To Butterfly or Not to Butterfly

stephenrhinton

Ok so my essential workout is a continuous swim with alternating strokes (Crawl, Back, Breast, Back, Repeat). I'm considering adding Butterfly to the rotation. Is this a good idea?

1) Does it work significantly different muscle groups or offer significantly different challenges?

2) I've read it is the most challenging, and burns the most energy. Is it even really achievable for a moderate swimmer? Would it be wiser to wait on this until I'm fitter/faster?

3) Is it inconsiderate of other swimmers? Seems like this causes more splash/disturbance than other strokes. I practice in a small two-lane shallow lap pool. Is this going to make it difficult for people in the other lane and/or lane sharing?

What are other Pros and Cons of the Butterfly stroke?

juliet3455

Any stroke you can add to your skill set is good.
Due to Ski Injuries where I have separated both of my shoulders at different times the butterfly is not one I can do. Even on backstroke my right side is limited in how I rotate the arm just before I get to re-entry. Ironically in front crawl its my left side which is a little off/limited.

AquaticQuests

Prior to this year, from mid 2013 to end 2014, my workout consisted of IM throughout!
Butterfly is definitely the hardest stroke in my humble opinion and burns the most calories.
It also places significant strain on the shoulders.
Therefore, it would be good to incorporate some butterfly, but I would definitely say EASE into it.

My personality is that when I get into something I tend to go all out, so when I restarted butterfly I went all out, very quickly ramping up from not being able to finish a 25, to being able to finish a 25, to doing 50, then to incorporating a total of about 500m of fly broken into 50m chunks in the 200 IM sets.

Unfortunately I should have gone abit easier into it, and done the shoulder exercises that have been talked about in other threads on here.
I didn't and got shoulder pain so bad that it became difficult to raise my arms in daily life, and I had to stop swimming altogether for a couple of months.
Once I got back into it, and with the shoulder exercises, I was able to do the extended butterfly routines with no pain

So I would say ease into it, and doing the dryland shoulder exercises is absolutely crucial, to reduce danger of overuse injuries!

Perhaps one length of butterfly for every 8, then eventually one length for every four, then perhaps later 2 lengths of butterfly in every 8 (which is what I would end up doing).

Nothing gets your heart pumping and breath ragged like butterfly does!
Technique is also very important in butterfly!

Robertus

Definitely ease into it. You won't be able to do much at first anyway. It is a hard stroke to swim and you should have a coach if you want to do it right. Only do it when you have a lane to yourself, but don't worry too much about splashing people in the next lane--after all, they are in a pool so they should expect to get a little wet from time to time, and if you're doing it right, you will be an inspiration to them and a beautiful sight to behold. It is the single most impressive thing anyone is likely to see in a lap pool, aside from all of the attractive women in bathing suits. Oops, did I say that last part out loud?

Macstraw

The advice you've been given here is 100% on the money. I say definitely go for it, there can always be a reason/excuse for holding off on adding it until you just don't bother. Most definitely ease into it, like AQ when I first started doing it again (& I had been a butterflyer growing up) I was doing it in conjunction with sprints & was getting pain I my shoulders - not the "my muscles are sore from getting a good workout" type pain, but that "man, the joints themselves hurt". I backed off when that started, knowing the problems swimmers can have with their shoulders, & eased back into it. On my I.M. workout days, I'm now doing 500 yards of fly in total in 50 yard increments.

If you haven't done it before, the advice from Robertus is VERY important - get a coach so that you learn the right way to swim it. First of all, you don't want to cause an injury from poor form. Secondly, as you improve & want to do more you will need to have a more efficient stroke, it is much more difficult to unlearn mistakes & relearn how to do it than it is to learn it right the first time.

Follow AQ's advice & do the shoulder exercises. The reason swimmers have so much trouble with the shoulders is because of the amount of torque that's put on the joint. The shoulder is the most unstable of the large joints in the body, & that extra torque can wreak havoc on them. The exercises are designed to strengthen the muscles in & around the shoulders, helping to stabilize the joints. I actually need to get back to doing them on a regular basis, as just last week I upped my fly yardage & can feel it in my shoulders, but there's no pain yet. You can search the Web for shoulder injury prevention exercises, there are plenty out there.

Here is what I've used successfully:

http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewMiscArticle.aspx?Tabid=1645&mid=702&ItemId=700

The only equipment required is a tennis ball & some resistance bands, which I found boxes of on eBay for a decent price.

These 2 videos demonstrate the above exercises, they are a good supplement to the written part & pictures:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgo3g-Ge85Y&index=2&list=PLdpxuLg4IRjMMg_f4WYro2ppegcK95kQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r5d5Ux1jGs&index=3&list=PLdpxuLg4IRjMMg_f4WYro2ppegcK95kQA

There are plenty of others out there, all you have to do is search & find something that works for you.....

gentlygently

Go for it - gently !

Yes get coaching. But also bear in mind there is coaching out there that is eg Alexander Technique based that is specifically about swimming in a way that respects your body, and reduces repetitive strain type swimming injuries in shiukder / back.

I've just started the butterfly bit in my coaching - being currently a 25m butterfly at most in anyone go kind of gal. The method I am learning is meant to be far less exhausting all round.....

Ms_J1

I would just like to add that using swim fins, especially in the beginning, will help. Fly is a stroke that requires a significant amount of forward momentum. Without a strong forward momentum the hips sink every time you lift your head to breathe. Fins will help you maintain that strong forward momentum while you're still working on building up those muscles. Fins will also help you develop a better sense of timing between the pull and the two kicks. Lastly, fins will help you learn not to dive too deep before initiating the pull (a very common problem with swimmers who are learning to fly).

Fly works just about every muscle in your body and yes, it burns more calories than any of the other strokes.

I don't think it's inconsiderate to other swimmers to swim fly when you're in a lap pool. Sometimes, I'll switch to swimming fly when I have my own lane, the lanes are full, and I see someone on the pool deck scoping out which lane to join. I know I know - I'm selfish and like having my own lane. However, I do try to move into a lane away from the older folks when I know I'll be flying just because I don't want to drown the elders or make whatever it is they're doing harder.