Thoracic Mobility and Body Undulation

Just about every aspect of swimming technique has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. One of the most significant changes has been the refinement of body undulation in the underwater kick and in the short axis strokes. The underwater dolphin kick has become such a weapon that we now have rules that limiting use.  Attend any elite NCAA competition and the winning team typically has better underwater kicking than the other team, especially at NCAA Championships where the 200 fly is now performed mostly underwater.  Fly and breast have both become more efficient and hydrodynamic thanks to the modern understanding of the body dolphin motion. 

One thing that stands out in watching the best swimmers in history is their ability to extend the thoracic spine (“press the chest down”) Thoracic spine extension not only sets up an effective catch, it also helps elevate the hips to drive the back half of the undulation. These combined movements help the swimmer take advantage of the undulation without having to dive deep beneath the surface.

Von Loebbeke (2009) used 3D computer imaging to analyze the underwater dolphin kick of Olympic swimmers and found two key points about humans’ ability to body dolphin: 
1) humans have less efficient body undulation than real dolphins (shocking!!!) 
2) undulation efficiency does not rely on any specific kinematic parameters but instead depends on the body movement as a whole. 

Unlike many studies that involve “moderately trained” subjects or “elite swimmers” with age-group level race times, the subjects included real elites such as Lenny Krazelburg and Gabrielle Rose. 

Limiting Factors

If the most efficient dolphin motion is the product of full body movements, the next question is “what prevents us from achieving the ideal?” One of the most common physical limitations inhibiting effective body undulation is thoracic immobility. There are two main reasons why this spinal segment is problematic for many swimmers. 

First, kyphosis (upper-crossed posture), afflicts not just swimmers but all humans, particularly those in mechanized western societies. Anyone who has difficulty extending the spine on land likely won’t fare much better when asked to coordinate the movement into a complete fly, breaststroke, or underwater dolphin kick. Many coaches understandably get frustrated when tried-and-true drills and technique cues don’t work, but they fail to recognize the underlying physical limitations affecting the swimmer. Limitations usually aren’t permanent (especially with younger swimmers), but we must recognize when they exist and how to fix them.

Secondly, propulsion and recovery in fly and breast involves shoulder internal rotation, scapular elevation, along with force production and stability from upper trapezius, levator scapulae, pectorals, and sternocleidomastoid (Deppler, 2002). Chronic activity and shortness in these muscles along with chronic internal shoulder rotation and scapular elevation are hallmarks of upper crossed posture…bad for thoracic extension and “pressing the chest down”, but essential for propulsion and recovery. Finding the correct balance is essential, stay tuned...

Getting it right in the in these strokes requires going from one extreme to another nearly instantaneously, which is why relatively few on the planet can do it well. The swimmer must initiate the catch with an extended T-spine (“push the chest down”) and then immediately begin the pull with a group of muscles that should have previously been relaxed. Although the arms are not involved the underwater dolphin kick for starts/turns, body undulation requires excellent T-spine flexion and extension. Most people get the flexion part…doing flexion AND extension gets much tougher! 

Wrap-up

In the next installment, we’ll address ways to identify thoracic mobility limitations and offer corrective strategies. Successful corrections both in and out of the water depend on our ability to appropriately classify the limitation to provide the most effective interventions.

References:

Von Loebbecke A, Mittal R, Fish F, Mark R. Propulsive efficiency of the underwater dolphin kick in humans. J Biomech Eng. 2009 May;131(5):054504.

Deppeler, D. Spine Pain in Swimmers: Possible Causes and Treatment Strategies. North American Institute of Orthoaedic Manual Therapy newsletter. Volume VII, Issue 2, 2002.

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

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Weekly Round-Up

Overall a great week for Swim Sci as we had some exclusive one of a kind articles discussing the differences between relative and absolute strength in swimmers vs. bodybuilders, expanding the topic of respiration and swimmers in all you need to know about inspiratory muscles part II and training hip rotation in breaststroke. 

1. Do you swimmers have poor feel in the water?  Could it be from poor grip strength?  Could they benefit from sandbag training?  Just food for thought.
2. Tao of Tim Vagen by Tad Sayce at Sayco Performance. 
3. Inter-individual variability in the upper-lower body breaststroke coordination by Seifert.
4. ACTN3 genotype and swimmers in Taiwan by Chiu.
5. MB Chuck Progression by Dr. G. John Mullen. 
6. Top 5 exercises by Dr. G. John Mullen.

This upcoming week don't miss articles about the importance of thoracic spine mobility, the final installment of inspiratory muscles,  a new series entitled dryland mistakes, flip turn biomechanics and another great interview. Stay tuned! 

Lastly, if you are interested in contributing to the improvement of swimming e-mail your application here and don't forget to sign up for the monthly newsletter to receive exclusive updates and information!

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Swimmers vs. Body Builders

I'm going to share a secret with all of you...the best method to gain strength is to EAT. This means eating anything and everything. The bigger one is the more mass he can move. Eating more will increase your muscle cross sectional area, increase the amount of muscle cross-bridges and increase force production. Unfortunately, in swimming and many other sports, too much mass can yield high water resistance, this is why bodybuilder's aren't typically on the pool deck (Just because they wear Speedos, doesn't mean they can swim).

Many swimmers need to build relative strength. Relative strength is an athlete’s ability to produce a maximum amount of force for their size. As most of you know, I'm not a big guy, approximately 5 feet 10 inches in height and 160 pounds. I'll never forget the looks I received while working with NHL and NBA players when I lived in Los Angles. I know everyone wondered why these elite athletes were taking orders from a "scrawny" white kid who showed up suited and booted for training. I even know other personal trainers from various backgrounds look down on me for my size, but I strive for similar goals with my athletes -- relative strength.


Hell, head to the DMV and you will find many individuals which are bigger than me because they eat and get bigger (most likely have cardiovascular disease or type II diabetes, but that's erroneous in this case). However, you often times do not see a little guy performing immaculate feats of strength on a regular basis. Who doesn't remember Gil Stovall making the Olympics? This 5'8" Olympian would be passed by everyone, even swimmers with no acknowledgement of his athletic talent. At COR, we strive to achieve athletic greatness for athletes of all sizes, realizing the importance of being strong for a specific weight.

As a relative strength athlete and with this my focus, I have been fortunate enough to have an enlightened perspective on the nutritional and athletic needs for these types of athletes, without adding non-functional mass (however, this is mandatory in some instances).


Unfortunately, many strength coaches and personal trainers get into training to improve absolute strength. This leads to mass confusion about which forms of training are best for absolute strength athletes. I remember being in college and reluctant to training designed for athletes with an entirely different need, this happens far too often and is inhibiting elite athletes from reaching their swimming optimization. How many strength coaches know a lick about swimming? How can they design programs surrounding the needs of swimmers if their main goal is to get as big as possible or help a football player add 50 pounds on the offensive line....


To help debunk these absolute strength coaches and confused minds, I have put together a top five lie list associated with relative strength training. These principles have been practiced to help athletes break through plateaus in training and reach for the next level.


Lie Number 1: Weight Lifting will Put on Mass


This old adage will never die! This has plagued the swimming community as long as instructing swimmers to do an "S-Curved" catch (the S-curve is relative to body rotation, it doesn't need to be stressed...a topic for another day). Improving relative strength is essential and resistance training with various repetition training needs to be utilized to improve muscular imbalances, prevent injuries and optimize performance. This will be achieved with various rep ranges.


Some people feel performing low volume on every exercise with maximal load will not put on mass, others feel doing high repetitions with low load will not put on mass. These thoughts are both incorrect as one needs to implement variable loads. One wouldn't do 2 reps on a prevention exercise! Also, lifting heavy weights for a few repetitions help many athletes, since swimming requires different stressors.


Lie Number 2: Weight Change is All the Same


Many athletes eat terrible, simple carbohydrate and excessive diet soda, leading to extra blubber. Though it may be true whales utilize blubber to float, swimmers need to strive for improvements in body composition. Just a few days ago, I was on deck with one of my older swimmers and he joked that him and I had lower body fat percentage than the rest of the team and performed much less volume. I chalk this solely up to dietary alterations and being able to utilize high muscle mass to burn fat mass. Also, the blubber is probably not making you a better athlete (mile swimmers and open water athletes may benefit from a little extra blubber, but not as much as everyone thinks). I discussed body composition in an earlier post, discussing the confusion and ignorance of society and actual body fat percentage, this happens in the swim community as well.


Everyone claims to have approximately 3% body fat, but this is highly untrue and perpetuate from ignorant trainers at the gym. To have a true body fat percentage reading a DEXA scan is mandatory. If I had to estimate I'd say the majority of your male swimmers have approximately 12-15% body fat and your females are closer to 20%. I'm not trying to shatter your confidence, I'm being honest, we all have work to do on body composition. All male swimmers should be striving for 8-10% body fat and females between 13-17%. Not to puff my own chest, but I've always had an extremely lean and defined physique and the lowest I have ever been on the DEXA is 9%, so I doubt your male athletes are walking around with sub 5%!

Lie Number 3: Weight Lifting is Dangerous


A weight lifting program with proper instruction and monitoring is no more dangerous than hours in the pool, simply put. This is why swim coaches need to get their ass in gear and become familiar with proper lifting techniques or reach out to a qualified professional when necessary. I mean I don't mind working with swimmers and injuries, but it's sad to hear the horror stories of injuries which could have been easily prevented. While I'm ranting, how is the United States ranked 12th in the world for broadband connection speed...ridiculous!


Anyway, weight lifting should be a must for all athletes and especially swimmers. Swimmers have highly developed areas of their body (shoulder internal rotators, hip flexors, etc.) which can become more balanced outside of the pool in the weight room.


I'm also going to break a bit of bad news to all your high school and collegiate coaches, half of your female swimmers have a devastating, life altering disease which you can help reverse....Osteopenia (pre-osteoporosis). Everyone has heard of the older adults falling down, breaking their hip and dying soon in the hospital. If you are not using resistance training with your team, you might as well write them a prescription for Boniva in 2020 and tell them to work on their balance. If you think I'm over reacting, look an extract from a recent study:


"Study demonstrated more discouraging results as the collegiate female swimmers had lower bone mineral density (BMD) during the preseason by 10-15% compared to all other sports with the largest difference in the lower body, pelvis and spine mineral density. In fact, their total body BMD of 1.121 g/cm2 puts them more than two standard deviations from the mean for their age, indicating a risk for osteoporosis"

Put this on top of any eating disorders your females may have...help them by getting them in the weight room. Don't perpetuate the problem, help stop it in the tracks, remember as coaches we must improve our swimmers health in the present and future.


Lie Number 4: You Have to Starve Yourself


Some swimmers (mostly females...not to point fingers) have the misconception that strict dietary restrictions are necessary to prevent large mass gains. This is far from the truth, dangerous and impedes performance. Relative strength athletes' consumption is far more important than their absolute strength counterparts. If a swimmer does not eat adequately, their body will run on fumes and will be forced to use gluconeogenesis to form glucose (energy) by degrading amino acids. This outcome is disastrous for performance and health. Building lean body mass (muscle) is essential for optimal performance and maintaining correct fat mass. Lean body mass is the most metabolic form of mass in the body, this is why large muscle bound individuals can consume more calories, they need to feed the beast!


Instead of volume restrictions, nutrient timing and food selection are healthier and beneficial options. Some swimmers will not eat during workouts, to avoid putting on more mass. These swimmers also feel that workout drinks like Surge are a bad idea and lead to weight gain. This is far from the truth and I feel these skinny minnies need Surge and similar drinks more than their bigger counterparts. Small athletes can typically go for a while, and then they suddenly hit a wall. Sometimes an extra boost is needed to scale this wall, preventing increased levels in cortisol and skeletal muscle catabolism. These two physiological results are the reason why skinny jean guys feel like Muammar Gaddafi after a tough workout. Don't exercise on fumes, fuel the fire.

Being able to maintain a higher training frequency is essential for swimmers. No matter if your program is more yardage based like Gregg Troy or analytical like Dave Salo, frequency is the key for these athletes. Think about it, neural drive is a huge component in swimming; this is why a swimmer can miss only 1-2 days of swimming and feel like a wet noodle when they return to the pool. This is also why weak individuals on land can be so good in the water; they have the neural drive and "feel" for the water. Frequency is the key, no coach will deny this. Provide yourself with the tools to handle the frequency and recover.


Lie Number 5: Eccentrics/Negatives Build Mass


This statement does not apply to many swim coaches, because unfortunately many swim coaches do not know what eccentric means. Let’s break down the three phases of muscle contraction: concentric, isometric, and eccentric. To illustrate the differences lets use a bicep curl (you know curls for the girls!)

Curls + bluetooth=infinite girls

• Concentric: This is the common action associated with muscle contraction. In the bicep curl, when you lift the weight towards your upper arm you are performing a concentric contraction.
• Isometric: Isometric literally means zero movement. When you hold the weight at the top of your bicep curl you are performing an isometric hold
• Eccentric: As you lower the weight, the muscle fibers are stretched and ripped apart. This highly damages the muscle and causes increased soreness (have you ever been sore 24-48 hours after performing an exercise, you are experiencing DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness secondary to the eccentric phase of the motion).

Despite the belief of eccentrics or negatives making an athlete huge, these forms of movement can be beneficial in the following ways:

1. Improve tendinopathies. If you've read any of my pieces, you will know that every athlete's body is messed up. Every swim team has swimmers with tendinopathies and labral tears left and right. Eccentric movements help strength and heal tendinopathies, specifically tendinosis.
2. Improved connective tissue health. If you are performing longer eccentric exercises, then the time under tension (TUT) is increased. This is valuable in connective tissue health.
3. Improve strength. Using supramaximal lifts can help an athlete gain confidence holding a weight. Moreover, it can help build tendon strength. This should be used sparingly, but must be used during specific phases of training.

Wrap-up


I hope this article cleared up some items about resistance training and swimming. There are many benefits for resistance training and swimming, if you don't perform resistance training you are behind the ball. However, make sure a proper individualized program is performed. Many swim coaches do not know the basics of resistance training, so you may have to look elsewhere for training (not a knock, many strength coaches don't know what they're doing either).


If you don't resistance train as you feel it will make you too big or you were told by your coach it won't help, it is time to start erasing the lies. Don't spread the lies any further, begin passing along the truth today!

References

• Carbuhn A, Fernandez T, Bragg A, Green J, Crouse S. Sport and training influence bone and body composition in women collegiate athletes. J Strength Cond Res. Jul 2010;24(7):1710-1717.
• Cressey, E. Relative Strength Myths. T Nation. 
• Guadalupe-Grau A, Fuentes T, Guerra B, Calbet J. Exercise and bone mass in adults.Sports Med. 2009;39(6):439-468.
• Hallström H, Melhus H, Glynn A, Lind L, Syvänen A, Michaëlsson K. Coffee consumption and CYP1A2 genotype in relation to bone mineral density of the proximal femur in elderly men and women: a cohort study. Nutr Metab (Lond).2010;7:12.
• Mudd L, Fornetti W, Pivarnik J. Bone mineral density in collegiate female athletes: comparisons among sports. J Athl Train. 2007 Jul-Sep 2007;42(3):403-408.
• Velez N, Zhang A, Stone B, Perera S, Miller M, Greenspan S. The effect of moderate impact exercise on skeletal integrity in master athletes. Osteoporos Int. Oct 2008;19(10):1457-1464.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

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All You Need to Know About Inspiratory Muscles Part II

In part I, I covered the exciting topic of breathing biomechanics and muscles associated with inspiration. These are the muscles noted with fatigue in swimming. Even though the last batch was the popular group to study, it is essential to know the other muscles involved in breathing and how to improve both forms of breathing. Now it is time to get into muscles used during relaxed and forced expiration and the research on inspiratory muscle fatigue and swimming, don't worry no statistician degree is needed.

Relaxed Expiration

As discussed in part I, the diaphragm is the main respiratory muscle. As the diaphragm contracts during relaxed inspiration, the lungs recoil back to their original position without any muscle contraction.  This is why breathing is considered an autonomous activity, it requires no thought, the body simply breathes....easy enough! The lungs are just like a like a balloon, if you blow up a balloon the outsides are stretched and forced to expand, but if you let out air, the balloon will recoil to its original position without any assistance.

Forced Expiration

Unlike relaxed expiration, forced expiration requires muscle activation.  Last weeks post on forced inspiration discussed a lot of foreign muscles, now lets talk about forced expiration and a few familiar muscle groups and a few you wouldn't expect...kegel’s baby!

1. Internal intercostal: depresses and inverts lower ribs.
2. Obliquus Internus: Compresses the lower part of the chest during forced expiration if the pelvis and spine are fixed.
3. Obliquus Externus: Compresses the lower part of the chest during forced expiration if the pelvis and spine are fixed.
4. Levator Ani: Compresses the lower part of the chest during forced expiration if the pelvis and spine are fixed.
5. Triangularis Sterni: draws down the first rib during forced expiration
6. Transversalis: Compresses the lower part of the chest during forced expiration if the pelvis and spine are fixed.
7. Pyramidalis: Compresses the lower part of the chest during forced expiration if the pelvis and spine are fixed.
8. Rectus Abdominus: Compresses the lower part of the chest during forced expiration if the pelvis and spine are fixed.

If the repeatedness didn't convey the message, these muscles are typically responsible for breathing while the pelvis and spine are fixed, stable, and stationary. This is essential and underutilized in studies which solely look at improving forced inspiration. A lot of the studies below only looked at inspiration, not looking at core stabilization, anatomy, or expiration. As you'll see in later posts, these factors are essential for optimal breathing.

Stats and Hypotheses

A lot of recent research has looked at inspiratory muscle training and inspiratory muscle fatigue and swimming performance.

• Lomax 2011 found fatiguing of the inspiratory muscles before a 200 meter free at 85% race pace significantly affected breathing frequency, stroke rate and stroke length.
• Brown 2011 determined there was no difference in inspiratory muscle fatigue between 100, 200 and 400 meter races. This is not surprising, since all stress the same energy systems...what about my 50 guys!
• Kilding 2010 determined significant improvements with inspiratory muscle training, results indicated 0.6-1.7% improvement.  The largest improvements were in the 100 meter distance compared to the 400 meter distance.
• Thomaidis 2009 looked at well trained adolescent swimmers (4:50 400 meter free time....maybe not that well trained) and determined inspiratory muscle fatigue occurs at the 300 meter distance.  This group determined as alterations in mouth pressure.
• Jakovljevic 2009 compared breathing every two or four tims during a 90% race pace 200 meter free.  The results indicated decreased breathing, significantly increased maximal inspiratory pressure and determined inspiratory muscle fatigue is greater when breathing is reduced in front crawl swimming.
• Mickleborough 2008 compared two groups: inspiratory muscle training plus swimming and a swimming only group. The researchers looked at lung capacities before and after 12 weeks and training and found appreciable improvements in the inspiratory muscle training and swimming group.
• Wells 2005 determined 12-weeks of concurrent inspiratory muscle training and swimming compared to a sham respiratory training and swimming. The results showed improvements in both groups for respiratory tests.
• Lomax 2003 found the 200 meter freestyle at 90-95% race pace induced inspiratory muscle fatigue.

Even our deep sea diving cousins have shown improved inspiratory muscle endurance with longer time to fatigue

• Ray 2008 determined respiratory muscle training time significantly improved time to exhaustion (60%).
• Lindholm 2007 found four weeks of inspiratory muscle training improved respiratory and fin endurance.

These studies have used various mechanisms to increase inspiratory muscle strength and found variable results. It is clear that swimming induces respiratory fatigue, but the main question remains, if swimming improves total lung capacity and forced expiratory volume (Mickelborough 2008), will additional inspirational training improve performance? Also, are the methods being used in these limited trials adequate to yield changes in elite athletes? I personally feel training these means will improve performance, but these studies have not been able to perform proper training.

I feel strengthening the diaphragm and methods where core contraction with relaxed and forced respiration need to be studied and could truly enhance inspiratory strength.  Remember, relaxed breathing should be autonomous and not call on every muscle in the body, so if you can don't utilize your primary respiratory muscles (diaphragm and intercostals), then you are fatiguing your secondary respiratory muscles, advocating the "cheater" muscles activity. Many athletes need to start simple, learning how to utilize the primary respiratory muscles with relaxed breathing, not allowing the cheaters to come around and or we'll have Joey Greco take care of them!

If one of the major breathing muscles (i.e. diaphragm) is not working properly the other muscles kick in and have to increase work. During forced respiration (athletic activities), if the primary respiratory muscles are not involved, one will be vulnerable to more injuries and stress on unnecessary structures. For example, if your diaphragm is inadequate, so your swimmer body calls on your well developed lats, pecs and traps to breathe, then these muscles will fatigue sooner, decreasing your swimming speed!

Round-up

With all the boring stuff out of the way, we can tackle how to screen breathing and methods to improve both inspiratory and expiratory muscles under maximal conditions.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.
 

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Training Hip Rotation in Breaststroke

Last week we discussed the importance of hip rotation in breastroke, both for performance and for injury resistance. This week we’ll explore four critical aspects of dryland training to improve hip rotation: Tissue quality, joint centration, mobility, and coordination.
Self-massage: 
Many athletes looking to improve mobility go directly to stretching, which is often ineffective when used as the lone intervention. Improving tissue quality helps us stretch the right muscles when we stretch. If tissue quality is poor in a hip rotator and that muscle is unable to move properly, stretching the hip into rotation will add unintended stress to surrounding joint systems and the muscles of the hip not designed for rotation. For information on hip pain in swimmers, see Dr. Mullen’s recent video: 

Tools of the trade for self-massage include foam rollers, PVC pipes, lacrosse balls, softballs, and tennis balls. Foam rollers or PVC pipes work best for the groin, quadriceps, and ilotibial band. The various balls are effective for the glute medius, posas, tensor fascia lata, piriformis, and quadratus lumborum. Be sure to avoid pressure on the bony structures of the pelvis and hips.

Some question the need for the youngest athletes to perform tasks like foam rolling or using lacrosse balls for self-massage, since many of them are too young to have developed poor tissue quality. In my opinion, being responsible for bringing a lacrosse ball and/or softball to practice (in addition to their other swim gear) builds accountability at a young age. Further, exposing kids to this warmup and/or cooldown ritual establishes sound habits for the rest of their careers.
Joint centration
A joint out of position can disturb optimal muscle firing patterns. Hip rotators won’t be available for rotation if the body relies on these muscles to hold the joint in place. If the body has a choice between performance and preservation, it will usually choose preservation!
Self-massage before exercise can help calm down overactive muscles and make it easier to re-train the “ball” of the femur to sit more comfortably in the “socket” of the pelvis. A common hip dysfunction is for the femoral head (the “ball”) to sit too anteriorly in the joint. Below is one exercise to coax the femoral head into the posterior capsule.

Mobility
Once we prep the muscles for movement and establish joint centration, we are then ready to add mobility. Below is one exercise to train hip internal rotation. There are many exercises to do the job, but this one is easily coachable, user-friendly for a large group setting, and easily repeatable as homework while watching TV.

For external rotation, please see Dr. Mullen’s recent video on at Swimming World:

Coordination
Many athletes are familiar with mini-band lateral walks to train the lateral hip muscles. Here is one variation from Tim Vagen more specific to breaststroke with the knees narrower than the feet.
Another option is to place an additional mini-band near the ankles to cue tibial external rotation, which is also advantageous to the breaststroke kick.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that some athletes are born to swim breaststroke. Children with the right pelvic anatomy and early exposure to the stroke have a clearer path to greatness. However, due to suboptimal control of the hip joints and use of the hip muscles, most swimmers don’t achieve their potential in the stroke. A system of improving tissue quality and joint centration before stretching and strengthening can improve return-on-investment during breaststroke training in the water.
Guest Post by Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community and more about them can be found at pikeathletics.com

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Weekly Round-Up

1. Tad Sayce releases his next installment on what every swimmer/coach needs to know about the shoulder
2. Is soy that bad?  by Kiefer
3. Front squats made easier by Ben Bruno
4. Maximize protein synthesis by Bill Willis and John Meadows
5. Physio Ball dryland with Glenn Mills. 
6. SwimMac moonwalk dryland.
7. Exercise of the month with Mike Mejia.
8. Torture Twist by Dr. G. John Mullen

Congrats to Missy Franklin for her first WR!

Lastly, the ISOSC is starting to accept abstracts for the e-conference next year.  Sign up and Write today!

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Friday Interview with Ricky Berens

1) Please introduce yourself to the readers (how you started in swimming,education, experience, etc.).
I am Olympic Gold Medalist Ricky Berens. I started swimming at the age of 4 on my moms summer league team in Charlotte, NC. At first I hated swimming, I hated the cold water. I would lay on the deck and just watch kids swim until about the age of 6 when I would actually start swimming laps. I guess one day I just got in the pool and said, "Hey Dad, watch me do a lap of butterfly!" and that is when it all began. I did summer league with my mom as coach until 9 when I started to swim year around at Mecklenburg Aquatic Club. I did not start winning races and being one of the top swimmers until I was about 11 or 12. Once in high school I got recruited to some of the major universities and chose to spend my college career at the University of Texas. After my sophomore year I qualified for the Beijing Olympic games by placing 3rd in the 200 free. In Beijing I was lucky enough to have the fastest time on our prelims relay and was chosen to swim it in finals where we won a gold medal and set a world record. My senior year of college at Texas was by far the biggest highlight in my NCAA career. I was captain of the winning NCAA Championship team, something that we had not been able to do the entire 4 years at school. Now I have graduated from school and am currently living in Southern California, training towards more goals of competing in the 2012 Olympic Games.


2) How do you incorporate mobility and stretching into your training?
I do a lot of stretching. I try to take about 20 minutes out of my day and just dedicate that to stretching. Now that I am done with school, I have plenty of time to do this.


3)What is the weirdest training you've done throughout your career?
Some of the weirdest training would have to be out here in CA with Dave Salo. We never do the same set with Dave and we do some of the most outside of the box things. He makes us swim with wiffle balls, do 80 meter sprints from the bottom of the deep end, up and back down again, and then there is doing flips on physio balls. All very creative fun things to mix it up.


4) What aspects of your freestyle are you currently concentrating on?
For freestyle I am really working on my head positioning and the back end of my stroke. My head tends to look a little too far forward so I am doing my best to keep my head looking directly at the bottom of the pool. This will help keep my hips floating and my body in a better line on top of the water. The more you float, the easier it is to swim. Also the back end of my stroke tends to be short, I am trying to keep it longer to extend more of a flow for my freestyle and more distance per stroke.


5) What drills/activities are you doing to achieve this?
Swimming with a snorkel always improves the head positioning, just have to make sure the head doesn't move back and forth. Swimming with paddles will really help me feel my stroke, making sure I am finishing all the way through.


6) In your opinion, what was the biggest adjustment you made in your swimming career (stroke biomechanical, training, dryland)?
All of the above. Stroke adjustments, training, and dryland. Each team I have been on we do something different than before and that is what is great. I had great training in high school to prepare me for college. In college I made some big stroke adjustments in my freestyle that really turned me into the freestyler I am today. Weights in college was something new to me, and that could never hurt. Now I am in California doing a whole different type of training which is expanding my base even more. I feel that all the adjustments I have made aren't really adjustments but me adding more and more to my swimming base and making me a better swimmer overall.


7) Of all the testing sports performance testing you've done (underwater filming, blood lactate, etc.), what do you feel has been the most beneficial?
Underwater filming. It has really helped me see what parts of my stroke I need to work on. Some of the things that you will see from underwater filming, can't be seen from the pool deck or from feel. This allows me to make sure I am getting everything I can out of my stroke, and to also compare my stroke to some of the best in the world.


8) Over the past few years, what is the biggest change you've made with your training? Intensity. It is now at a point that I am sprinting everything in practice. It doesn't matter how I feel in the water, I have to be going fast to compete with my teammates. It is justing my perspective on what fast is, which helps mentally during a race. Holding 26's for a 50 free isn't as hard as it used to be.


9) What projects are you working on in and outside the pool?
Just making sure I am qualifying for those London Olympic games! This year is all about the Olympics. I am doing everything I can to stay healthy and to prepare myself the best I can for the Olympic trials and Olympic games. Outside the pool, I guess you could say I am working on my surfing. Now that I am living close to the ocean I can go to the beach when I need a break. I would still consider it a workout too, a very fun one!


Thanks Ricky, good luck!


Want Swimming Science to interview someone, have your own questions you'd like to ask or want to be interviewed yourself? E-mail the team at [email protected]

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All You Need to Know About Inspiratory Muscles Part I

No matter the distance, every swimmer is out of breath at the end of a race....excuse me if I just blew your mind!  This obvious statement has lead swim coaches to attempt various training means to prevent "being out of breath" as the main limiting factor in swimming.  The most common attempt was increasing swimming volume, while others implemented underwater training to improve this function, unfortunately some swimmers will have limitations secondary to inspiratory muscle fatigue.  Of the two aforementioned strategies, underwater training should improve isometric strength of the forced inspiratory muscles, but is this enough to maximize and optimize inspiratory muscle performance....
Quiet breathing is necessary to live and it is essential for athletes (and everyone) to breathe properly at rest.  At rest the diaphragm is the primary breathing muscle and improper use of their diaphragm can cause added stress to other structures.  From my experience, approximately 50% of Junior National level swimmers have improper diaphragm use and dissociation! 

This series will address the breathing muscles/biomechanics, importance of inspiratory strength, effects inspiratory fatigue demonstrates on performance, screening and lastly discuss a few dryland exercises to improve this deficiency. Lets start improving this number and optimizing swimming potential! 


Breathing Biomechanics
Breathing is a uniquely simplistically complex function performed by numerous muscles. It is commonly believed the chest is the primary location of respiration. This misconception is secondary to the location of the lungs, but when emphasized can lead to faulty breathing patterns.  Before we discuss faulty patterns, lets discuss the four types of breathing and typical biomechanics:

1. Quiet Inspiration
2. Quiet Expiration
3. Forced Inspiration
4. Forced Expiration

Here is what the John Hopkin's school of Medicine has to say about respiration: 

"During quiet breathing, the predominant muscle of respiration is the diaphragm. As it contracts, pleural pressure drops, which lowers the alveolar pressure, and draws air in down the pressure gradient from mouth to alveoli. Expiration during quiet breathing is predominantly a passive phenomenon, as the respiratory muscles are relaxed and the elastic lung and chest wall return passively to their resting volume, the functional residual capacity.

However, during exercise, many other muscles become important to respiration. During inspiration, the external intercostals raise the lower ribs up and out, increasing the lateral and anteroposterior dimensions of the thorax. The scalene muscles and sternomastoids also become involved, serving to raise and push out the upper ribs and the sternum.

During active expiration, the most important muscles are those of the abdominal wall (including the rectus abdominus, internal and external obliques, and transversus abdominus), which drive intra-abdominal pressure up when they contract, and thus push up the diaphragm, raising pleural pressure, which raises alveolar pressure, which in turn drives air out. The internal intercostals assist with active expiration by pulling the ribs down and in, thus decreasing thoracic volume."

During a deep inspiration these are the steps I look for:

1. Diaphragm descends
2. Ribs expand, elevate and rotate forward
3. Shoulder blades move laterally

As stated, many people feel the chest and lungs need to be the primary mover for inspiration.  This is commonly due to the lack of understanding of which muscles are used during inspiration. Here's a list of the muscles during passive breathing and inspiration: 

1. Diaphragm: This inspiratory muscle lies across the bottom of the rib cage and is essential for optimal swimming and breathing. Is commonly felt during belly breathing and helps raise and lower the abdominal wall, allowing expansion of the lungs. Used during all forms of breathing.
2. Intercostal Muscles: These muscles help expand the chest and move the ribs, allowing for further chest expansion. Different fiber orientations are used during different times.  External fibers are used during inspiration and internal are used during expiration. Used during all forms of breathing.
3. Scalenes: There are three scalene muscles which attach from the first few ribs to various vertebral structures.  These muscles should only be used during inspiration (preferably forced). 
4. Pectoralis Minor: Runs from ribs 3-5 to a part of the shoulder blade (coracoid process).  Mainly used during inspiration. 
5. Serratus Anterior: Spans from the outer surface of ribs 8 and 9 to the shoulder blade.  Used during inspiration.
6. Sternocleidomastoid: Spans from the sternum and collar bone to the back of the head.  Used during inspiration.
7. Levator Costarum: This muscle runs from the sides of the vertebrae to the posterior aspect of the ribs. Used during inspiration.
8. Upper Trapezius: Runs from the back of the head to the outside of the collar bone. Used during inspiration.
9. Latissmus Dorsi: Segments exist at multiple parts, most notably for breathing at the 3rd and 4th rib and shoulder blade running to the inside of the arm. Used during inspiration.
10. Subclavis: Runs from the first rib to the shoulder blade. Used during inspiration.

As you can see, inspiration is a complex movement utilizing many muscles.  Ten muscles alone are used to breathe inward, this doesn't include the importance of expiratory muscles (mainly the abdominal muscles).   The epicenter of inspiratory breathing is the diaphragm, imagine if this muscle is not working correctly....more stress is placed on specific shoulder muscles, potentially leading to earlier fatigue in the arms and inspiratory muscle fatigue or worse, shoulder injury. Stay tuned for the next installments, focusing on the expiratory muscles, a literature on inspiratory muscle fatigue, screening and exercises.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

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Hip Rotation in Breaststroke

Continuing our theme of exploring the unique physical characteristics of elite swimmers, this week we’ll look at hip internal and external rotation in breaststroke. There’s an old adage that great breaststrokers are born and not made, lets explore these adage!

Many elite breaststrokers have visible internally rotated hips, which can appear as knock-knees. Experienced coaches can sometimes identify potential breaststrokers just by looking at their lower body anatomy. In fact, Leisel Jones’ knock-knees were so extreme her family contemplated surgery to have her legs straightened.

However, it is important to recognize there is more to breaststroke kick than internally rotated hips at rest. A knock-kneed posture with internally rotated hips can be advantageous, but posture alone is not sufficient. Training the movements of hip internal and external rotation can help keep natural breaststrokers healthy and can help others improve their breaststroke kick.

Assessments

While a pair of knock knees may be a cue of internal rotation, formal assessments will help identify the functional range of motion. There are several clinically accepted methods to check hip internal and external rotation, but lying prone is the most swim specific way. Although the photo sequence below uses a measuring device, coaches in a group setting can likely eyeball who has the underlying range of motion for an effective breaststroke kick. On land, our greatest concern is identifying who can’t perform the basic movement.

The first step requires finding the neutral position, this can be done by having the swimmer lie on their back. Swimmers with natural internal rotation might subjectively feel externally rotated in this position. The left side of the below picutre shows a passive test for internal rotation. Passive testing will identify whether underlying restrictions are present in the joint. Also test for active rotation, which involves the exact same movement but without manual assistance. Internal rotation deficits can lead to the common stroke flaw excessive hip abduction the in the first phase of the kick, which leads to kicking too wide.

The right side of the image shows a test for external rotation. Although the breaststroke kick in the water doesn’t reach the range of motion shown above, external rotation is the primary movement that brings the feet together at the end of the kick. Jagomagi and Jurimae (2005) found that hip external rotation was predictive of breaststroke kick speed along with knee external rotation and ankle supination. Interestingly, hip internal rotation in static posture was not correlated with kick speed, which suggests that kick improvements are more trainable than many suspect.

Injury considerations

Breaststroke related knee injuries are among the most common maladies in the sport. While the research indicates a correlation between breaststroke training volume and injury rates (Knobloch, 2008), improving hip movements will minimize stress on the knees. Ensuring adequate internal and external hip rotation will transfer the rotary stress of the breaststroke kick away from the knees and into the hips, which are better suited to handle rotary forces.
The breaststroke kick can also stress the groin if an external rotation deficit exists. A deficit could either be insufficient range of motion or a faulty movement pattern that relies on the muscles of adduction (the groin) over the muscles of rotation. Researchers at Stanford (Grote 2004) found that 42.7% of breaststrokers and 21.5% of IM-ers in a sample of 296 competitive swimmers missed practice time due to groin pain. (note, the lead researcher in this study was Olympic gold medalist breaststroker Dr. Kurt Grote, M.D.).

Summary

Breaststroke specialists may seem like the anatomical freak shows of the pool, but improvements in hip internal and external rotation are possible for swimmers of all ages. In the next installment we’ll cover dryland strategies to improve these aspects of hip performance.

References

1. Jagomägi, G. Jürimäe, T. The influence of anthropometrical and flexibility parameters on the results of breaststroke swimming. Anthropol Anz. 2005 Jun;63(2):213-9
2. Knobloch, K. Yoon, U. Kraemer, R. Vogt, PM. 200-400m breaststroke dominate among knee overuse injuries in elite swimming athletes. Sportverletz Sportschaden. 2008 Dec;22(4):213-9. Epub 2008 Dec 15.
3. Grote, K. Lincoln, TL. Campbell, JG. Hip Adductor Injury in Competitive Swimmers. Am J Sports Med. 2004 Jan-Feb; 32(1): 104-08.

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

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Weekly Round-up

1. Rocking or Rolling backstroke with Russ Payne, read here.
2. Olympic Lifts and dumbbells from TNation, read here
3. Surprising reasons why you're tight and weak, read here.
4. Swim strength construction with Chris Ritter, read here.

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Friday Interview with Lori Briggs

Please introduce yourself to the readers (how you are involved in swimming, your credentials education, etc.) 

My name is Lori Briggs and as owner of Core Body Solutions my focus is to assist coaches, elite athletes, junior athletes, or clients who are interested in overall fitness and wellness in developing training programs that will enable them to reach their goals.

For 3.5 years I was the dry land specialist for the USA Swimming National Team.  I developed dry land training programs that were tailored to optimizing efficiency of Olympic swimmers.  I also developed programs for Fullerton Aquatic Sports Team (FAST) under the direction of Olympic Coach Jon Urbanchek.  In addition to this Post-Graduate Training Center in Fullerton, I have also worked one-on-one with athletes at the Olympic Training Center during high altitude training camps in Colorado Springs, CO.  In preparation for the 2008 Games in Beijing, I assisted the USA National Team Head Coach with strength and conditioning programs and dry land training for the athletes.  My experience also includes tailoring workouts for Figure Skaters and Ice Dancers at Junior National Competitions.     

I have over 30 years experience in the fitness industry.  My unique approach to health and fitness emphasize core strength and nutrition as the foundation for optimizing wellness.  I am a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) through the International Sports Medicine Association (ISMA).  I have written articles for Medical Voyce focusing on women’s health issues and created DVD’s on improving core strength.  Featured articles have been written about me in Colorado Avid Golfer Magazine, Orange County, CA Register and Western State College Alumni Magazine.  I have held positions of Athletic Director at the Club at Flying Horse, a private country club, and have been honored as Colorado’s top personal trainer.  Through the years, my involvement in bodybuilding and figure physique competitions, have brought me medals, trophies and great personal satisfaction.  I believe my success has been based upon my commitment, discipline and high intensity training.  For over 20 years I owned and operated a Jazzercise franchise that gave me an opportunity to use my gifts of empathy, humor, physical fitness and passion to mentor and nurture women to feel good about their bodies and health.  Other areas of expertise center on weight and lifestyle coaching from a total health perspective, healthy eating strategies, weight training and cardiovascular endurance.  I hold a certification in the TRX Suspension Training that utilizes total-body resistance exercises to achieve sport specific goals that my client’s have.  Pilates, Functional Integrated Movement Patterns, Training for Power and Partner-Assisted Stretch are certifications that enhance my areas of technical expertise when implementing training programs for all sports.  
 
My personal interests include:

• Road races and cycling rides consisting of century rides and elevation climbs of 10,000 feet
• Pikes Peak Incline – 2,000 feet vertical climb in 1 mile followed by a 4 mile run
• National Physique Competitions   

How do you implement resistance training in an athlete’s off season?

Implementing resistance training in the off season can work major muscle groups when recovery and regeneration is the most important goal.  I use stretch cords, bands and tubing to strengthen many of the tiny connector muscles, ligaments and tendons that can become overused or overlooked while training in the pool during the season.  When used correctly, I use them for patterning, movement prep and correction.  If you are just using them as another form of resistance you’re missing the most important component of band training.  The reactive techniques are by far the most impressive because they yield quick results.  I believe using tubing and band work immediately following flexibility work during the off season is the best time.  That is also the best time for patterning and stability.  A swimmer must use the motion they gain or they will lose it and the must pattern it and stabilize it before they load it.  Strong and durable jump bands can be incorporated into workouts and allow for high tempo-dynamic movements with efficient thoracic rotations to be learned.  I like to also introduce power jump bands in the off season to teach proper knee alignment, balance, and explosiveness in jumping (mimics jumping off the blocks).  Resistance training can be combined with core stabilization and balance exercises for performing chops, lifts, presses, pushing, pulling, rotations and anti-rotations.  My favorite exercise is using a resistance band to fire the “powerhouse” core muscles while increasing flexibility and postural alignment in a supine position.  It is an exercise that adds elements of strength, intensity and balance during the off season.    

How long do you spend on correcting mobility, muscle imbalances, etc?

Understanding movement principles of the body and how they work can help coaches and their athletes exercise in a deeper and more meaningful way.  It is not so much a question of “how long” we spend correcting mobility or muscle imbalances as gaining an understanding of physiology and biomechanics so you can decide what is right and what is wrong for your athletes.  Below you will find nine key principles (briefly defined) that I use in my dry land training programs that address all foundations of movement:

1. Breathing – Breath is integrated into every movement we do in order to keep our awareness on what exercise we are doing.  It is an essential link between our mind and the body.
2. Concentration – Without concentration the exercises lose their form and their purpose.  When teaching swimmers it is important to have them do only as many repetitions as they can without losing their concentration.
3. Control – To be in control is to understand and maintain the proper form, alignment and effort during an entire exercise.  My clients never perform an exercise without engaging the mind to control the movement and the effort that the body is making.
4. Centering – All movement radiates outward from the center.  Developing a strong, stable and flexible center is one of the defining features of exercise.
5. Precision – Understanding proper forms and placement and being able to perform exercises with efficiency comes with practice.  Precision is the end product of concentration, control, centering and practice.
6. Balanced Muscle Development – Understanding, developing and maintaining correct alignment and form is essential.  With practice, these principles become second nature and lead to improved posture and enhanced performance for swimmers.
7. Rhythm/Flow – All movements are done with a sense of rhythm and flow.  Flow creates smooth, graceful and functional movements.
8. Whole Body Movement – Integrating the mind and body to create clarity, purpose and performance.
9. Relaxation – We learn to use just the amount of effort needed to complete the exercise correctly, no more, no less.

How do you use speed training within your resistance training programs?

When training to increase speed in the water, obviously workouts differ significantly from endurance workouts.  The intensity of the training, not the distance you swim, is the critical part of the workout.  I leave the workouts designed for the “wet side” to the coaches and their expertise.  What I attempt to blend in with the dry land resistance training program are exercises focusing on the fast twitch muscles.  Often times I use very light dumbbells to accomplish this goal.  Dry land programs will mimic “interval training” where athletes attempt to perform each exercise for the duration of 2 minutes.  Of course form and alignment during the 2 minutes is always priority.  Athletes will be kept to a short 30-second recovery break before moving to the next dry land station.   

What aspect of resistance training or exercise in general do you feel coaches use incorrectly?

In the world of competitive swimming, coaches know the most important propulsive element in swimming is the Early Vertical Forearm (EVF) or the catch.  However utilizing resistance training properly so the athlete acquires and improves this critical skill can be the challenging factor.  If a swimmer can’t demonstrate the EVF out of the water, most won’t be able to accomplish the skill in the water.  Coaches should develop a dry land program that strengthens the posterior rotator cuff muscles.  Coaches should give themselves plenty of opportunities to see that their swimmers can perform the skill correctly.  Videotaping dry land exercises and isometric training drills on the pool deck can be effective training tools for an athlete.  Having athletes mimic the swimming stroke of world-class swimmers using a great EVF position can be very beneficial.  Resistance training exercises must be incorporated in every swimmers training regime.  From a variety of dry land positions on deck, the coach can tell their swimmer what they’re looking for, and then can manipulate a swimmer’s arm until they can hold the effective position without help.  Stabilizing and strengthening exercises specific to the rotator cuff, deltoids and the muscles of the upper and middle back can then be incorporated into a comprehensive resistance training program.  But most importantly, coaches should emphasize that all exercises are done with the principles of control, precision, breathing, focus, concentration, and finally stabilizing the joint and mobilizing the limb with fluid and efficient movement.  Using proper exercise form and learning to stabilize the shoulder girdle or scapula before beginning each shoulder exercise will help the athlete be more efficient in the water and with less chance of injury.  My goal in a resistance training program is to incorporate all three areas including:  stretch, stabilize and strengthen.  

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

I have just recently launched a professional website that coaches and athletes can utilize for additional training needs and programs.  You can log onto www.corebodysolutionsllc.com to view the site.  Core Body Solutions has a unique approach to developing dry land training programs for professional athletes.  

• Step 1:  Core Body Solutions begins with an Evaluation Process that answers the question, “How Balanced Are You”?  Multidimensional training programs are designed to use fitness assessments to tailor strength, endurance, and flexibility exercises for individual needs.  Simple but challenging tests will determine whether you have deficiencies in body alignment, flexibility or lack of rotational movements.

• Step 2:  We will design programs that guide you and show you how to train for smooth, fluid movements, prevent muscle imbalances, mobility, restrictions, stability problems and keep injuries at bay.  Putting together optimal movement skills and conditioning programs will enhance your athletic performance.

• Step 3:  Evaluating and assessing your athletic goals and accomplishments will be addressed and necessary modifications will be made to your training programs

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