This month we are going to continue with the second in our four-part series on body positioning as it relates to swimming. Last month I discussed how the position of the head can have a profound effect on maintaining a good horizontal position in the water. This month I will focus on using your chest to assist in maintaining that good horizontal position.
But first, a quick recap of how body position is important to swimming efficiently. Research has shown that for the most effective swimming to occur, the body must be in a position that keeps it as horizontal as possible. A good horizontal position will reduce not only the resistive drag but will also help reduce form drag as well (Maglischo, 2003). In simple coaching terms, I refer to this as perfect body position.
Maintaining as near a horizontal position while swimming is the goal we are to trying to achieve. After making adjustments to head positioning, the next major area of the body that can assist in maintaining good horizontal positioning is the chest. There has been continuing research on freestyle swimming attempting to ascertain where the center of mass is located. The debate is whether center mass occurs around the hips while swimming and then shifts to the chest and lungs as the hips rotate and the arm recovers, or is it centered around the chest and lungs constantly (Yanai, 2004). Regardless of the theory, the chest certainly plays a legitimate role in keeping the body aligned along the horizontal axis when swimming.
Pushing down on the chest while swimming freestyle can assist in keeping the hips on top of the water. By “pressing the T”, (the “T” refers to the combination of chest and arms), towards the bottom of the pool, the hips are pushed in the opposite direction and remain closer to the surface. The entire body remains horizontal thus continuing to eliminate both resistive and form drag (Maglischo, 2003). To accomplish this, one must simply push the chest and lungs downward until the correct hip position is achieved. This will only work if the head is already in proper alignment with the rest of the body as discussed in last month’s article.
Now, two of the four methods that can be utilized to maintain perfect body position have been presented. By using either or both of these methods, horizontal alignment can be improved and resistive and form drag can be minimized. Without so much as increasing training load or intensity, I have presented two ways to improve overall efficiency and velocity in freestyle swimming. The next time you train, think about your body positioning and run through a set of freestyle progression drills focusing on alignment. The benefits will show immediately and you will feel faster and less fatigued in the water.
Next month I will present Part Three in this series on body positioning and swimming efficiency. Until then; “Swim Fast!”
Maglischo, E. W. (2003). Swimming Fastest. Champaign, IL, United States of America: Human Kinetics.
Pendergast, D., Mollendorf, J., Zamparo, P., Termin II, A., Bushnell, D., & Paschke, D. (2005). The influence of drag on human locomotion in water. Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society , 32 (1), 45-57.
Yanai, T. (2004). Buoyancy is the primary source of generating body roll in front-crawl swimming. Journal of Biomechanics , 37 (5), 605-612.
By Dina Aburmishan RD, LDN
Liz Yerly, MPT, ATC, CSCS, C-ART
The information contained in this newsletter is the opinion of Ryan Riell and Break Through Multisport on endurance training, racing, and nutrition. These points are suggestions on how to train and not recommendations for athletes. Any article on the Break Through Multisport website may be reprinted into a paper or online newsletter for your NON-PROFIT club or organization, so long as the author and www.BreakThroughMultisport.com are credited. If you do reprint or link to any Break Through Multisport material, please send a courtesy email to Ryan@BreakThroughMultisport.com. For medical advice, and before starting a strenuous training program, consult with a physician.
The omega sisters (not a clinical term, but a Dina term) have been studied very thoroughly and show to have strong health benefits. Omega 3 and Omega 6 are essential fatty acids are extremely important for two reasons, one they have a wide range of functions and benefits and two our bodies do not produce these fatty acids, as it can be difficult to ensure you are getting enough. The omega sisters, while related are not the same. Omega 3 has a much strong health profile than omega 6. According to studies, if we have too much omega 6’s in our diet, it can cause adverse health benefits (i.e. heart disease and depression). Our bodies work best in a 4:1 (omega 6: omega 3, respectively) ratio. (More on the sources and amounts later.)
Omega 3’s can almost be called the miracle pill (another Dina term) for all the health benefits it provides. A diet high in omega 3’s can help the following conditions or symptoms’:
•Cancer
•Psoriasis
•Rheumatoid arthritis
•High blood pressure
•Alzheimer’s disease
•Osteoporosis
•Huntington’s Disease
•Multiple sclerosis
•Osteoarthritis
•Asthma
•Gastro Intestinal Issues (i.e. Celiac’s and Chrons)
•Eczema
•Lupus
•Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
•Cardiovascular Disease
•Depression
•Lupus
•Migraines
•Obesity
•Reducing inflammation
•Antioxidant (reduces oxidation)
•Lowers cholesterol and triglycerides
•Prevent excess blood clotting
•Relaxes and dilates arteries
To get all of these health benefits you need to consume about 2-4 grams of these fats per day. The “miracle pill” can be found in: (order in most omegas 3’s to lowest—although even the lowest has a generous amount)
Preparation/Usage Tip:
•The availability and potency of the omega 3’s will lower when deep fried (so deep fried halibut or salmon looses most of its nutritional punch).
•Store all oils and nuts at a room temperature in a dark, dry, tightly closed containers (this includes any supplements).
•It’s always better to eat the whole foods than take supplements. Studies have shown the least process the food the more omega 3’s they contain and the better your body can absorb them.
•Having a supplementation is ok, just be sure to also eat the whole natural sources. When choosing a supplementation chose one with vitamin E, this protects the fatty acid from being oxidized.
•For efficient bioavailability be sure your diet is adequate in vitamin B6 (whole grains and dark leafy greens), vitamin B3 (niacin—brewers yeast, meat, fortified whole grains, wheat bran, tuna, poultry), vitamin C (citrus fruits, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, strawberries, peppers), magnesium (nuts, soybeans, coco, whole grains, dried beans and peas), and zinc (animals foods, shellfish, and eggs).
•For mercury concerns choose shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, Pollock, and catfish, these are low mercury foods. High mercury seafood are king Mackerel, swordfish, shark and tile fish.
Now that you know more about the importance of omega 3’s, how are you going fit them in your diet?
Liz Yerly, MPT, ATC, CSCS, cART is a licensed physical therapist and athletic trainer who has experience working with the highly trained athlete, as well as the weekend warrior She is the facility manager of the Bridgeport Accelerated Rehabilitation Center, as well as a treating therapist specializing in advanced certifications such as Active Release Technique and Graston Technique. She uses her manual skills to successfully rehabilitate her patients and quickly get them back to where they need to be. You can reach Liz at: lyerly@acceleratedrehab.com or call her at
(773) 254-5250.
By Mike Koerner, USA Swimming and ASCA Certified Coach
March, 2010
Volume 3,
Issue 3
In This Issue:
Announcements
Seminars
Training Opportunities
Not All Fat is Created Equal
Pressing The “T” For Body Position
SPONSOR of the Month-
TYR... 25% OFF
Nerve Stretching
Leon’s Trathlon
You have heard about people stretching their muscles when the muscles are tight, but have you heard about nerve stretching? What exactly is nerve stretching? Why do we need to stretch our nerves? How do we stretch our nerves?
Nerve stretches do not really ’stretch’ the nerves, but they help to improve the movement of the nerves through the joints and muscles by improving their ability to slide and glide. Like our muscles, the nerves in our bodies can also become tight. It can be due to staying in a position for too long, or due to tightening of muscles around the nerves.
Nerve stretches can reduce the tightness in the nerves and also help relieve pain that is associated with tight nerves. Two very common nerves that are affected in the endurance athlete is the sciatic nerve in the lower extremity and the brachial plexus (group of nerves) in the upper extremity.
There are some simple to do nerve stretches that you can perform on your own for the nerves in your arms and legs. They are as follows:
SCIATIC NERVE
To stretch the nerve, lie on your back facing up, hug one knee to
the chest by holding the thigh under the knee. Straighten the
knee to about 90-100 degrees and lift the lower leg towards the
ceiling. Bend your ankle and point up and down for 10 times before
returning to the start position. Never HOLD nerve stretches, you
should feel tension then feel a release of tension. It is more of a
dynamic stretch, rather than a static stretch.
BRACHIAL PLEXUS NERVE BUNDLE
Once you are in position with your hand flat against the wall, start opening your chest rotating away from wall. You should feel a stretch across your chest and down along your arm. As with the sciatic stretch, never hold the stretch, rotate your chest away and toward the wall feeling a build up of tension, then a release of the tension.
Break Through Multisport Inc. 1235 North Clybourn, #355 Chicago, IL 60610 (931) 220-7050
www.BreakThroughMultisport.com Ryan@BreakThroughMultisport.com
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COACHES-
This camp is worth 10 CEU Credits from USA Triathlon. This camp gives you the perfect opportunity to pick up the CEU’s you need for 2010 at the incredibly low rate of $30 per credit while being able to work with YOUR athletes. If you are able to bring your athletes to the camp, discount of 25-100% are available. Please contact Coach Ryan for coaching discounts!
ATHLETES-
This four (4) day camp is available for you at the unbelievably low price of $150 total. You will have the opportunity to work with and be coached by Nationally recognized triathlon coach Ryan Riell and the incredibly hard working stable of Break Through Coaches. As part of the camp, you will receive the following personalized analysis:
-
Swim Stroke and Technique video -
Running Biomechanics video
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Functional Threshold Power or Lactate Threshold Testing on the bike
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Full Track Session with Drills Designed to HELP YOU Become MORE Efficient
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Multiple High Caliber Lectures on Topics Such as: Recovery Nutrition, Pacing, Power, Heart Rate and
Much More!
Athletes- if your coach isn’t currently making these services available to you, let him or her know that they are more than welcome to come to the camp to WORK WITH YOU. They will receive all the video footage to take home with them so they are able to work more closely with YOU!
Class sizes will be limited to 6 athletes to ensure that you are getting the proper amount of personal coaching. Each workout is designed and coached by a fully Certified USA Cycling and/or USA Triathlon Coach. Don’t spend your money for a generic cycling workout that is led by a coach/instructor that has not invested in their own coaching education and ability.
Each class is a six (6) weeks long, with one (1) training sessions per week and costs is $120.
Each athlete will receive an individualized cycling training program (6 weeks) with workouts that are designed to IMPROVE YOUR CYCLING ABILITY.
They are designed to improve your:
- Time-Trial Ability
- Pedal Stroke efficiency
- Cycling economy
- VO2 Max
- Functional Threshold Power
- Aerobic Capacity
- Anaerobic Capacity
If you want to know all that goes into pacing, this is the seminar for you. There are six (6) different types of pacing: negative, all out, positive, even, parabolic and variable pacing. Do you know which one is correct for your 2010 events? Do you know that a complex teleoanticipatory algorithm is actually in control of what you are doing while racing?
This seminar will show you how to maximize all of the tools (heart rate monitor, power meter and GPS devices) that you have for training and racing. We will show you how to test your swimming, cycling and running abilities, collect the data and then, more importantly... analyze that data!
This seminar will cover everything you want to know about running. We’ll start with biomechanics, then move into different testing methods and then cover the general principles of training for the run!
Break Through Multisport’s Endurance Sports Seminar Series
USA Triathlon Continuing Education Unit Seminar Series!
The Break Through Multisport Endurance Sports Seminar Series is Chicago's
only seminar series that offers monthly USA Triathlon certified seminars
(CEU credits available to all coaches).
Some coaching company's only educate their athletes enough to leave
them wondering what's going on. Some coaching company's educate their
athletes enough to keep them coming back for more. At Break Through
Multisport, we believe an educated athlete is a better athlete. The more
information you know going into a race, the better prepared you will be
to handle issues as they pop up on race day. That is why we have created
the Break Through Multisport Endurance Sports Seminar series and
dedicated our time to creating powerful and educational seminars to not
only educate the general public but to make it easier and more affordable for other USAT certified coaches to maintain their certification.
The seminar series is open to the general public ($10 per seminar) and all USA Triathlon certified coaches! The standard rate per CEU is $35 from USA Triathlon. Our rate of $25 per credit has the ability to save you $150 over the re-certification process! USAT Coaches- you do not have to purchase the CEU option, you can attend at the general public rate.
This is the Nationally renowned running biomechanics seminar that bas been presented across the country. If you want to run faster, this seminar is for you- you will see results within a few strides after this seminar. DON’T MISS OUT!
Coach Mike is a USA Swimming and ASCA Level 2 Certified coach who coaches competitive triathletes and swimmers from the Age Group ranks up through Masters. Additionally, he is the Director of Swimming at Break Through Multisport Inc. You can reach Coach Mike at Mike@BreakThroughMultisport.com with any questions, comments or for all of your coaching needs.
Break Through Multisport is proud to announce that Head Coach
Ryan Riell is one of a handful of coaches Nationally and the only coach
from Chicago that was selected to attend the USA Triathlon
Year Long Elite Coaching Mentorship program!
Coach Riell said, “It’s great to be one of the few coaches selected
out of the many that applied across the country. I was honored
to be selected for the 4-day Elite Coaching Mentorship
Program last October that was held at the Olympic Training
Center, this is going to be even better!”
When asked what he looked forward to the most, Riell said
“I am looking forward to adding more knowledge and skills that
I will be able to transfer directly to the Break Through Multisport
athletes!”
Dina Aburmishan RD, LDN is a registered dietitian who works with endurance athletes. Dina owns DMA Nutrition Inc. a private practice nutrition consulting company. You can reach Dina at dina@dmanutrition.com or www.dmanutrition.com or call her at 847-581-1160.
A 1-hour version of this seminar will a USAT
Webinar on March 29th
at 5PM CST!
Next Session:
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In today’s economy, a lot of people are forced to live on a tighter budget than they have been used to in the past. When it comes to endurance sports, triathlon in particular, participation can get very expensive. By utilizing some creative packages from Break Through Multisport, you DO NOT have to sacrifice your training and preparation!
Here are just a few of the combo offers from Break Through Multisport:
-
5 months (April - August) of Level 1 Coaching: $1375
-
5 months (April - August) of Level 2 Coaching: $1750
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3 months of Quarterly Coaching then 2 months of Level 1 Coaching: $1000
-
3 months of a Custom Training Plan and then 2 months of Level 1 Coaching: $800
These are only a few of the combination options that are available at Break Through Multisport. For more information, please contact Coach Ryan
With the TrainingPlan+ option, it enables an athlete to purchase a training plan ($29-$119) and still receive the high-end coaching that personal coaching provides. Contact Coach Ryan for details
TrainingPlan+
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