by Mcleod Ian
Swimming Anatomy
Mcleod Ian
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
CHAPTER 1 - THE SWIMMER IN MOTION
Freestyle
Butterfly
Backstroke
Breaststroke
Dryland Training Programs
Dryland Training for Young Swimmers
CHAPTER 2 - ARMS
Standing Double-Arm Triceps Pushdown
Dumbbell Kickback
Close-Grip Push-Up
Close-Grip Bench Press
Medicine Ball Chest Pass
Tate Press
Barbell Biceps Curl
Dumbbell Biceps Curl
Concentration Curl
CHAPTER 3 - SHOULDERS
Forward Dumbbell Deltoid Raise
Lateral Dumbbell Deltoid Raise
T Exercise
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Bent-Over Reverse Dumbbell Fly
Prone T, Y, A (Blackburn)
Scapular Push-Up
Scapular Dip
Internal Rotation With Tubing
External Rotation With Tubing
Crabwalk
Overhead Single-Arm Bounce
CHAPTER 4 - CHEST
Push-Up
Feet-Elevated Push-Up
Medicine Ball Push-Up
Barbell Flat Bench Press
Dumbbell Physioball Bench Press
Barbell Incline Bench Press
Dip (Chest Version)
Standing Double-Arm Medicine Ball Throw Down
Supine Medicine Ball Partner Pass and Catch
Wheelbarrow
CHAPTER 5 - ABDOMEN
Hollow Hold
Watch TV
V-Up
Flutter Kicks
Physioball Crunch
Cable Crunch
Seated Physioball Abdominal Hold
Russian Twist
Kneeling Chop
Physioball Prayer Roll
Physioball Upper-Trunk Rotation
Physioball Jackknife
CHAPTER 6 - BACK
Chin-Up
Pull-Up
Lat Pull-Down
Standing Straight-Arm Pull-Down
Double-Arm Seated Machine Row
Bent-Over Single-Arm Row
Standing Zeus
Lumbar Extension
Physioball Back Extension
Physioball Prone Superman Progression
Physioball Prone Streamline
Physioball Bridge
CHAPTER 7 - LEGS
Back Squat
Single-Leg Squat
Dumbbell Step-Up
Lunge
Standing Hip Internal Rotation
Standing Hip External Rotation
Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs)
Physioball Hamstring Curl
Leg Curl
Leg Extension
Band Lateral Shuffle
Standing Hip Adduction
Inversion and Eversion Ankle Band Strengthening
CHAPTER 8 - WHOLE-BODY TRAINING
Single-Arm Lawn Mower
Burpee
Block Jump Start Into Streamlined Position
Band-Resisted Start
Box Jump
Diagonal Cable Column Lift
EXERCISE FINDER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McLeod, Ian.
Swimming anatomy / Ian McLeod.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-7571-8 (soft cover) ISBN-10: 978-0-736-09385-9 (soft cover)
1. Swimming--Training. 2. Swimming--Physiological aspects. 3. Aquatic sports injuries. I. Title.
GV837.7.M37 2010
797.2’1--dc22
2009016094
ISBN-10: 978-0-736-09385-9 (print)
ISBN-10: 0-7360-8627-7 (Adobe PDF)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-7571-8 (print)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8627-1 (Adobe PDF)
Copyright © 2010 by Ian A. McLeod
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CHAPTER 1
THE SWIMMER IN MOTION
Swimming Anatomy is both a visual guide to the role of the musculoskeletal system in the four competitive swim strokes and a catalog of swimming-oriented dryland and weight-room exercises. The exercises in the text will help you maximize your performance and gain a competitive edge. Specific examples will help you choose exercises that target the most-used muscles for each stroke, starts, and turns to ensure that you are getting the best results from your program. Included are exercises that may help you prevent injuries by strengthening key stabilizing muscles and decreasing muscle imbalances. To help you understand how these exercises enhance performance, descriptions of the roles that various muscles play in propelling a swimmer through the water and guidance in using selected exercises to target those muscles are included. This chapter features an overview of the primary muscles used in the kicking motions and during the pu
ll-through and recovery phases of freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke. The chapter also addresses some strength and conditioning principles and how they relate to designing a swimming-specific dryland program. Chapters 2 through 8, organized according to major body parts, each contain exercises with accompanying illustrations and easy-to-follow descriptions and instructions. The anatomical illustrations that accompany the exercises are color-coded to indicate the primary and secondary muscles and connective tissues featured in each exercise and swimming-specific movement.
Primary muscles
Secondary muscles
Connective tissues
Swimmers face several unique challenges that athletes in most land-based sports do not encounter. The first challenge is the total-body nature of all four competitive strokes, which involve movements of both the upper and lower extremities. A coordinated effort of the musculoskeletal system is required to keep each body part moving correctly to maximize efficiency of movement through the water. To visualize this coordinated effort, think of the body as a long chain and each body segment as a link in the chain. Because all the segments are linked together, movement in one segment affects all the other segments. This linkage, commonly referred to as the kinetic chain, allows the power generated by the arms to be transferred through the torso to the legs. But if a link in the chain is weak, a loss of power transfer can occur, bodily movements can become uncoordinated, and the risk of injury can increase.
Another unique demand of swimming is that swimmers are required to create their own base of support. Unlike land-based athletes, who have a stable surface to push off from, you have to generate your own base of support, because most training takes place in a fluid environment. The key to linking the movement of the upper and lower extremities in the water, and at the same time generating a firm base of support, is a strong and stable core. The core is best thought of as the foundation on which the muscles of the upper and lower body are built. Even a strong and well-designed house will eventually deteriorate if the foundation is weak.
Without a doubt, swimming itself is the most effective way to become a better and faster swimmer, but several components outside the water play an important role in how you develop as a swimmer. One of those is a well-designed dryland program based on an appreciation of the relationship between the body’s muscular framework and stroke mechanics. While engaged in swimming, muscles primarily function as either the mover of a body segment or a stabilizer of a body segment. An example of a muscle functioning as a mover is the latissimus dorsi, commonly known as the lats, moving the arm through the water during the propulsive phase of all four competitive strokes. The near-constant activity of the core abdominal musculature is a prime example of a group of muscles functioning as a stabilizing mechanism. Both functions are vital to proper stroke mechanics and efficient movement through the water. Descriptions of the muscle recruitment patterns for each of the four strokes are categorized as those that are active during the propulsive phase, the recovery phase, and kicking.
Throughout the exercise descriptions in the subsequent chapters you will see a series of five icons, one for each of the strokes and one for starts and turns. The purpose of these icons is to identify the exercises that are particularly well suited to a specific stroke or starts and turns.
Freestyle
As the hand enters into the water, the wrist and elbow follow and the arm is extended to the starting position of the propulsive phase. Upward rotation of the shoulder blade allows the swimmer to reach an elongated position in the water. From this elongated position, the first part of the propulsive phase begins with the catch. The initial movements are first generated by the clavicular portion of the pectoralis major. The latissimus dorsi quickly joins in to assist the pectoralis major. These two muscles generate a majority of the force during the underwater pull, mostly during the second half of the pull. The wrist flexors act to hold the wrist in a position of slight flexion for the entire duration of the propulsive phase. At the elbow, the elbow flexors (biceps brachii and brachialis) begin to contract at the start of the catch phase, gradually taking the elbow from full extension into approximately 30 degrees of flexion. During the final portion of the propulsive phase the triceps brachii acts to extend the elbow, which brings the hand backward and upward toward the surface of the water, thus ending the propulsive phase. The total amount of extension taking place depends on your specific stroke mechanics and the point at which you initiate your recovery. The deltoid and rotator cuff (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis) are the primary muscles active during the recovery phase, functioning to bring the arm and hand out of the water near the hips and return them to an overhead position for reentry into the water. The arm movements during freestyle are reciprocal in nature, meaning that while one arm is engaged in propulsion, the other is in the recovery process.
Several muscle groups function as stabilizers during both the propulsive phase and the recovery phase. One of the key groups is the shoulder blade stabilizers (pectoralis minor, rhomboid, levator scapula, middle and lower trapezius, and the serratus anterior), which as the name implies serve to anchor or stabilize the shoulder blade. Proper functioning of this muscle group is important because all the propulsive forces generated by the arm and hand rely on the scapula’s having a firm base of support. Additionally, the shoulder blade stabilizers work with the deltoid and rotator cuff to reposition the arm during the recovery phase. The core stabilizers (transversus abdominis, rectus abdominis, internal oblique, external oblique, and erector spinae) are also integral to efficient stroke mechanics because they serve as a link between the movements of the upper and lower extremities. This link is central to coordination of the body roll that takes place during freestyle swimming.
Like the arm movements, the kicking movements can be categorized as a propulsive phase and a recovery phase; these are also referred to as the downbeat and the upbeat. The propulsive phase (downbeat) begins at the hips by activation of the iliopsoas and rectus femoris muscles. The rectus femoris also initiates extension of the knee, which follows shortly after hip flexion begins. The quadriceps (vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and vastus medialis) join the rectus femoris to help generate more forceful extension of the knee. Like the propulsive phase, the recovery phase starts at the hips with contraction of the gluteal muscles (primarily gluteus maximus and medius) and is quickly followed by contraction of the hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus). Both muscle groups function as hip extensors. Throughout the entire kicking motion the foot is maintained in a plantarflexed position secondary to activation of the gastrocnemius and soleus and pressure exerted by the water during the downbeat portion of the kick.
Butterfly
The primary difference between freestyle and butterfly is that the arms move in unison during butterfly whereas reciprocal movements take place with freestyle. Because butterfly and freestyle have the same underwater pull pattern, the muscle recruitment patterns are almost identical. As with freestyle, the swimmer’s arms in butterfly are in an elongated position when they initiate the propulsive underwater portion of the stroke. Muscles active during the entire propulsive phase are the pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi, which function as the primary movers, and the wrist flexors, which act to maintain the wrist in a neutral to slightly flexed position. The biceps brachii and brachialis are active as the elbow moves from being fully extended at the initiation of the catch to approximately 40 degrees of flexion during the midpart of the pull. Unlike in freestyle, a forceful extension of the elbow is emphasized during the final portion of the pull, resulting in greater demands being placed on the triceps brachii. As in the freestyle stroke, both the rotator cuff and deltoid are responsible for moving the arm during the recovery phase, but the mechanics are somewhat different. Butterfly lacks the body roll that aids the recovery process during freestyle; instead, an undulating movement of the torso occurs, which brings the entire upper torso out of the water
to aid in the recovery process.
Again, the shoulder blade stabilizing muscles are extremely important, because they function to provide a firm anchor point for the propulsive forces generated by the arms and help reposition the arms during the recovery phase of the stroke. Although butterfly lacks the body roll present in freestyle, the core stabilizers are still important in linking the movements of the upper and lower extremities and have an important role in creating the undulating motion that allows the swimmer to get the upper torso and arms out of the water during the recovery process. The undulating movement is initiated with contraction of the paraspinal muscles that run in multiple groups from the lower portion of the back to the base of the skull. This contraction results in an arching of the back, at which time the arms are moving through the recovery process. Contraction of the abdominal muscles quickly follows, which prepares the upper body to follow the entry of the hands into the water to initiate the propulsive phase of the stroke.
As with the arms, the muscles used in generating the kicking movements during the butterfly kick are identical to those used during the freestyle kick; the only difference in kick mechanics is that the legs move in unison. The propulsive downbeat begins with contraction of the iliopsoas and rectus femoris, acting as hip flexors. The rectus femoris also initiates knee extension, and associated firing of the quadriceps muscle group further aids in extension of the knee. The gluteal muscle group drives the recovery phase of the kick. Concomitant contraction of the hamstring muscles also works to extend the hip. The foot is maintained in a plantarflexed position through a combination of the resistance from the water and activation of the gastrocnemius and soleus, acting as plantarflexors. The dolphin kick that is used at the start of the race and off each turn wall recruits a larger group of muscles than the smaller, more isolated kick tied into the arm movements. Besides the movements generated at the hips and knee, the dolphin kick ties in the undulating movements of the torso through activation of the core stabilizers and the paraspinal musculature.
