Newbie Hello and q on swim paddles
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SMCLosesIt
Posts: 45 Member
Hello Everyone :-) I'm a newbie to the group and just took up swimming again as an adult to keep my fitness up (ex runner and endurance horse rider needs to keep on pushing myself in something or I go crazy!)
Anyway, I digress. I bought a pair of speedo Tech paddles today and was wondering if anyone else uses them? I've seen alot of people at my pool with them (more so than fins) They certainly have me a good burn in my shoulders! It said on the box they are designed to optimise hands position... Does that mean of my technique is off its going to do more harm than good? I've done alot of swimming over the years (grew up in Australia and had lots of lessons) but I'm prove to overuse injuries and I don't want to give myself one.... That's why I don't run anymore!
Mostly I'm just training myself for endurance swimming, I like long slow workouts, at the moment I'm doing between 1.5km's - 2.5km's each swim and been at it for about 7 weeks. Theres nothing wrong with just doing laps of alternating freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke is there? I'm not really interested in doing drills etc.
Also wierd question for the ladies... Have you noticed your boobs have gotten bigger from swimming?! I've lost around my chest but my cup size had gone up... I'm assuming it's the chest muscles underneath toning up?
Anyway, I digress. I bought a pair of speedo Tech paddles today and was wondering if anyone else uses them? I've seen alot of people at my pool with them (more so than fins) They certainly have me a good burn in my shoulders! It said on the box they are designed to optimise hands position... Does that mean of my technique is off its going to do more harm than good? I've done alot of swimming over the years (grew up in Australia and had lots of lessons) but I'm prove to overuse injuries and I don't want to give myself one.... That's why I don't run anymore!
Mostly I'm just training myself for endurance swimming, I like long slow workouts, at the moment I'm doing between 1.5km's - 2.5km's each swim and been at it for about 7 weeks. Theres nothing wrong with just doing laps of alternating freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke is there? I'm not really interested in doing drills etc.
Also wierd question for the ladies... Have you noticed your boobs have gotten bigger from swimming?! I've lost around my chest but my cup size had gone up... I'm assuming it's the chest muscles underneath toning up?
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Hi - just to say welcome really. ( I don't use paddles, like doing drills to break up the monotony of just 4 stokes and have not noticed the same body changes as you...! ). So welcome to the group..0
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Yes, paddles will help you with your hand entry position and your catch phase. You can look up some youtube videos for proper form. Even if you are not a fan of drills, you might want to try some out just to get your form down. But yes, if you overuse them or use them incorrectly they can cause shoulder injuries. If you are prone to overtraining, be careful. I would say it's not a good idea to use them for more than 1.5k and def not 2.5k.
As for physical changes, not seen that yet but would be nice! It is possible that your boobs might just perk up a bit because you are definitely using those muscles a lot. I have been doing a lot of breastroke lately in preparation for a race and for about 2 days after the race my upper chest was sore and couldn't figure out why, scared the hell out of me. When I thought about it I figured out it was because I overworked those muscles.0 -
I don't use a lot of gear. However, I do know of excellent swimmers that do.
When I first got into swimming for exercise as an adult, yes, I did the whole, Free/Back/Breast Lather/Rinse/Repeat thing. It most certainly improved my fitness levels. If you're swimming for a workout, really as long as you can sustain the repetitive motion and it gets your heart rate up and you breathing hard, you're all good.
That said, swimming is almost entirely form-based. I'm with you on the love of the LSD (I'm an open water swimmer aspiring to marathon swimming), but since freestyle by its nature is so much faster than the other strokes, and I don't want to get tossed out of events because I was so slow the course closed, I do have to work on speed.
Since form drives everything in swimming, I did wind up getting some coaching and am probably going to have to suck it up and join the local Master's team at least for a workout or two a week. (I'm slow enough this is no fun as I'm always Tail-end Charlie and it's embarrassing)
My entire torso and back has shown significant muscle development since I started swimming, yes. I did not notice a difference in my breasts, though my actual pectoral muscles are certainly larger.
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I used paddles with a pull buoy for 10 laps out of my 141 lasso morning swim.
Good for building pull strength as well as technique.
Have fun. But don't over swim with them. That can do more harm than good.0
