a lower percentage of lean body mass. Pendergrast (1977) noted the following:

“[T]he energy cost of swimming the freestyle has been shown to be significantly higher (i.e., lower economy) for men than for women performing similar training programs. This means that the energy cost of swimming one unit distance per unit SA for the male Olympic swimmers was 1.29 greater than that for their female colleagues...The higher economy of women has been attributed to smaller body size (resulting in smaller body drag), smaller body density, and greater fat percent and shorter legs (resulting in a more horizontal and streamlined position)”

Conclusion
The question remains…should females train differently than males of similar ability? It’s a tough question to answer due to the multitude of variables to consider, especially during early development. Developmental differences may be a topic for a future post. Though gender alone should not drive training decisions in mature athletes, gender differences may explain different responses to training and may help guide further interventions for a particular athlete or group of similar athletes.

References

Judge LW, Burke JR. The effect of recovery time on strength performance following a high-intensity bench press workout in males and females. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2010 Jun;5(2):184-96.

Avin KG, Naughton MR, Ford BW, Moore HE, Monitto-Webber MN, Stark AM, Gentile AJ, Law LA. Sex differences in fatigue resistance are muscle group dependent. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Oct;42(10):1943-50.

Häkkinen K. Neuromuscular fatigue and recovery in male and female athletes during heavy resistance exercise. Int J Sports Med. 1993 Feb;14(2):53-9.

Tanaka H, Seals DR. Age and gender interactions in physiological functional capacity: insight from swimming performance. J Appl Physiol. 1997 Mar;82(3):846-51.

Pendergast D. R., Prampero P. E. D., Craig A. B., Wilson D. R.,Rennie D. W. Quantitative analysis of the front crawl in men and women. J. Appl. Physiol. 43:475–479. (1977)

Esbjörnsson-Liljedahl M, Sundberg CJ, Norman B, Jansson E. Metabolic response in type I and type II muscle fibers during a 30-s cycle sprint in men and women. J Appl Physiol. 1999 Oct;87(4):1326-32.

Esbjörnsson-Liljedahl M, Bodin K, Jansson E. Smaller muscle ATP reduction in women than in men by repeated bouts of sprint exercise. J Appl Physiol. 2002 Sep;93(3):1075-83.

Pritzlaff-Roy CJ, Widemen L, Weltman JY, Abbott R, Gutgesell M, Hartman ML, Veldhuis JD, Weltman A. Gender governs the relationship between exercise intensity and growth hormone release in young adults. J Appl Physiol. 2002 May;92(5):2053-60.

Esbjörnsson M, Norman B, Suchdev S, Viru M, Lindhgren A, Jansson E. Greater growth hormone and insulin response in women than in men during repeated bouts ofsprint exercise. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2009 Oct;197(2):107-15. Epub 2009 Apr 27.

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

Weekly Round-up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Those who have read these round-up consistently have noticed a slight difference in the articles posted. Over the past few weeks, the round-up has transitioned to a collection of scientific blog entries. The reason for the transition has been a new project we've developed at Swim Sci, the Swimming Research Review. The Swimming Research Review will be a monthly collection of approximately 40 scientific article reviews covering swimming, strength and conditioning, physical therapy, sports psychology, and nutrition. This concise monthly review will give coaches the ability to stay up-to-date with research to make them better coaches!

The goal of this product isn't to turn every coach into a researcher, but to save time for coaches striving to get better and make their swimmers, but don't necessarily have the time due to time spent on the deck. The first Swimming Research Review is June, stay tuned for more links and information. The cost for this review will only be $10/month, ensuring every coach the opportunity to get better at their career. Stay tuned for an example of the review and strive to get better in every realm of your life! Coaching is not a job, it is a career, give your swimmers the tools for success!

Friday Interview: Katinka Hosszu

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

1. Please introduce yourself to the readers (how you started in swimming, education, experience, etc.).

I grew up in Baja, Hungary. My grandfather taught me to swim when I was about two or three years old. I spent most of my childhood at the pool playing in the water and hanging out with my grandfather. I started to go to practices regularly when I turned six. The first time I was on the Hungarian National team when I was thirteen. After finishing high school in Hungary, I had the chance to come to the U.S. and continue my education and swimming career at the University of Southern California.

2. What is your pre-race warm-up?

My pre-race warm-up is a little bit different each time depends on how my body feels in the water and how ready I am to race. Usually I do about 30 minutes in the water mix up with kicking, pulling, drills and some sprints at the end. Then I do about 10 minutes dryland stretching, and finally I get in the water right before the race with my racing suit on for some sprints for about 5-10 minutes.

3. How do you incorporate mobility training into your routine during the year and at a meet?

Through out my training growing up, I did a lot of stretching and mobility work, which is clearly paying off now as I am quite flexible. I continue to do yoga and stretching on a regular basis, although my focus is mainly on my water training lately.

4. Do you follow any nutritional guidelines? What about at a meet?

I try to eat as healthy as possible, lots of protein and vegetables. During hard training I eat more carbohydrates than on taper, and during meets I try to maintain my diet, and varies how much I eat depends on the intensity and the quantity of my events.

5. Do you take any supplements?

I do not take any supplements; I believe that with a balance diet I can get everything that my body needs.

6. How do you incorporate strength training into your program?

This year I do not lift weights, I only do body weight dryalnd, such as abs, stretch cords and some running.

7. Do you think IMers need to train differently than other swimmers?

I think different stroke swimmers need to train slightly different from one another. And of course, the distance of the event determine even more how a swimmer needs to train. In the case of IMers, each stroke is very important, but practicing the strokes individually is just as important as practicing the transition between the strokes.

8. What exercises (dryland, drills, etc.) have most helped you become an elite IMer?

In the water I need to work on my breaststroke constantly, because that is my weakest stroke, which continues to need little improvements andchanges. I do a lot of breaststroke drills, especially the ones focusing on timing the kick and pull. For the 400 IM, I need a lot of endurance, and running seem to help me a lot with that.

9. What is the most common flaw between your good and elite IMers (race strategy, etc.)?

IMers swim the race differently depending on which stroke is their strength and weakness. An elite IMer knows their own race and can focus on how they need to swim the race no matter how someone else is swimming next to them with different stronger and weaker strokes.

10. What are your goals and plans to reach these goals in the upcoming year?

My goal is to swim my best times on the IM events and 200 fly during the London Olympics. I recently had a very promising NCAA Championships, which ensures me that I am training the right way. So I will try to continue my training all the way until the Games. I will be competing at the European Championships in May which will be a good “check up on my training.

Thanks Katinka

Muscular Rhythm

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Many have difficulties turning on and off muscles. The rapid ability to activate, then relax muscles is essential in all elite athletes. Dr. McGill of the University of Waterloo described this ability in detail, specifically for an MMA fighter in this video.

Learning how to rapidly turn on and off muscles is essential in swimming. In short axis strokes, the ability to shorten and extend is essential. In long axis strokes, the ability to rapidly rotate, and then relax and extend on one side is essential for any race over 50 meters.

It is obvious many swimmers use rapid acceleration and deceleration in their stroke (especially over 100 meters), but many coaches instill symmetry in swimmers. Does this symmetry actually exist, especially in freestyle? Does preaching symmetry inhibit success and the ability to coordinate muscles with maximal relaxation?

Despite common belief, activating muscles isn't the only difference between elite and novice athletes, so is relaxing muscles!

In every race relaxation is mandatory. Beginner swimmers have difficulties relaxing on fly and breast, causing them to stress and fight during the relaxed recovery. This coordination improves over time and correlates with swimming improvement.

Think about it, you watch Michael Phelps at the Olympics and wow, he makes it look easier. This is because he and other top swimmers are able to relax during stressful times. This is similar to acting, where the elite actors make acting look easy, because they stay relaxed under stressful situations. Compare Michael Phelps on SNL to his 200 fly. Where does he look more relaxed? Where is he more successful? Relaxation and success go hand in hand, learn how to relax during stress and success will follow.

Michael Phelps Diet

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

Low Back Instability in Swimmers

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Excessive low back movement is directly correlated with low back pain. Excessive shoulder range of motion directly correlates with shoulder pain. Excessive ankle mobility directly correlates with ankle pain. Therefore, learning how to control these joints and providing adequate stability at each segment is essential. However, how does a coach know if an athlete has excessive mobility?

I recently received an e-mail from a level 5 ASCA coach asking about instability. There are tests to find if an athlete has excessive mobility: Beighton score.

Hypermobility is a double-edged sword. In certain areas, hypermobility is beneficial and necessary to force production. For example, a swimmer is able to grab more water with an early vertical forearm when they have greater internal rotation at the shoulder. However, too much range of motion at specific joints leads to instability. Addressing this fine-line is essential, but fragile.

The same holds true for the low back. Many push swimmers to utilize more range of motion at the low back, especially during dolphin kick, to increase force production, but the low back minimally contributes to flexion and extension. Also, forcing excess movement at this joint leads to instability, the most common form of low back pain in athletes. Improving stability at these joints is essential for injury prevention. Therefore, preventive exercises which use a full range of motion are required, because obtaining stability within a small range of motion is easy. Body builders have great stability, but their range of motion is minimal. It is essential for the athlete with hypermobility to obtain strength through their whole range of motion.

The Beighton score should be a small part of the yearly movement screen performed on all elite swimmers to determine tight, loose, weak, hyperactive areas for injury prevention and sports optimization.

Low Back Stability

Lumbar segmental instability is believed to be the source of pathomechanics responsible for “mechanical low back pain”.

There are three stabilizing systems of the spine

Panjabi describes 3 components that are responsible for providing stability to the spine.

Passive-inert structures such as disc, facet joints, ligaments
Active-spinal muscles
Control-neuromuscular coordination and motor control

Integrating these subsystems is important for normal motion and prevention of faulty mechanics. If one subsystem fails the other subsystems will have more stress placed on them to compensate. Having proper muscle length, strength, and timing is essential to prevent the passive structures from being excessively stressed. If the disc, facets, and ligaments are excessively strained due to poor motor or active control, then your hypermobile swimmer will be sidelined.

Instability of the Low Back

Kaigle (1995) experimentally produces instability by disrupting structures of the spine. Instability was demonstrated with diminished disc height, removal of facet joints, and disruption of ligaments. Severe disc degeneration allowed the most shearing.

Synder-Mackler (1994) has pointed out that not all people who demonstrate hypermobility incur injuries (ACL deficient knees). Therefore those people who can compensate with muscular activity can overcome deficits caused by damage or loss of inert structures. The more mobility by an athlete, the more stability required.

Hides (1994) demonstrated that the multifidi adjacent to an injured vertebral segment would atrophy. Damage to any area causes a muscle to atrophy and a loss of control. THIS CAN BE PREVENTED WITH PROPER SCREENS PRIOR TO THE SEASON!

O'Sullivan (1998) demonstrated altered abdominal recruitment in patients with chronic low back pain

Hodges and Hides (1996) showed that the recovery of multifidi is not spontaneous following injury to the low back

Shiovan (1993) demonstrated that multifidi remain inhibited following lumbar laminectomies

Dannels (2001) demonstrates increase in multifidi CSA (cross sectional-area) in patients with chronic LBP(low back pain) who had undergone atrophy. Only noted hypertrophy with static “stabilization exercises”

Hicks (2003) identified 3 clinical tests as being reliable among experienced clinicians for identifying lumbar instability. Prone instability test, beighton ligamentous laxity scale, and aberrant motion of trunk

Hicks (2005) identified 4 variables which predicted success with a 8 week stabilization program:

positive prone instability test
presence of aberrant movements
age less than 40
SLR greater than 91

Those factors that predicted patients likely to fail with stabilizaiton:

negative prone instaiblity test
absence of aberrant movement
FABQ >9
no hypermobility detected with spring testing of L/spine

IT IS ESSENTIAL TO CATCH THE ATHLETE WITH INSTABILITY BEFORE THEY HAVE THE FOLLOWING PREDICTORS FOR FAILURE!

Greiner and McGill (2007) demonstrated abdominal bracing to be superior to abdominal hallowing (specific TA) in producing stabilizing effect on the spine. Bracing improves stability by 32% whereas hallowing improved stability by .14%

Flynn (2002) developed CPR for those patients with LBP who would respond to manipulation:

lumbar hypomobility
hip IR >35 degrees
no symptoms distal to knees
recent onset <16 days
FABQ <19
4 out of 5 present manipulation was successful 95% of time

Fritz (2007) determined there is a subgroup of patients who respond well to (mechanical) traction this group was identified as:

having sciatica
signs of nerve root compression
either peripheralization with extension
+crossed SLR test

There are out of water screens specifically made for land based sports, Functional Movement Screen. This is an excellent starting point for swimmers, but swimmers use unique movements without the support of the ground. Therefore, a more stroke specific assessment for assessing strengths and weakness out of the pool is mandatory. At COR, we utilize a Movement Screen specifically looking at motions necessary for swimmers. If they are unable to perform these motions, what is the likelihood they can do it in the pool??? Slim to NONE!

This video demonstrates a swimming specific test for core and hip stability as used in breaststroke.

Exercises addressing these flaws should be administered and dryland should incorporate (not be the only thing) improving these flaws. Too often teams have everyone do the same dryland. Nick Folker recently said in an interview that two elite NCAA 100 breast swimmers (Damir Dugonjic and Sean Mahoney) preformed completely different drylands. EVEN THOUGH THEY SWIM THE SAME EVENT DOESN'T MEAN THEY HAVE THE SAME NEEDS! Individualization is essential for elite swimmers and it is paying off the CAL Bears!

This individualization is feasible for every club! Making subtle differences to address flaws is mandatory! Make sure your athletes are safe, then provide them the tools to be elite!

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

Force Couples in Swimming

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Force couples are a familiar term around rehabilitation tables, but seldom discussed on the pool deck. A simple way to think about a force couple is to imagine a pulley system. A pulley-system improves via pulling on one side, or pushing the other end. Even those areas are doing opposing actions; they are coupled to the same result.

A common anatomical force couple is the shoulder blade muscles. In the shoulder blade, certain muscles pull while others push the shoulder blade to achieve shoulder blade upward rotation. This upward rotation is essential to remove the shoulder rotator cuff muscle out of the way of the acromion.

In swimming force couples are groups of muscles performing different tasks to achieve the same goal. On of these force couples is evident in the hip driven freestyle. For example, as the catch occurs on the left side, the spine is rotating left, the right knee and hip are performing flexion. This combined movement is used to seamlessly vortex the body through the water.

Another force couple is during fly. During the initial catch, the hips and spine are flexing, drive water from different areas past one another to maximize propulsion.

Can you think of any other force couples?

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

The Forgotten Rib Cage

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 06 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

The rib cage is the forgotten workhorse of the upper body. Shoulders have vast ranges of motion in all planes and allow many forms of dynamic movements, from all four swim strokes to throwing a baseball. The shoulder has become its own subspecialty in medicine and performance. The lumbar spine is itself multibillion dollar industry from low back pain to six pack abs. The thoracic spine has recently garnered much attention for its role in upper body mobility.

The rib cage quietly protects the heart and lungs, but doesn’t get much appreciation for its work. Because quantifiable measurement is more difficult with the rib cage than other joints, there’s a dearth of formal study compared to other bodily areas. Frequently, the rib cage relies on outside sources for movement, such as the spine, lungs, low back, and even the neck. Although the rib cage may seem like a passive guardian, consider all the muscles connected to the rib cage involved with every single breath.

The rib cage is vitally important for swimming. Obviously breathing involves the ribs, but also consider all four strokes themselves. Sarro (2008) used 3D motion analysis on the rib cage and found better thoracoabdominal coordination in swimmers than nonswimmers. We could probably reach this conclusion with the naked eye (just watch a novice swim butterfly) but it is helpful to have quantified confirmation as a precursor to further research. I’m unaware of any study comparing trained swimmers to each other, as it would be interesting to know whether rib cage movements can explain differences in stroke proficiency. Nevertheless, given that the serratus anterior connects with the rib cage, how we use the rib cage can have a profound effect on shoulder stability, both in water and on land. When we lose serratus anterior stability, the shoulder joint becomes vulnerable.

On dryland, however, rib cage issues are sometimes obvious. Consider the picture below….

This is a rotated view of a young lady performing thoracic spine mobilizations with a set of tennis balls on the ground. On the left picture, she’s in the thoracic extension phase of the exercise. Head and upper back posture are relatively neutral. (It also looks like her face may be slightly red too, possibly from breath holding…). But what’s that rib cage doing? It’s protruding forward, meaning there’s a stretch on the diaphragm and abdominals. This stretch naturally decreases the strength of these muscles. You’ve probably seen this on deck when swimmers perform overhead stretches. Those who lack thoracic extension and glenohumeral mobility often cheat via the rib cage. Others lose rib cage centration when cued to depress and retract the shoulder blades.

Now look at the picture on the right, during the flexion part of the exercise. She’s brought the rib cage back into alignment, but with a kyphotic upper back and forward head posture. Fix one thing, and something else moves out of place! The tennis balls do affect the curve but it’s clear she’s protruding the head forward rather than creating a natural flexion along the entire back. And yes, it is possible to extend the thoracic spine without losing rib cage centration. Optimal performance of this exercise involves a centered rib cage along with neutral upper body posture.

So how do we achieve a centered rib cage, neutral head, and neutral non-kyphotic posture simultaneously? First, we need to set the rib cage in neutral. One way is to use the breath in the cat vomit exercise. Forced exhalation uses the rib cage muscles and abdominals. You can set the rib cage just with flexion and no breath assistance, but I find the cat vomit exercise is a stronger stimulus and better learning tol. If you know your swimmer very well, you can also offer manual assistance to guide the movement or treat this as a partner exercise.

Next, perform thoracic extension or shoulder flexion exercises while keeping the rib cage centered. For some this will be an extremely difficult task, though some might find the exercises easier because the abdominals and diaphragm provide stability that was not previously there. The ribs can expand slightly with lung expansion but the rib cage angle should stay neutral and not tilt backward or forward.

Those with lower crossed posture often exhibit a posteriorly tilted rib cage; remember that abdominals, which support the rib cage, can be inhibited as part of the postural syndromes. Though it may seem like you lose shoulder mobility initially when centering the rib cage, if you can’t raise the arms and keep the rib cage centered, you probably didn’t have mobility to begin with. Stick with this cue and you’ll benefit in the longer term.

You can also facilitate thoracic rotation with the rib cage via rib grab mobilizations.

Cue inhalation on the rotation and exhale on returning to the start position. Just as breathing will affect flexion and extension, it can also be used to facilitate rotation. It’s all related!

Conclusion
The rib cage is more than a passive protector of internal organs and a mere puppet of respiration. Though it’s not a body part amenable to cueing in the water, better rib cage function can free the swimmer of restrictions. Most importantly, optimal rib cage function via breathing, posture, and movement can improve shoulder health.

Reference

Sarro K, Silvatti A, Barros R. Coordination between ribs motion and thoracoabdominal volumes in swimmers. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2008) 7, 195-200.

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

Weekly Round-up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 06 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

How to introduce power phases for athletes, read here.
Deadllift or squat, what's the diff? Read here.
Dryland tip: standing windmill, read here.
Science of Performance: Diurnal Variation, read here.
Faster repair of broken bones, read here.
Hydration differences, read here.

Friday Interview: Glenn Mills

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

1. Please introduce yourself to the readers. Include how you got started in the profession, education, credentials, experience, etc

I started coaching right when I got out of college. I didn’t really even want to coach, so I got a job in the business world, but I guess I needed something to ground me... so I volunteered with Cleveland State University and just hung out with the guys. I ended up proving that I wasn’t any good in the business world, and actually, wasn’t a very good coach either, but figured I had a better chance of making an impact in something I already had a head start in... so I got in to coaching more deeply.

At this point, we’ve produced over 35 swimming DVDs, over 400 drills for free distribution through YouTube, our app, and various distribution sources. My business partner, Barbara Hummel, and I have done what we can to contribute something to the swimming community, and we hope we have.

I’m as ASCA Level 5 Coach based on Education and Contribution, not on my work in coaching... I’ve served as a volunteer mainly since starting Go Swim, which is 10 years ago. I’ve had the honor of working with Dave Durden, while he was at Maryland, and Bill Roberts at Navy. They’ve allowed me to help and work alongside them.

2. How do you go about learning new information? Do you read websites, magazines, research journals, talk to colleagues, etc.?

A lot of networking, teaching, coaching, working with great athletes, and a constant researching of anything online dealing with swimming. I’ve been involved with swimming for 45 years now, and have made a lot of friends who have accomplished great things. These friends are very generous with their knowledge and I hope people feel the same about me.

3. What aspect of coaching do you feel swim coaches don't do particularly well?

That’s a tough one. We all know there are good coaches, and not so good coaches. We’re all afraid to say that poor coaches exist, but you can’t have good without the bad. Good coaches do everything in their power to help their athletes succeed, no matter if the athlete thinks it’s in their best interest or not. Poor coaches give workouts... that’s it.
It’s the attention to the details that’s needed in this sport, and trying to match the Tyler Clary, or Robert Margalis type of workouts prior to the athlete’s knowledge of why they’re doing it, and how to apply specific techniques, is prematurely training someone for what they’re just not ready to do.

If anything, I’d say we seek performance prior to developing skills that can lead to ultimate performance for that specific athlete. It’s a patience thing, and this is NOT exclusively a swimming coach issue, it’s a life issue.

4. What do you think is the biggest benefit of underwater filming?

If it’s watching the greats, it’s imprinting mental images on what you’re trying to accomplish. If it’s evaluation a swimmer’s stroke, it’s the realization of how far away you are from those great athletes.

That’s said a bit tongue in cheek, because we have to realize, what the great swimmers are doing is good for them. While it may be right for many people, it may not be right for that one specific swimmer you’re working with. That’s our goal with why we have so many various swimmers... the goal is to grow your own individual knowledge base as a coach or a swimmer, so you have the tool, or answer for anything you see or experience. It’s not and never can be about learning one set of drills, it’s about understanding as many variables as possible so you have a potential solution to a situation you’re presented with as a teacher, coach, or athlete.

5. What are the most common flaws you note in elite swimmers?

Man... that’s something I try to never look at. Since every human is constructed differently, and since I’m not a doctor, I don’t know what their physiological make up is that makes them do the things they do the way they do it. Who am I to say any elite athlete is doing something wrong? Especially these days when the majority of the “elite” swimmers are doing this for a living. Once real $$ is on the line, wouldn’t you do everything in your power you could to get better?

Also, these elite swimmers we work with are also working with some of the most accomplished coaches. The elite athletes are typically in a partnership relationship with their coach (not a business sense, but a working partnership). There needs to be feedback between the athlete and coach, and what the public, you and I, see, is the final result of a work that has that athlete where they are when they’re performing.
As outsiders to the elite of the elite, our job should be to look at the pros and say, “why did they get to that result?” rather than saying, “I’d change that”. Unless you’re involved in the work, you don’t know why they’ve come to the conclusion that we see. We just don’t have the full story, and this ain’t football... where on Monday morning, we can sit back and say... WHY DID HE RUN UP THE MIDDLE ON 3RD AND 8?!?!?!

6. What corrections do you use to correct these flaws?

So, let’s say when working with a great swimmer, I see something very questionable. Like I said previously, I'm not there to correct these people, I'm there to learn why they do what they do, and how they got to that point. If it's something they didn't know they did, then I'll only try to make them aware of it and see how they react. They have coaches, and I'm merely someone visiting and getting a very close up look at what they do.

7. What types of cueing do you use to cause a correction?

As above, if it's one of the Olympians I work with, it's only making them aware of what they do. Chances are very good, that by the time I'm working with them, they've seen themselves swim so many times, they know exactly what they do, and they know why they do it. There are very few surprises at the top level. It's the kids on the lower levels that I film, show, and try to get them to understand why whatever it is that they're doing... they probably don't want to do. It's from watching so many great swimmers, that I can help a younger swimmer understand why something they're doing is probably just wasting energy, or creating excessive movements to get to their desired result.

8. What projects are you working on now or should we anticipate in the future?

Our subscription site just went live a couple months ago, and we're very pleased with the acceptance. For just a few bucks a month, coaches, swimmers, parents can get access to everything we've ever done. Over 1,000 videos, fully searchable, most of which feature Olympic athletes.

Now that the basic premise of the site has been put together, we're now expanding other features. We have a lot of plans on how coaches, swimmers and parents will be able to use the content to help prepare athletes for practice, or to teach, from the comfort of their home, or on their phone. All the videos can be played on iOS and Android devices, as well as web browsers of course.

We're in production on probably 5 new projects this year, featuring a few more Olympic swimmers, plus masters content, learn-to-swim content, progression for teaching and learning... just more content.

We're just doing what we hope we can to contribute to the swimming community in a useful way. It's our tenth year, so we're proud of what we've done, especially since we started with two people, and through the tough times, having only two people have made it possible for us to continue. I think we've stuck around long enough that people expect us to be here, and are supporting us in a very good way.

Thoracic Spine and Shoulder Flexion

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Coaches yell and scream at kids to achieve a proper movement in the poor, unfortunately their bodies, not their intellect or willingness prevents achievement. One problem area, especially in short axis strokes is the thoracic spine. Allan wrote thoracic spine and undulation part I and part II and he even discussed methods to improve these areas of the thoracic spine in his trouble shooting series, thoracic spine.

Hopefully, these pieces make a strong case for role of the throacic spine in swimming. A recent study looked at bilateral (both arms) shoulder flexion and the role of the thoracic spine. This study found:

"The mean±SD increase in thoracic extension with bilateral arm elevation was 12.8±7.6° and 10.5±4.4 when measured from the radiographs and photographs, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the radiographic and photographic measurements of the amount of neutral thoracic kyphosis measured in neutral posture (r=0.71, p<0.01) and for the kyphosis measured while in full bilateral arm elevation (r=0.82, p<0.001). The mean difference between the 2 measurement techniques was 2.1 degrees for kyphosis measured in neutral posture, and 0.5 degrees when measured in full bilateral arm elevation. The thoracic kyphosis angle measured in neutral posture was strongly correlated with the thoracic kyphosis angle measured in full bilateral arm elevation when measured with both radiographic (r=0.78, p=0.001) and photographic (r=0.84, =0.001) techniques.

In asymptomatic men, bilateral arm elevation is associated with movement of the thoracic spine towards extension but the amount of movement is variable among individuals (Edmondston 2012). "

Image if your swimmer is lacking approximately 10° of shoulder flexion due to a stiff thoracic spine! How are they going to reach maximally during freestyle or press their chest on fly, if their arms are stuck at 170°? Teach them these tools out of the water and give them the necessary range of motion for success, remember if a swimmer has failed to learn, you have failed to teach!

References:

1. Edmondston SJ, Ferguson A, Ippersiel P, Ronningen L, Sodeland S, Barclay L. Clinical and Radiological Investigation of Thoracic Spine Extension Motion During Bilateral Arm Elevation. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2012 Apr 20.

By G. John Mullen founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.