Periodization for Dryland and Swimming

Periodization is never a simple topic, and I’d be doing my profession a disservice to try to sum up
such a complicated topic in a short 1000 words.  This post could easily turn into a 100,000 word book and create more questions than answers.  But what I can do is try to explain periodization of strength training in a simple enough manner that a swim coach, without access to a Strength and Conditioning program can give their athlete a weight training regimen to coincide with the rigorous in-water training the swimmers are already doing.

Conjugate Method

For purposes of full-disclosure, I’m very biased to the American-Conjugate style training system popularized by Westside Barbell (as I write this, I’m actually on a training trip at Westside).  This is a system that has been modified from the old Bulgarian System for Powerlifting, as opposed to Olympic Weightlifting as in the original module.  This consists of a Max Effort session, which involves working up to 100% of a 1 rep-max on a given lift, once per week, in addition to a Dynamic Effort session, consisting of lifting weights in between 40-70% of a 1RM for maximum speed over several reps and sets.  This of course is on the basis of the physics equation: Force = Mass x Acceleration.  In which acceleration is trained via the dynamic method, and mass being manipulated via the maximum effort method.  The exercises are then rotated every 1-3 weeks to avoid overtraining/ adaptation to the exercises.  Barbell weight is then mixed with band tension, as well as chain weight (commonly referred to as accommodated resistance), and although this is not specific to this particular system, many would credit its popularity to it.

This is not a comprehensive look at the Conjugate system, just a quick introduction to a very complex sport system which has been constantly evolving over the past 25 years.  And as I stated earlier, I’m rather biased to this, and that is simply because it works.  I use this system in my own personal training for my endeavors in powerlifting, and many of my athletes train under the same system; having said this, I do understand the complexity of the system, as well as its place in training athletes.  Only my most advanced clients and athletes use this system because of its frequent changes and high level of intensity, which may not be best for athletes which are also balancing a high sport-specific training load.

Linear Periodization

With a swimming population, the majority of the athletes are very young in weight training age.  This means that these athletes can follow a rather simple protocol and achieve some pretty spectacular results (commonly referred to as ‘beginner gains’ in gym lingo).  A very simple protocol which can be followed by this population is linear, or western periodization.  This is where the main strength exercises are followed and progress by a direct or ‘linear’ increase in a specific aspect of training, such as: repetitions, sets, volume, or most commonly, weight.  In this system, which is pre-planned, and leads up to a particular date, or event, the athlete will continue to make progress and peak at the time of competition.

Undulating Periodization

One of my favorite methods of periodization, though, is undulating.  In this method, percentages of an individuals 1RM on a particular exercise are varied throughout a particular period of time.  The idea behind this change in intensity being that, as the stimuli (intensity of 1RM) changes, so will the athlete’s adaptation to exercise, therefore the athlete will be able to continue to make progress, while someone on a linear module may have already reached a training plateau.

Merging Philosophies

The introduction above to different periodization modules is just that—an introduction.  Sport scientists spend years trying to develop the perfect periodization plan for athletes, which compose dozens of different modules, but conjugate, linear, and undulating tend to be the most common camps in Strength and Conditioning. 

So what is best for swimmers?  
A merged approach, taking the best qualities of each program and combining it to fit our needs tends to work best.  From linear periodization, we can take the regimented outlook which leads up to one meet, or series of meets where the athlete is the strongest.  We should also appreciate striving for improved strength in each subsequent workout, and although this may seem like an unlikely feat as an athlete enters a period of high volume in the pool, the athlete’s young weight training age tends to help accelerate strength gains even under periods of such duress in the season.

From an undulating approach, we can change rep ranges each week to decrease the possibility of stagnation, or a strength plateau.  A great way to do this is using the same exercise over a period of several weeks (generally referred to as a ‘mesocycle’), and having a starting rep pattern, say 3x6 on a given exercise with 100 lbs., then following it the next week with 3x8 at 100 lbs. (improving the athletes repetition-max), followed by a reduction in repetitions the following week, with an increase in weight, 3x6 again, but now with 110 lbs.

The conjugate method is also great for preventing plateaus in training.  Rotate the main strength exercises frequently enough, approximately every 4-8 weeks to create new stimuli.  The changes should not be too large, however.  Exercises should be changed but kept in the same movement pattern.  In the true conjugate fashion, barbells can be rotated through specialty bars such as cambered bars, buffalo bars, fat bars, etc..  But because many of these are not available, a good substitute can be back squat to front squat, or flat bench press to low incline bench press, and so on.  Again, this method popularized accommodating resistance tools such as chains and bands.  If you have the means to use these tools, please do.  These can greatly increase an athlete’s power output, while reducing deceleration as the bar passes a sticking point (with bands, the sticking point in a lift is reduced because of added tension on the bar as it is moved).

An approach such as this should only be taken for main exercises in a workout.  Because of the additional, sport-specific demands of the athlete, trying to progress weights on every exercise will be far too time consuming, as well as too tedious. 

Because of this I suggest an approach that looks something like this:

• General Warm Up - consisting of soft-tissue work, mobility exercises, etc. 
• Main Exercises – Here is where the periodization can come into effect, use big, compound exercises which work a major movement pattern such as: squats, hip hinges, presses, and pulls. 
• Accessory/Corrective work – The weights here don’t necessarily need to be improved every week (try adding 5 lbs. to your triceps extension weight every week… Not going to happen).  Just make sure good form is being used.
• Cool Down/ Movement Work – Time to cycle out some lactate from the blood, return the heart rate to resting, and engage the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest & digest part of the brain).  No need to progress anything here.

Periodization for Meets

This is going to vary much depending on circumstances, like meet importance, number of events, etc.. The first thing to dial back when tapering in a dryland program will be volume in accessory work.  This means that the additional exercises after the strength portion should be cut back in number of sets, and total exercises performed.  Around 14 days out from the meet, accessory work can be cut to a few basic corrective exercises, and the main strength component can be cut in intensity (reduction in total poundage, or percentage of 1RM lifted), while focusing on bar speed and acceleration.  About a week out from the meet, dryland can be dropped all together, or reduced to just focus on recovery, using tools such as breathing drills, foam rolling, mobility work, etc..

Although pre-season dryland should be the most arduous, volume can be manipulated throughout the season to elicit a desired training effect, and should mirror the volume and intensity of in-pool training.  To increase the training volume, adding more sets of the strength component can be a great place to start.  To stem off of an earlier example, if you start off the season with 3x6 on a given exercise, you can have the athletes add another set the following week, and then yet another the week after this. 

Volume can also be added to the accessory work, but this should never come at the cost of a reduction in strength, or swimming training.  Right before the last push in training prior to a taper is a great time to add more volume in the accessory exercises.  This will help preserve muscle mass, increase blood flow, and expedite recovery via increased blood flow to skeletal muscle. 

REMEMBER: Just as you would be hesitant to add volume and intensity to a swimming program simultaneously, you should also be weary of doing so with dryland-based exercises.   

Periodization Wrap-Up

Periodization is a concept hard enough to make the most seasoned coaches frustrated and confused.  Just remember that 80% of your results will come from the first 20% of what you put in.  Always focus on compound lifts, and know that anything done in dryland training is not going to be swim-specific.  Strength training will create a better athlete through reduced risk of injury, improved tissue quality, increased force and power output, improved proprioception and heightened neural function.  Get a strong grasp on understanding dryland basics and you will have a much better athlete.

Written by John Matulevich a powerlifting world record holder in multiple lifts and weight classes, as well as a Head D-2 Strength Coach, and previously a nationally ranked college athlete. His concentrations are in sports performance, powerlifting, and weight training for swimming. To learn more about how John trains his athletes, check his Twitter page: @John_Matulevich. He can also be reached at MuscleEmporium@gmail.com with inquiries.

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Are Partial Squats Beneficial for Swimming Performance?

Before we get into squats I want to tell everyone about a cool feature of the Dryland for

Swimmers product. As you all know, knowledge and information continually grows. This one reason slowed me from creating Dryland for Swimmers. However, once I made the product, I realized it is possible to continually update and continue the flow of ideas of dryland and how it applies to swimming! We have started a Dryland for Swimmers Private Facebook group for everyone! This group continues the conversation, answers questions, and updates material on the ebook and video database. If you haven't already, purchase Dryland for Swimmers for all your information on dryland and continual updates! Thanks for reading!

Full or partial range squats? It seems the answer is obvious, if you can do a full squat, then why not fully squat? A full squat will activate more musculature, as you’ll go through the entire motion. However, is a full squat necessary for swimmers? As Tiago Barbosa points out, the knees only bend ~112 degrees during dolphin kicks, so do we need a full range of motion (~140 degrees of knee flexion) development during this motion? The knees bend ~90 degrees on a turn, so do you really need to go for the complete knee range of motion? Also, if you are truly mimicking a turn with your squats, should you do them on your toes?

Note: This is a partial squat, full depth squats can be done safely with minimizing pelvic motion. The bucket drill can help teach people pelvic motion.

Specificity of Range of Motion

If you frequent this website frequently, you've certainly heard of the principle of specificity (most recently referred to by Allan Phillips). The Specificity Principle simply states that training must go from highly general training to highly specific training. The principle of Specificity also implies that to become better at a particular exercise or skill, you must perform that exercise or skill. To be a good cyclist, you must cycle. The point to take away is that a runner should train by running and a swimmer should train by swimming.

Past research suggests the specificity of range of motion of strength training. Also, muscular size also adjusts to the range of motion for the exercise (Bloomquest 2013). It seems specificity is truly specific, as the body adapts to the specific ranges of motions trained.

Zatsiorsky (1995) hypothesized that partial lifts may improve power more than partial range of motion.

Clark (2011) notes:
“The terminal range of motion is loaded more optimally with a partial ROM lift than a full ROM lift because the full ROM lift is limited by the sticking point. Considering that many sports involve countermovements from knee and hip angles similar to those in a partial squat, has lead previous researchers to suggest that partial squats may improve athletic performance by increasing strength and explosiveness in the corresponding joint angles”.

Do Partial Squat Training Enhance Performance?

Bazyler (2014) had 18 recreationally trained college males (~20.8 years) perform 3 weeks of familiarization training, followed by a 3 week strength phase. After the 3 week strength phase a deload was performed. After the deload, another three week strength phase was applied. The subjects were split into two groups:

• Full range squat training 
• Full range squat training plus partial range of motion training (100 degrees knee angle to lockout position).

The training was performed 2 days per week.

Both groups had significant improvement in the full range of motion squat. Partial range of motion squat had significant improvements in both groups as well.

Isometric squat impulse showed a significant increase from pretraining in the partial training group for all time points with 90 and 120 degrees, but full range of motion only improved at 250 milliseconds with 120 degrees. The larger effect sizes for isometric squat impulse 120° (0.48) and impulse scaled with 120° (0.45–1.11) was present in the partial range of motion group.

Body composition was significantly lower in only the full range of motion group.

Adding partial range of motion training further enhances strength gains in previously trained subjects. However, this improvement may solely occur from the increase in training volume.

The greater increase in the isometric squat impulse may be more useful to swimmers, as swimmers don’t go into full knee flexion. For example, contact time for elite sprinters is ~90 milliseconds. At 90 milliseconds at 120 degrees knee flexion, the partial range of motion group was significantly greater. Elite swimmers have a "reaction time" from the block of 500 milliseconds, more specific to the rate of partial squats.

Will Partial Squats Help Swimmers?

We don't know. Unfortunately, this is the common result for many dryland applications with swimming, there are no clear cut answers. However, this study suggests partial range of motions squats improve peak impulse, which may translate to starts and turns or even quick dolphin kicks. However, the squat is much different motion than any of these actual tasks. If coaching, you must decide if you think squats or partial squats transfer to swimming, implement the training, then check the results.

References

1. Bazyler CD, Sato K, Wassinger CA, Lamont HS, Stone MH. The efficacy of incorporating partial squats in maximal strength training. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Nov;28(11):3024-32. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000465.
2. Bloomquest K, Langberg H, Karlsen S, Madsgaard S, Boesen M, Raastad T. Effect of range of motion in heavy load squatting on muscle and tendon adaptations. Eur J Appl Physiol 113: 2133–2142, 2013.
3. Cotter JA, Chaudhari AM, Jamison ST, Devor ST.Knee Joint Kinetics in Relation to Commonly Prescribed Squat Loads and Depths. J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Oct 18. [Epub ahead of print]
4. Hartmann H, Wirth K, Klusemann M, Dalic J, Matuschek C, Schmidtbleicher D. Influence of squatting depth on jumping performance. J Strength Cond Res 26: 3243–3261, 2012.Clark RA, Humphries B, Hohmann E, Bryant AL. The influence of variable range of motion training on neuromuscular performance and control of external loads. J Strength Cond Res 25: 704–711, 2011.
5. Kivlan BR, Richard Clemente F, Martin RL, Martin HD. Function of the ligamentum teres during multi-planar movement of the hip joint. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012 Aug 11. 

By Dr. G. John Mullen received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science of Health from Purdue University where he swam collegiately. He is the owner of COR, Strength Coach Consultant, Creator of the Swimmer's Shoulder System, and chief editor of the Swimming Science Research Review.

Dryland for Swimmers

The Dryland for Swimmers ebook and video database is the most comprehensive dryland program and guide for swimmers. It includes a detailed dryland research analysis, club programming, and individual programming.

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Shawn Simonson Discusses Resistance Training for Incoming College Swimmers

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

credentials, experience, etc.).
My name is Shawn R. Simonson and I'm a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (CSCS), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), Health Fitness Specialist (HFS), and Ed.D. from the University of Northern Colorado. I started in Exercise Physiology as a middle school science teacher and coach. I have worked as a personal trainer, police fitness instructor, health educator, and owned my own gym. I have eleven years in academia teaching and conducting research. I am currently in my 8th year at Boise State University.

2. You recently published an article which surveyed college strength coaches. How many strength coaches were surveyed?
The survey was sent to 195 collegiate strength and conditioning coaches. The survey was completed by 57 (29%). This is a low rate of return, but is within reason for on-line surveys.

3. What did your study look at?
We asked strength and conditioning coaches to share with us their perception of the preparedness of incoming college freshmen athletes for the rigors of strength and conditioning in training for their respective sports. The survey was specifically designed to find areas in which pre-college programs could help athletes improve and asked open-ended questions that allowed coaches to respond with any information they felt appropriate. Coaches’ responses were grouped into themes.

4. What were the results of your study?
Incoming college freshmen athletes lack lower extremity strength, overall flexibility, and core strength, as well as proper Olympic lifting technique. Athletes also lack mental toughness (grit) to endure collegiate sport strength and conditioning. In addition knowledge of correct nutrition and recovery principles is limited. From the manuscript:

Table 2. Thematic Analysis Regarding Areas of Improvement(3)

Major Themes	%
Olympic Lifting Technique	36.8
Core/Lower Extremities Strength	33.3
Flexibility/Mobility	22.8
Mental Toughness	22.8
Knowledge of Exercise Technique/Recovery	22.8
Work Capacity	19.3
Minor Themes
Running/Jumping Form	5.3
Knowledge of Periodization	3.5

Note: 50th Percentile was 18.4%. Any theme greater than the 50th percentile was considered a major theme while any themes less than the 50th percentile was considered a minor theme.

5. What were the practical implications for coaches and swimmers from your study?
High school strength and conditioning coaches, personal trainers, and club sport coaches should consider obtaining certifications within the field of strength and conditioning (i.e., CSCS, USAW). These certification indicate that the coach is qualified to develop and implement safe sport training regimens that will take into account biological maturity, athlete experience, evidence-based program design, and appropriate progressions. Parents also need to become educated and understand the importance of hiring only suitably certified strength and conditioning professionals to train their children. Just because a potential strength and conditioning coach or personal trainer was a successful competitor sports does not indicate that they have the education and knowledge to design and properly progress a strength and conditioning program for high school athletes. Failure to employ certified individuals with the requisite knowledge not only puts athlete health at risk, but also creates a disadvantage when beginning collegiate sport training and competition.

Certified high school strength and conditioning coaches/trainers should 1) focus on teaching proper technique in the basic multi-joint movements and Olympic lifts. 2) Increase power via appropriate plyometric exercises and sprinting and agility form drills to improve movement economy. 3) Ensure a complete and proper mobility/flexibility component. 4) Include mental training to enhance mental toughness (grit), and 5) Educate athletes regarding evidence-based nutrition and recovery principles.
 
6. Did you ask the strength coaches specifically about sports they worked with or what which sports were the least prepared?
We did not.

7. Do you think it is appropriate for a swim coach to implement resistance training at their club for high school athletes or is a strength and conditioning specialist preferred?
Based on what we found in the survey, we encourage club and high school teams to hire Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists rather than implementing their own programs.

8. If a swim coach is leading their high school kids strength program, what education do you recommend they have for safety and preparing the athletes?
High school strength and conditioning coaches, personal trainers, and club sport coaches should obtain certifications within the field of strength and conditioning (i.e., CSCS, USAW). These certification indicate that the coach is qualified to develop and implement safe sport training regimens that will take into account biological maturity, athlete experience, evidence-based program design, and appropriate progressions.

9. What is the ideal athlete to coach ratio in the weight room?
“The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends staff-to-athlete ratios based on the age and experience of the athletes participating in the training program. For middle school strength and conditioning programs, a 1:10 staff-to-athlete ratio should not be exceeded. Secondary school strength and conditioning programs should not exceed a 1:15 staff-to-athlete ratio. Strength and conditioning programs for athletes older than the secondary level should not exceed a 1:20 staff-to athlete ratio. It is recommended that no facility exceed a staff-to-athlete ratio of greater than 1:50(1).” (2) page 84.

10. What are some things coaches can work on to have their swimmers ready for college strength training?
1) Focus on teaching proper technique in the basic multi-joint movements and Olympic lifts. While many swimmers do not think much about Olympic lifting, the clean and snatch are specific to getting off the starting block and wall quickly and with power. In addition, start with the basic movements before moving on to multi-planar movements and more advanced conditioning programs.
2) Increase power via appropriate plyometric exercises and sprinting form drills to improve movement economy. This is important for both sprinters and distance swimmers as it will help with coming off the block and wall as well as reduce fatigue and delay the loss of movement economy that accompanies fatigue. Proper mechanics and movement economy also reduce the potential for overuse injuries – the most common injuries in swimming.
3) Ensure a complete and proper mobility/flexibility component – especially in the hips and low back.
4) Include mental training to enhance mental toughness (grit). This will help athletes overcome adversity and better tolerate the grind of intense and/or long conditioning sessions.
5) Educate athletes regarding evidence-based nutrition and recovery principles. Do not pay attention to the fads and commercials. What does the science say?

11. What research or projects are you currently working on or should we look from you in the future?
We are currently working on a follow-up assessment protocol for this recent study to measure the accuracy of the strength and conditioning coaches’ perceptions that will include sport-specific information. We hope to collect data from a wide variety of programs and sports.
We also continue to work on the use of Olympic weight training to improve sport performance.

References:

1. Greenwood M and Greenwood L. Facility organization and risk management, in: Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. TR Baechle, RW Earle, eds. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008, pp 543-568.
2. Simonson SR, Moffit JT, and Lawson J. What is the impact of NCAA policy 11.7.2.1.1 weight of strength coach (Football Bowl Subdivision) limits on strength and conditioning as a profession? Strengt Cond J 36: 82-87, 2014.
3. Wade SM, Pope ZC, and Simonson SR. How prepared are college freshmen athletes for the rigors of college strength and conditioning? A survey of college strength and conditioning coaches. J Strength Cond Res 28: 2746-2753, 2014.

If you're looking for more information about dryland for swimmers, consider purchasing dryland for swimmers. Although this doesn't substitute a certification for strength and conditioning, it helps bridge the gap between swimming and weight training. 

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Is "Swim Specific" Dryland Really "Swim Specific"?

Take Home Points

1. Many dryland methods touted as swim specific really are not swim specific
2. Mimicking the swim stroke on land may contribute to overtraining, motor confusion
3. Dryland can be used to teach basic movement patterns (especially at the individual level), but consider the doses in which it is delivered

Swim specificity is a common justification for many dryland activities. And it makes sense that we might use gym time to impart techniques that may be difficult to teach in the middle of a crowded pool with no ability to verbally coach instructions. This is not unique to swimming, as many coaches try to replicate sporting demands in the gym away from the sometimes chaotic environment of the competitive arena. But is this really a “best practice,” especially at advanced levels?

Swim specificity takes many forms from bands, swim bench, balls, and even improvised contraptions such as the one shown below.

Let’s explore this closely as an example. Now, there may be some elements of this exercise which are “swim specific”: long axis alignment, early vertical forearm, body rotation. However, these elements are mitigated by non-swim specific elements such as fixed dorsiflexed ankles, no head rotation for breathing, and the fact that you are on land.

There may be benefits from using dryland to teach parts of the stroke such as early vertical forearm, pointed ankles, hip internal rotation, as self-awareness can be a major hurdle in the early stages of skill acquisition. But once a swimmer is proficient, does performing mimicry exercises actually aid the stroke in the water?

Bearing a resemblance to the stroke is insufficient justification for mimicry. For example, many coaches attempt to mimic early vertical forearm on land, as it is a difficult skill to communicate in the water for many swimmers. Early vertical forearm is not just early vertical forearm…how each individual’s forearm moves is often predicated upon imperceptible microadjustments. Forcing the shoulders into high repetitions of exercise stressing the shoulders can cause problems, especially with injury risks so high in the sport.

"A lot of emphasis is put on “sport-specific” movements (swim bench, cable crossovers, straight arm pulldowns, etc.). Unfortunately, the transference of these movements is uncertain and likely minimal to the sports of swimming. Every land exercise you create is far from the demands in the pool. Despite visual similarities, every swimmer uses unique yet imperceptible microadjustments in their strokes to optimize balance, force, and deceleration. It is impossible to replicate these movements on land and attempting to be too “sport specific” may lead to confused motor programming." (Mullen 2012)

“The intent is not to produce mimicry of sport during training. Of utmost importance during training is that key dysfunctions are improved. The goal of training is not to teach perfect patterns, but to correct the key fault that is causing trouble.” As to the key fault in swimmers, this may be shoulder range of motion, scapular stability, asymmetries, or pain, among other general physical traits that can be addressed on land. (Lewitt 1999, Liebenson 2014)

Further, is “swim specific” dryland the best use of time? Many choices exist on how to spend dryland time, from general strengthening, recovery, mental practice, plyometrics for starts/turns. With sometimes more than 20 hours in the water, is a few minutes of land based swim mimicry going to create meaningful improvements (if so, I’d suggest you analyze room for improvement in the 20 hours spent in the water.)

A related point is with unstable surface training, which is often presented as “swim specific.” But as noted by Behm (2012)

"Some of the characteristics of IRT exercises that are not conducive to optimal strength or power training for athletes, may be favorable for rehabilitation. The instability‐induced deficits in force compared to traditional stable RT exercises, which dampen the strength training stimuli in trained individuals, can be of sufficient intensity for a recuperating muscle." (Behm 2012)

Conclusion

This is ultimately one area where reasoning and common sense must prevail as classifying “swim specific” versus general would be difficulty for research as a qualitative classification. Also, because there are a finite number of possible movement patterns, there will always be cross over between “swim specific” and general exercises. It is one thing to troubleshoot a particular stroke deficit that you believe is better addressed on land, but it is quite another to fill your dryland workout exercise plate with exercises that merely look similar to swim mechanics.

References

1. Mullen, J. Five Considerations When Training Swimmers.
2. David Behm, PhD1 and Juan Carlos Colado, PhD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RESISTANCE TRAINING USING UNSTABLE SURFACES AND DEVICES FOR REHABILITATION. Int J Sports Phys Ther. Apr 2012; 7(2): 226–241.
3. Lewitt, K. Manipulative Therapy in Rehabilitation of the Locomotor System. 3ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 1999.
4. Liebenson, C. Functional Training Handbook. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer, 2014. 

Written by Allan Phillips is a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and owner of Pike Athletics. He is also an ASCA Level II coach and USA Triathlon coach. Allan is a co-author of the Troubleshooting System and was selected by Dr. Mullen as an assistant editor of the Swimming Science Research Review. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy at US Army-Baylor University.

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Core Muscle Activation During Swimming

Take Home Points:

1. Core muscle activation increases correlations with faster swimming velocities. 
2. Maximally activating the core during swimming impairs respiration.

Intra-abdominal pressure changes as a result of synchronous contraction of the abdominal muscles, diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles. Previous work suggests a positive correlation between muscle strength and intra-abdominal pressure. Other work suggests intra-abdominal pressure correlates with walking and running speed. Ogawa showed intra-abdominal pressure increases with swimming velocity during freeestyle from 0.8 - 1.4 m/s (18).

Moriyama (2014) had 7 competitive male swimmers (~19.9 years; Japanese national university championship level) undergo a intra-abdominal pressure test which involved a 1.6-mm-diameter rectal pressure transducer. Swimmers then swam in a flume at 1.0, 1.2, and 1.4 m/s with IAP being recorded.

There were significant changes in intra-abdominal pressure at varying velocity, with a positive correlation. However, the intra-abdominal pressure was significantly different in water than on land (16.6 vs. 18.9). Intra-abdominal pressure did not have a significant correlation with stroke rate or stroke length.

Despite the lack of correlation between intra-abdominal pressure and stroke length or rate, there is a positive correlation between velocity, the most important variable for swimming.

Keep these items in mind:

1. These swimmers performed at a moderate speed, far from maximum, potentially nullifying the results.
2. The swimmers were not tested during fatigue.
3. There was a small sample size.
4. This is an observational study, not proving anything.

The authors conclude: "These findings do not appear to support the effectivenss of trunk training performed by competitive swimmers aimed at increasing intra-abdominal pressure".

Swimming is unique as pulmonary function limits performance. There are many possibilities for this, some being the resistrcited oxygen, mechanical pressure against the chest, prone position, and many more. Whatever the case, total lung capacity and forced expiratory volume is greater in swimmers than other athletes.

Thirteen participants(M=8, F=5; ~22-60 years) perform two conditions, relaxed breathing while sitting and breathing with the abdominal and erector spinae muscles tensed in the seated position. During these tests ventialry function was assessed.

There was a significant difference between vital capacity, maximum voluntary ventilation, forced vital capacity over 1 second, and resting oxygen consumption between both conditions.

Overall, contracting muscles to streamline abdominal posture had negative effects on pulmonary function and caused a negative effect on pulmonary function. Therefore, abdominal musculature should not be contracted during swimming as it likely will impair swimming performance.

Personally, I feel the opposite, if you have an increase in intra-abdominal pressure as you increase in speed, then the positive correlation suggests the higher intra-abdominal pressure helps swim faster velocities. Sure, intra-abdominal pressure is going to be lower in the water than on land, but this is expected due to the instability of water! However, we still need more evidence on the effects of core training on swimming performance. This author knows of one study suggesting core training improves swimming sprint velocity, but this is far from conclusive.

Until more research occurs, core training appears helpful for swimmers, especially those going faster speeds.

Reference:

1. Moriyama S, Ogita F, Huang Z, Kurobe K, Nagira A, Tanaka T, Takahashi H, Hirano Y. Intra-abdominal pressure during swimming. Int J Sports Med. 2014 Feb;35(2):159-63. doi: 10.1055/s-0033-1349136. Epub 2013 Jul 18.
2. Timothy W. Henrich, T. W., Robert Pankey, and Gregory Soukup. The Unintended Consequences of Tension in the Abdominal & Lumbar Musculature on Swimmers' Ventilatory Metabolic Indices. Volume 22 Spring 2014.

Dryland for Swimmers

The Dryland for Swimmers ebook and video database is the most comprehensive dryland program and guide for swimmers. It includes a detailed dryland research analysis, club programming, and individual programming.

By Dr. G. John Mullen received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science of Health from Purdue University where he swam collegiately. He is the owner of COR, Strength Coach Consultant, Creator of the Swimmer's Shoulder System, and chief editor of the Swimming Science Research Review.

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Victor G. Sarramian Discuses Post-activation Potentiation for Swimmers

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

credentials, experience, etc.). (pictures)

I completed my Sport Science degree at University of Leon (Spain), followed by a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. Soon after finishing my studies I took a job as a swimming coach in a small team.

In 2005, I moved to London and started working as a PE teacher and swimming instructor. My increasing interest in endurance sports, led me to train a number of athletes in and out of the pool. I realized that I wanted to learn more, in which to improve their performance and my knowledge, a MSc in Strength & Conditioning seemed to be a perfect match for my degree in Sport Science. So that's exactly what I did, I attained my Msc and was delighted when my dissertation was awarded with a distinction and proposed for publication. It has been finally published in one of the most prestigious journals in the field of sports science. (http://goo.gl/CJvoxY)

I also gained sound knowledge on different subjects such as applied strength training, research methods, and corrective exercise...but mostly, I learned how important it was to manipulate every training variable with evidence-based facts.

Alongside my studies, I worked at Barnet Copthalls Swimming Club under the supervision, of one of the best coaches in England; I assisted the club with the strength & conditioning programmes. Working with Rhys Gromnley was an invaluable experience, he gave me the opportunity to get involved with the making of national champions. During my time in the squad, I learned that bridging the gap between sport science and day-to-day coaching is a key factor to enhance performance.

Currently, I deliver S&C sessions for endurance athletes with a strong scientific input. Personal training customers also benefit from my knowledge and experience.

2. You recently published an article on post-activation potential (PAP) and sprint swimming performance. First, what is PAP?

Postactivation Potentiation (PAP) is a relatively new phenomenon in sport and exercise science that provides coaches with a new tool to potentially impact sports and exercise performance. PAP can be defined as a condition whereby acute muscle force is increased due to a previous high resistance exercise.

Popular training methods implemented to seek an acute augmentation in maximal power output have been already benefiting from PAP by utilizing the method of complex training where by a heavy-load exercise is followed by a low-load high velocity or plyometric exercise e.g. barbell back squats followed by box jumps or bench press followed by bench throws.

The inclusion of a PAP protocol in the warm up has been object of study in a number of researches, having shown enhanced performance in a variety of sports such us rugby (Kilduff et al, 2007), weightlifting (Chiu et al, 2003), football (Mc Bride and Erickson, 2005) and track and field (Linder et al., 2010 ).

The underlying mechanisms behind PAP are not fully understood yet, but the phosphorylation of the regulatory light myosin chains and the increased recruitment of high threshold motor units have been proposed as the two most coherent underlying PAP mechanism theories .

3. Has there been previous research on PAP and swimmers? If so, what do we know?

There is paucity of published research on the effects of PAP in competitive swimmers. To the best of my knowledge, the first study to address this topic was conducted by Kilduff et al. (2011). The research reveals that sprint times over 15m were similar after PAP using 3RM backsquats or a traditional warm-up.

Recently, a group of Spanish researches from the University of Granada published a really interesting paper, they demonstrate that start performance can be enhanced after a warm up with two different PAP stimuli , 3x85% RM of the lunge exercise and 4x YOYO squat.

Basically, we know that start performance can be enhanced using a PAP protocol and, based on our study, we also know that PAP is as effective as a traditional warm -up in the water, with the potential to increase performance over 50m in some individuals.

4. There is a lot of research on PAP in other sports, how did you decide on the exercises, loads, and rest you picked for your study?

The most important factor when choosing the exercises was practicality, we wanted to propose exercises that could be done in a real situation. I cannot imagine any swimming coach taking a squat rack, barbells and plates to a swimming meeting in order to warm-up the sprinters.

The exercise for the lower body was chosen based on previous research that showed increased power output of the leg extensors after jumping into a box wearing a weighted vest . (Fig 1) The external load of the weighted vest worn to perform the test equalled 10% of their body weight. (Thompsen et al 2007 and Burkett et al 2005). Three squat jumps performed 4, 8 and 12 minutes after the PAP stimulus were performed in order to establish optimal rest periods for power output enhancement for the lower body. For example, if a swimmer achieved the highest jump 12 minutes after the weighted jump to the box , we obviously established 12 minutes as his optimal rest period for the lower body. Simple.

Fig 1

Choosing an exercise for the upper body was a bit more complex because all the previous PAP studies focused investigated pushing actions such as bench presses. We thought that a pull-up was a simple exercise that replicated to some extend the underwater pulling motion of front crawl. The 3RM was determined by adding the athlete's body weight to a vest's additional weight that was worn during the 3RM PU test.

The swimmers completed a medicine-ball-throw test in order to determine optimal time to upper body muscle enhancement following the loaded pull-ups. (Fig 2)

Fig 2

5. What your study specifically looked at?

The primary aim was to compare the effectiveness of the PAP protocols with a traditional warm-up in the water. Secondly, the research examined the effect of the loaded pull-up and the weighted jump to a box as conditioning activities to produce potentiation on sprint swimming.

6. What were the practical implications for coaches and swimmers from your study?

There are several implications:

(1) Postactivation potentiation has the potential to be a useful tool for coaches to warm-up swimmers participating in sprinting events, especially when space and time limitations can impede performance of a warm-up in the water.

(2) It is imperative to identify the conditioning activities and following rest intervals that trigger potentiation in each swimmer. The combined protocol showed to be a valuable method to boost performance to some extent in some individuals.

In my opinion, knowing how to interpret the data is key to understand the outcome of a research. Most data is published as average and standard deviation and we look for statistically significant differences, but in the pool we work with individuals. If you look at the data from a pure statistical point of view, you might think 'ok, the results of the PAP protocols are not so impressive', but some swimmers achieved reasonably good improvements that could mean a lot in a championship. Those performances will not be reflected in the results section of a paper because a few remarkable individual performances using PAP may be diluted in the overall results or hindered by those swimmers who performed poorly under a PAP protocol. Knowing that some swimmers may respond positively to PAP, makes it worth trying.

Another promising fact about this study is that 12 out of the 18 swimmers performed better following one of the three PAP protocols.

For that reason, the coaches should be encouraged to experiment with different exercises to determine what works best for each swimmer. I know this is hard work but in elite swimming, very small improvement in times are crucial amongst competitors in sprint events.

(3) Conditioning activities such as the weighted jump to the box described in the present study represent an effective and simple method to warm-up the lower body, the vest's load can be easily adjusted to meet individual needs and can be taken into any swimming pool, as opposed to more voluminous and heavier weight-lifting material.

7. Why do you think PAP for the upper body impaired performance?

When swimming, the hands do not apply force against a solid base of support and follow curvilinear patterns of movement under the water. Consequently, the kinematic characteristics of the freestyle stroke are extremely hard to replicate out of the water, which may impede the transfer into performance enhancement. The PU, regardless of its pulling nature may differ extensively from the actual motion of the arms under the water. Furthermore, Figueiredo et al. (2013) revealed high activation of the triceps brachii muscle during the upsweep phase of the freestyle stroke. The upsweep is the most propulsive sweep in freestyle swimming and the PU may not be an appropriate exercise to produce high activation of the triceps brachii.

8. Did any of the swimmers have greater performance in the upper body PAP condition?

Only one out of 18 swimmers, what makes me think that there is a lot of room for improvement for the combined PAP protocol. Imagine for a moment, that the combined PAP protocol was composed by an improved upper body exercise and the 4 x YoYo Squat for the lower body, which has already shown positive outcomes to enhance performance of the lower body (Cuenca- Fernandez et al, 2014). Maybe we could have a superb protocol that is exceptionally valuable for some sprinters.

9. Since the regular swimming warm-up and combined warm-up had similar results, how can coaches decide who to prescribed the combined protocol?

Trial and error, I am afraid. As I mentioned before, it is the coach's task to experiment and get to know his/her swimmers' responses to different stimuli.

10. Do you think PAP is something that can be done before major meets or just high-intensity practices?

I would experiment with different PAP protocols in practices and low key events. If it works under those circumstances, I think there is no excuse for not trying.

Additionally, it can be performed when space and time limitations can impede the performance of a warm-up in the water. It is not unusual to hold a swimming event in facilities without a warm up pool and some swimmers may compete long after they warm-up in the water.

11. What makes your research different from others?

(1) Despite the significance of upper body pulling performance on a variety of sports (e.g., swimming, judo), no studies have investigated the outcome of specific conditioning activities to trigger PAP for pulling motions. I believe we have been the first researchers investigating PAP for pulling motions.

(2) This is also the first study investigating the effects of a combined PAP protocol to enhance upper and lower body performance simultaneously. Previously, all PAP studies focused on upper or lower body separately.

(3) Finally, we look at performance on a swimming event, the 50m freestyle. Former research studied performance only on swim starts.

12. Which teachers have most influenced your research?

The research was my dissertation project for a MSc in Strength and Conditioning (Middlesex University, London) and I was most influenced by the whole environment during the course. From the very beginning I understood that all the knowledge that I was acquiring was based on the latest research, so I knew that I had to back up all my ideas with science and reflect that in my research project. When I presented my first literature review for this project, my tutor (Anthony Turner) suggested that I needed to improve and elaborate my ideas quite a lot. That moment was a real eye-opener, now I look back in time and realize that my original ideas, such us combining an upper and lower body PAP protocol were very innovative but at the same time I realized that I needed to raise the bar to write a decent paper. To be honest, I thought I wasn't going to pass the course and I got a bit obsessed with this research. Probably that obsession helped me to work extremely hard to produce a reasonably good research (at least for a student). I encourage every MSc student to publish their research project if they believe their work is good enough. They may contribute somehow to the development of sport science. Despite being a difficult and time-consuming task, preparing and submitting a research can be emotionally satisfying, and give a student a great sense of accomplishment and a confidence boost.

13. What are some unanswered questions regarding PAP and swimming performance?

We still need much more research on the topic. We need to test different PAP stimuli, try protocols over different distances, test PAP stimuli that are specific to different strokes or simply play around with the sets and repetitions of the exercises. A recent meta-analysis on PAP studies showed that performance enhancement was greater following multiple sets of a PAP stimuli than a single set.
In my opinion we know very little, we only know that PAP has a great potential to became a good tool for coaches to enhance performance.

14. What research or projects are you currently working on or should we look from you in the future?

At the moment I am 100% focused on running my company, I deliver S&C programmes for endurance athletes and personal training. I am not involved in any research but in the future I would love to keep working with endurance athletes. There are some topics I am very interested in, such as gluteus maximus strengthening in endurance runners, not only to prevent injury but to increase performance.

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss about my study and do not hesitate to contact me with your questions, research proposals or comments.

Victor G Sarramian
+44 (0) 7809719251
victor@victoriaparkfitness.com
http://victorsrunningblog.com/
http://victoriaparkfitness.com/

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Friday Interview: Shinichiro Moriyama, PhD, Discusses Intra-Abdominal Pressure

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

credentials, experience, etc.).
My name is Shinichiro Moriyama. I am an associate professor and competitive swimming coach at Japan Women’s College of Physical Education in Japan. I was awarded my PhD from National Institute of Fitness and Sports in 2014. My mentors are Department director of Sports Science Yuichi Hirano at Japan Institute of Sports Sciences and Professor Futoshi Ogita at National Institute of Fitness and Sports. Professor Hirano granted the advice about the importance of trunk training in human performance, and Professor Ogita guided me in the swimming science. It was the splendid experience for me to have studied under them.

I started coaching of the swimming club from 2002 at Japan Women’s College of Physical Education. I want to take a role to relate competition swimming to science.

2. You recently published an article on intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and swimming. What is IAP and how is it tested?
IAP changes as a result of synchronous contraction of the abdominal muscles, diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles and, through synergistic action with muscle activity of the trunk, contributes to lumbar spine stability.

We measured intra-rectal pressure as IAP using 1.6-mm-diameter catheter-type pressure transducer. Intra-rectal pressure that is more than 10cm from anus gives almost the same value as IAP measured using a laparoscope.

3. What did your study look at?
We hypothesized that IAP during front crawl swimming is affected by stroke rate, one of the factors affecting swimming velocity, and increases with swimming velocity.

We investigated to ascertain IAP during front crawl swimming at different velocities in competitive swimmers using swimming flume and to clarify the relationships between stroke indices and changes in IAP.

4. What were the practical implications for coaches and swimmers from your study?
It is difficult to suggest the practical implications from our study. Because it was no relationships between IAP and stroke indices. Additionally IAP during swimming was less than 15% of maximum voluntary IAP.

On the other hand, within-subject, IAP tends to increase with increased swimming velocity. Therefore the training to increase IAP during swimming may be effective means to swim faster.

5. Do you think the results would be different if you had older, elite or untrained swimmers?
We compared IAP of elite swimmers with untrained swimmers. As results, under their maximal efforts, we could not see significant difference between elite and untrained.

From this result, significant difference may not be accepted between the elite swimmer with older swimmer.

6. What if you had the swimmers perform around 2.0 m/s?
I instruct the swimmer who advanced to the A finals by the 50m free-style at Japan championship. Her IAP is not remarkably different from other swimmers.

7. Would other strokes change the results?
We are very interested in about IAP during other strokes.　We are making an experiment plan now. Crawl stroke and back stroke have rolling motion, and butterfly stroke and breast stroke have up-down motion. Therefore we expect that the former’s (crawl stroke and back stroke) IAP waveforms are remarkably different from the latter’s (butterfly stroke and breast stroke). Additionally IAP development during butterfly strokes that are the highest load to trunk are highest in all strokes.

8. How should the results of your study be used for dryland and core training?
This question is very difficult for us. Recently, including me, many coaches and swimmers work on core training. We wanted to solve the meaning of core training by measuring IAP during swimming. But as results, IAP during swimming was much lower than we expected. Therefore, at least, our findings do not appear to support the effectiveness of core training performed by competitive swimmers aimed at increasing maximal IAP.

9. What research or projects are you currently working on or should we look from you in the future?
Even now, we are continuing experiment of IAP during swimming. We want to solve the meaning of core training and roles of trunk during swimming someday.

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Timing Weight Training for Elite Youth Athletes

Take Home Points on Timing Weight Training for Elite Youth Athletes

1. Dryland timing varies on the age and skill of the athlete.
2.  Overall, improving form and developing general strength is the main goal for swimmers of all ages.

 

Q. Should I have my national level kids lift before or after swimming?

Anyone who trains youth athletes knows that development is all over the place. One 12 year-old may more closely resemble a high-school football starter than he does his classmates, while another 14 year-old from the same group may look more like he’s arrived an hour late for his learn-to-swim program. Because of this dilemma, training young swimmers can vary drastically. For sake of simplicity, I’m going to assume ‘youth’ refers to all age group swimmers from 11-18, but I am also going to compartmentalize this post based on development, not biological age.

Prepubescent

These athletes have the most growth potential, and should be trained as broadly as possible. I suggest a land-based warm up before any kind of swimming work, which will: improve body awareness, reinforce movement patters, activate appropriate tissues, and increase bone mineral density.

A land-based warm-up does not need to be long here, 5-10 minutes of big movements such as crawling variations, lunges, bodyweight squats, and dynamic stretches should be sufficient. Not only will this style of warm up help the athlete reap the aforementioned benefits, but it will also help keep the attention span of this hyperactive age group.

After swimming is a great time to reinforce the patterns established in the warm ups. Here, you can increase the volume of the exercises to bring about a training effect. You can also use similar exercises in the cool-down to encourage blood-lactate recycling to expedite the recovery process.

Prepubescent athletes are frequently young enough to be free of mobility restrictions associated with poor tissue quality (extended periods of sitting being the prime culprit). This makes this age the most crucial time to reinforce tissue quality, which will help the athlete later on, as more skill and strength will be able to develop. As an aside here, even national level swimmers at the youngest age group should have a definitive off-season from the sport. Early specialization will only hinder their performance later in their careers when performance matters more.

Pubescent

At no other point in someone’s life are there such dramatic changes in muscle mass, hormone levels, skill, and mechanics. Because of these changes in biomechanics, creating awareness of this new muscle mass and changing leverages are huge.

To ensure you are creating lasting neural changes in this population, dryland training in a fatigued state (immediately after swimming) may be the best option. This works by forcing the athlete to maintain proper form during fatigue (which forces the athlete to think about the movement and develop the mind-muscle connection).

This is also a great time to introduce more complicated lifts, as well as external load (i.e. weights or band resistance). Just remember the weight itself is not nearly as important as good form. Remember, in this age we are trying to introduce neural adaptations. Adaptations can occur with poor form and heavy load, but this would reinforce poor technique, which is not at all what we are seeking.

Postpubescent

By now elite athletes have developed some body awareness and are moving quickly towards sport-

specificity. The goal of dryland training now is: injury prevention, improved proprioception, and general strength.

The best way to achieve these basic goals is in a non-fatigued state. Ideally, you want the athlete to have time to recover after the dryland workout because of the heightened demands on the Central Nervous System and Muscular System. This is best done with an individual practice consisting entirely of the strength work, and another devoted to swimming. This is where two-a-days can come in handy, if your governing body allows it (varies by state athletic associations).

If having a separate training session is not an option, alternating between swimming first, and dryland work first may be your best bet. Just make sure to reduce the volume and intensity on the days where the dryland work will come last. This will actually improve recovery time and allow better efforts for both pool and dryland work.

As these athletes develop, creating the general strength as I mentioned, is huge. An easy way to add this general work is land-based warm ups and cool downs. I know from personal experience that younger swimmers tend to slack off on the cool down, so by switching to land, it will provide a relief from more pool volume, as well as a mental break.

Wrap-Up

The most important thing to realize for all populations is that any kind of dryland training will be extremely beneficial to the athlete. The above situations are ideal, but if you have restrictions with your athletes (i.e. NCAA time allotments), getting training in wherever you can is still critical. To break up monotony with youth swimmers, I suggest using some dryland work as a warm up, which will also enforce appropriate motor patterns, as a training session in itself to maximize strength, and as a cool down, to strengthen the athlete’s proprioception via enhanced CNS input.

Dryland for Swimmers Book Update

Many of you have purchased the Dryland for Swimmers book and we've gotten some great feedback! We will constantly update this book with new information and updated programs. We are set to send out updates in a few months, so don't worry this book will be a continual resource!

If you haven't purchased this product, buy now and receive the most comprehensive product on dryland for swimmers!

Thanks again for all your support!

Written by John Matulevich a powerlifting world record holder in multiple lifts and weight classes, as well as a Head D-2 Strength Coach, and previously a nationally ranked college athlete. His concentrations are in sports performance, powerlifting, and weight training for swimming. To learn more about how John trains his athletes, check his Twitter page: @John_Matulevich. He can also be reached at MuscleEmporium@gmail.com with inquiries.

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Post-Activation Potentiation and Swimming

Take Home Points on Post-Activation Potentiation and Swimming:

1. Highly specific post-activation potentiation improves starting distance and may improve 0 - 15 m velocity.
2. Sprint swimming races do not benefit from post-activation potentiation compared to traditional swimming warm-up.

Starts play a vital component of every race, with increasing importance in the shorter the race. PAP improves muscle contractility, strength and speed in sporting performances by applying maximal or submaximal loads on the muscle
Warming-up the body is suggested to improve sporting performance, with post-activation potentiation (PAP) one mechanism for improvement.

prior to the performance. PAP improvements are the result of a physiologic alteration that renders actin-myosin myofibril more sensitive to Ca2+, released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and an increase in muscle fibre recruitment, due to an intensification of the motor-neuron’s excitation.

PAP commonly uses similar exercises to the actual event. The lunge exercise, for example, primarily
activates the hip and knee extensor muscles of the front leg and, in track starts, causes the biggest impulse. The flywheel inertial device, YoYo squat (YoYo™ Technology AB, Stockholm, Sweden), on the other hand, draws on inertial systems to induce potentiation and, as has been reported in many EMG studies, leads to very high muscular activation potential benefit of flywheel inertial devices is that the resistance is independent of gravity.

PAP and Swimming Start

Fourteen trained swimmers (M=10, F=4; 17 - 23 years old) performed an initial swimming start as a control, then two different PAP protocols before a swimming start. Eight minutes of rest were provided after the two different protocols. The initial control start followed a standard warm-up, which was varied swimming and a dynamic lower limb stretching routine. During the two PAP protocols, the participant performed a standard warm-up then 1 x 3 at 85% 1-RM for the lunge and 1 x 4 at maximal voluntary contraction for the YoYo squat flywheel.

Dive distance was significantly greater after the PAP compared to the control. The distance to entry in the water was longer for the YoYo squat flywheel (304.28 cm) and lunge (300.29 cm) compared to the control (294.2 cm). Flight time was also significantly greater after the YoYo squat flywheel compared to the control and the lunge. Swimmers were faster after the YoYo squat flywheel compared to the other protocols. Time to 5-meters was also significantly shorter after the PAP exercises. Time to 15-m was shorter after the YoYo squat flywheel, but it wasn't significant.

PAP and Swimming Performance

In another recent study, Sarramin (2014) tested 18 National level swimmers (M=10, F=9; ranked within the top 15 for their country in their age-group) on 7 occasions. The first test day aimed to provided a 3 repetition maximum (3RM) on the pull-up exercise. The second session, the participant performed a medicine ball throw 4, 8 and 12 minutes following the upper body PAP activity (1 set of 3RM of the pull-up), determining the optimal rest period for the individual. The third session involved performing a counter movement jump on a jump mat, 4, 8 and 12 minutes after the PAP stimulus (1 set of 5 jumps to the box wearing a weighted vest of 10% of their bodyweight). During sessions 4 - 7, participants swam a 50 m under race conditions preceded by one of the following:

1. Regular swimming warm-up: 30 minutes of different speeds, drills, sprints, and cool down. 
2. Upper body PAP
3. Lower body PAP
4. Combined upper and lower body PAP

All the PAP protocols first performed a 15-minute pool warm-up. The rest period after the regular warm-up was 15 minutes for each swimmer. The rest periods for the PAP were determined by the first 2 sessions. 

There were only significantly differences in time between groups for the male group. Swimming

times were significantly faster for the regular swimming warm-up and combined warm-up compared to the upper body PAP protocol for men. 

The reasons for the differences between men and women are not clear, but possibly due to muscle mass and composition.

Sarramian (2014) suggests PAP may be beneficial for swimmers when they don't adequate space or time for warm-up, which is common in swimming. However, the precise exercises for PAP are not well established for swimming due to the complex nature of the sport. 

PAP and Swimming

Overall, it seems PAP using the YoYo Flywheel provides the greatest benefit for improving the swimming start. However, it seems a traditional warm-up is just as effective as PAP for sprinters, therefore regular swimming warm-ups are likely the most beneficial mode for most swimming. Just remember, individualization is key, as some collegiate sprinters have been found to perform best after no warm-up or no warm-up (Balilionis 2012).

Another scenario for using PAP, as Sarramian (2014) suggests is its use during meets with minimal space. 

References:

1. Sarramian VG, Turner A, Greenhalgh AK. EFFECT OF POSTACTIVATION POTENTIATION ON FIFTY METERS FREESTYLE INNATIONAL SWIMMERS. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Sep 25. [Epub ahead of print]
2. Cuenca-Fernández F, López-Contreras G, Arellano R. Effect on swimming start performance of two types of activation protocols: Lunge and YoYoSquat. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Sep 15. [Epub ahead of print]

By Dr. G. John Mullen received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science of Health from Purdue University where he swam collegiately. He is the owner of COR, Strength Coach Consultant, Creator of the Swimmer's Shoulder System, and chief editor of the Swimming Science Research Review.

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Training Paralympic Swimmers, Part II

Take Home Points on Training Paralympic Swimmers, Part II

1. Asymmetry is related to disability classification in Paralympic swimmers
2. Level of disability appears related to impairment of start velocity
3. Dryland may improve Paralympic swim performance, but the same questions remain about dryland as with regular swimming

Paralympic swimming has grown enormously in stature during recent Olympic cycles. Once an afterthought compared to “regular” Olympic events, the Paralymipcs have attracted more high level athletes each year, with interest continuing to grow. While basic swimming principles remain uniform compared to able bodied swimmers, certain adjustments are required. 

We have previously reviewed literature on Paralympic swimming (Part I), but recently the team of Dingley et al (2014) published a series of studies on starts and dryland specific to Paralympic swimmers.

In the article on starts the team found:

• Swimmers with no physical disability were significantly faster in most swim-start phases compared with those with physical disabilities 
• Swimmers with low-severity disabilities were also significantly faster in starts compared with the mid- and high-severity groups. (Note: this study includes only Paralympic swimmers but not all classifications are considered physical disabilities) 
• Block velocity was highly negatively correlated with 15-mswimming time for all groups except high-severity disabilities. 
• Free-swim velocity is a priority area for improving swim-starts for swimmers regardless of disability. 
• Swimmers with lower body or high-severity disabilities spent a smaller percentage of time overall in the underwater phase. 

Overall, the trends are relatively similar than what we’d expect to find in able bodied swimmers, with block velocity relating to 15m swim time. Key take home from this research is confirming that physical ability is an individual quality and training should be individualized to each swimmer’s capability.

Asymmetry has been a recent topic on thissite. While asymmetry is a key element for able bodied swimmers, asymmetry has greater importance for Paralympic swimmers who may be missing limbs. In a study on force production among Paralympic swimmers, the same research team noted:

Large relationships between mean force and swimming velocity were seen for both the high and low-range groups. 

Asymmetry was related to level of disability, with the smallest difference of in the no-musculoskeletal disability group. This difference increased to in the high- and low-range groups.
Between the first and last 15 s of the swim-bench test, reductions in mean force were small for the physical disabilities groups. 

Changes in asymmetry were small for both the no-physical and low-range groups. Paralympic swimmers with a more severe physical impairment typically generate substantially lower force and velocity.

These results make intuitive sense, but it should be noted that data was collected on a swim bench, so transfer to the water is unclear. However, the same neural drive components may affect force production making the data somewhat instructive for organizing a training approach.

Finally, in a study on dryland by the same team, authors analyzed the effect of dryland on Paralympic swimmers. This definitely is not a perfect study (low sample size, no control group) but it does add information to a niche in where limited information exists. In this study, subjects performed a full body dryland routine. Results from seven elite Paralympic swimmers showed:

1. 50-m time trials improved by 1.2% 
2. Increases in both mean power (6.1%, ±5.9%) and acceleration (3.7%, ±3.7%) generated during the dive start enabled swimmers to substantially improve start times to the 5-m (5.5%, ±3.2) and 15-m (1.8%, ±1.1%) marks. 

Despite these results, similar questions remain about the relationship of dryland to swim performance (much too long a discussion to reengage in this post!).

Conclusion

Overall, nothing groundbreaking with this work, but remember that research is a long term process. As Paralympic swimming gains prominence, hopefully more research will emerge specific to disability categories, as each classification has its own unique demands. 

References

1. Dingley A1, Pyne DB, Burkett B. Phases of the Swim-start in Paralympic Swimmers are Influenced by Severity and Type of Disability. J Appl Biomech. 2014 Oct;30(5):643-648. Epub 2014 Jul 9.
2. Dingley AA1, Pyne D2, Burkett B3. Dry-land Bilateral Hand-force Production and Swimming Performance in Paralympic Swimmers. Int J Sports Med. 2014 Oct;35(11):949-53. doi: 10.1055/s-0033-1364023. Epub 2014 Jun 3.
3. Dingley AA1, Pyne DB, Youngson J, Burkett B. Effectiveness of a dry-land resistance training program on strength, power andswimming performance in Paralympic swimmers. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Sep 15. [Epub ahead of print]

Written by Allan Phillips is a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and owner of Pike Athletics. He is also an ASCA Level II coach and USA Triathlon coach. Allan is a co-author of the Troubleshooting System and was selected by Dr. Mullen as an assistant editor of the Swimming Science Research Review. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy at US Army-Baylor University.

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