Fitness for diving

[CincyBengalsFan]

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...
yeah...swimming is a good workout...but it gets boring.....20+ years, and I'm going over to the pool tomorrow morning with my 1 yr old daughter....yeah, that's right....20+ years and I'm only 26.....

wait...maybe I should have said it is like a crack cocaine addiction......but with the side effects of rotting hair and this cool chlorine like smell that never goes away....ever.

I swam in competition my entire childhood thru college at U of L under the might Rick child molester Hill. Of course the childs I'm referring to were 18 yr. old teammates.

LAPS DO GET BORING. I had to take 10 yrs. off before I could get back to it! MY GOD they got boring. And cold mornings..Nothing sucked more on this planet than getting into the cold pool on a cold morning!

 

[Big-t-2538]

CincyBengalsFan once bubbled...


I swam in competition my entire childhood thru college at U of L under the might Rick child molester Hill. Of course the childs I'm referring to were 18 yr. old teammates.

LAPS DO GET BORING. I had to take 10 yrs. off before I could get back to it! MY GOD they got boring. And cold mornings..Nothing sucked more on this planet than getting into the cold pool on a cold morning!

I thought what was worse was having to put on cold suits in the afternoon after morning practice...you know...the old balls leaping up to the throat problem

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...


I thought what was worse was having to put on cold suits in the afternoon after morning practice...you know...the old balls leaping up to the throat problem

I had forgotten about that. I think mine just disappeared thinking about that!!!!!!

Did you ever swim at Plantation's pools summer or winter in Louisville?? The coldest pool I was EVER in. I've probably swam in 30 different cities in this country.

 

[Big-t-2538]

Honestly, I don't remember.

I do know the coolest pool I was in was probably the pool built for the atlanta games in '96......that facility was premire.

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...
Honestly, I don't remember.

I do know the coolest pool I was in was probably the pool built for the atlanta games in '96......that facility was premire.

I've never been to it but I have swam in Indy's pool several time in the 80's. That's where they had the Olympic trials for at least 4 trials.

I also swam in St. Louis in the same heat with Steve Crocker. The 3rd fastest swimming in the world back in the late 80's. He blew us away but it was to cool. What wasn't cool was that the two men faster than him were Americans too. You know what that meant don't you. He was an Alternate in the '88 Olympics. Wouldn't that suck.

 

[lragsac]

ZenSquirrel once bubbled...


Good point. I'd skip the weight training and do some martial arts, though. Doing some kind of martial art will enhance your sense of timing and coordination. If done properly it will also increase your "total body" strength. If you want to move your gear around better, you don't need to do a bunch of curls down at the gym. That only makes a single muscle group stronger. Most excercises in martial arts will strengthen groups of muscles to work together and give you more "everyday" strength. See the post above about the body-builder that could not swim across the pool.

Yoga would probably be just as good as a "martial art" as far as building strength and balance. I don't know about coordination. The yoga I have seen is basically switching between static postures so I'd think that coordination would be a minor gain. You can get the same air consumption benifits that yoga provides from doing "chi kung" excercises (basically standing around doing deep breathing and sometimes you wave your arms. That is what it looks like from the outside, anyway ) found in "kung fu" systems like Tai Chi.

Thanks for making a very interesting discussion. Perhaps I should clarify my last comment. I'm not suggesting that NJDiveGirl do weight training for the purpose of aesthetic hypertrophy. I can totally picture the experience of the bodybuilder who didn't do any cardio sinking like a rock in the pool. At any rate, so much of swimming (and running and biking, for that matter) has to do with proper, efficient technique, in addition to having good cardiovascular fitness. That's the reason I suggested a more "functional" multi-joint weight-bearing exercise like a squat or a lunge in her case where she mentioned wanting to be able to confidently get back on a rocking boat with a heavy steel tank on her back. She might want to integrate that with her yoga practice and some sort of cardio workout like swimming. That will help her arrive at the best possible overall functional fitness. Yoga hones isometric and core strength and balance. But you're right, it won't do a whole lot for your coordination. I'm sure martial arts would be a wonderful option as well.

 

[ZenSquirrel]

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...
yeah...swimming is a good workout...but it gets boring.....20+ years, and I'm going over to the pool tomorrow morning with my 1 yr old daughter....yeah, that's right....20+ years and I'm only 26.....

wait...maybe I should have said it is like a crack cocaine addiction......but with the side effects of rotting hair and this cool chlorine like smell that never goes away....ever.

Not to mention the great way it drys out your skin.

 

[ZenSquirrel]

lragsac once bubbled...


Thanks for making a very interesting discussion. Perhaps I should clarify my last comment. I'm not suggesting that NJDiveGirl do weight training for the purpose of aesthetic hypertrophy. I can totally picture the experience of the bodybuilder who didn't do any cardio sinking like a rock in the pool. At any rate, so much of swimming (and running and biking, for that matter) has to do with proper, efficient technique, in addition to having good cardiovascular fitness. That's the reason I suggested a more "functional" multi-joint weight-bearing exercise like a squat or a lunge in her case where she mentioned wanting to be able to confidently get back on a rocking boat with a heavy steel tank on her back. She might want to integrate that with her yoga practice and some sort of cardio workout like swimming. That will help her arrive at the best possible overall functional fitness. Yoga hones isometric and core strength and balance. But you're right, it won't do a whole lot for your coordination. I'm sure martial arts would be a wonderful option as well.

Another good point. There is no single "perfect fitness routine". There are many ways to achive a particular fitness goal and the perfect one is the one that you like to do and gets results for you.
I said that I'd skip the weight training and I guess I should have stressed the I part. I've lifted weight in the past and found it even more boring then staring at a line on the bottom of a pool for hours on end. It is just something that I can't stand to do.

 

[Big-t-2538]

CincyBengalsFan once bubbled...


I've never been to it but I have swam in Indy's pool several time in the 80's. That's where they had the Olympic trials for at least 4 trials.

I also swam in St. Louis in the same heat with Steve Crocker. The 3rd fastest swimming in the world back in the late 80's. He blew us away but it was to cool. What wasn't cool was that the two men faster than him were Americans too. You know what that meant don't you. He was an Alternate in the '88 Olympics. Wouldn't that suck.

Steve is probably one of the nicest guys I got to coach on the same deck with. Currently he's out at a place in St. Louis designing and building competitve/recreational facilities. He coached for WKU up until this past season. At Wright State I have assisted for about 4 years now...all voluntary...and Since Steve was a chemical engineer, he and I got to spend some time talking aboutt he physics behind the latest and greatest in training and evolutions in the sport (one particular is the butterfly flip turn some guys do now). Super cool guy, and super smart too.

 

[lragsac]

ZenSquirrel once bubbled...
Another good point. There is no single "perfect fitness routine". There are many ways to achive a particular fitness goal and the perfect one is the one that you like to do and gets results for you.
I said that I'd skip the weight training and I guess I should have stressed the I part. I've lifted weight in the past and found it even more boring then staring at a line on the bottom of a pool for hours on end. It is just something that I can't stand to do.

Indeed, weight training can be boring and you must choose something you like to do; otherwise, internal motivation will wane quickly. If you don't like wieght training, you could always strap a big ol' pack on your back and go hiking up some big hills...that'll build your legs up Oh, yeah, then there's mountain biking.
So many tortures to choose from...so little time.