Increasing Arm Efficiency in Swimming in a Triathlon
Swimming is said to be a technique sport, much like golf or tennis. Often times the biggest and strongest swimmer is not the one to win the race, it’s the person who has the best technique. With any stroke, but especially front crawl, if you can combine strength with proper form you will surely be a force to be reckoned with.
It may come as a surprise to hear that there are a few common errors that many athletes new to the sport, and even some who have been swimming for a long time, fall victim to. In this post we will discuss some errors people commonly make with their arms, and what you can do to correct them.
Overreaching
1. The most common error is overreaching. You see swimmers young and old bring their hands way out directly in front of their head, basically the 12 position on a clock. This is extremely inefficient and causes you to bob up and down in the water as well as puts you in an incorrect position to start the next as aspect of the stroke. The proper hand placement is at 1 and 11, or if you were to draw a line straight out from each of your shoulders your arms should enter somewhere on that.
Overextending
Very similar to overreaching, but no less common, is overextending. For some reason swimmers think that if they reach out as far as they can it will make them a faster swimmer. This is somewhat true but what people often forget is that you do not want to do all of the reaching in the air.
A proper entry position is about midway between your shoulder and your fully extended arm. From there your hand enters the water and then you extend the rest of the way about 5 inches under the surface. The reason you do not want to do all of the reaching above the water is because it causes your front half to drop and creates a lot of up and down motion, which is extremely inefficient.
These two techniques are a great place to start fine tuning your swim. If you consciously work on these each time you swim you will find your times getting faster but with less effort. Work on these for a few weeks and then check back here again for another set of pointers that will knock off even more time.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
Off Season Fuel Efficiency
With the holidays rapidly approaching, you worry about weight gain as you take a break from your normal training routine. You can prevent unnecessary weight gain during the off season by improving your metabolic efficiency during this time.
Metabolic efficiency is the body’s ability to use certain nutrients at certain times. When you increase the intensity of your training, the body uses less fat and more carbohydrate for fuel. This is known as crossover. During the off season maintaining a high carbohydrate diet while training less can lead to detrimental body fat gain. It is important to maintain your weight within 10% during the off season.
While carbs are essential, so are protein and fats. Consuming too much of any of them during the off season can lead to metabolic inefficiencies. Eating a combination of foods and you will retain dietary equilibrium. You can become more metabolic efficient by making some off season dietary changes.
First, your diet should consist of lean protein, with a small amount of healthy fat like Omega-3 fats. Second you should eat large portions of fruits and vegetables and lastly add whole grains to comprise no more that 1/4 of your plate. Focus on food colors, the more vibrant hues you put on your plate, greens, reds, oranges, purple and yellows the better. Eat less browns, whites, beiges, and pale yellow carbs.
Secondly, decrease your normal carb intake. Consider putting away your bars, gels and drinks until after you start your base training. Your body needs a break from high energy, high carb products during this time. This will force your to fill your plate with healthy high protein and fat from whole food sources.
Third, strive to eat healthy proteins and fats 80 to 90% of the time to help decrease off season weight gain. 10 to 20% of time you can take a break and indulge. This helps prevent feelings of failure when you choose poor food choices which are inevitable at this time of the year.
Nutrition requires the same level of focus and attention as training and can take weeks or months to change your behavior. So make healthy choices and be ready to start the new year as a better, more metabolic efficient athlete.
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Boost your endurance with EPO-BOOST™ and you’ll run faster and farther, we guarantee it!
Are You Pulling Your Tire? – Running Training Tips
Are you pulling a tire in your training program?
Hardcore runners are always looking for ways to improve their endurance. Pulling a 20 pound tire and running down the road is certainly a novel way to train. Whether you are running in flat terrain or running in a hilly area this technique has shown to be a good way to improve your performance.
One of our runners was actually pulled over by a police officer asking what he was doing… so be prepared for some stares, especially if you are train in a populated area.
One of the most important components of implementing tire pulling into your training regimine is to make sure you use the right technique. A rope around your waist will cut in and can cause injuries, similarly, improper posture can add an injury risk too. So if you are going to try it be very careful. Get the right harness. Train from short distances (100 to 200m) before going for 1000m.
Some suggest that your harness be attached high up on your back (parachute style), this will provide the resistance but the strain on your back can be better managed by having pull and angle of the rope in the correct place. Some like pulling from the waste… you will have to see what works best for you.
Tire size can also be important… try a smaller SUV tire. Some runners have shared less bouncing and still good training effects. What tips do you have to share about tire pulling?
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Visit www.epoboost.com to learn more about how you can improve your endurance, speed and strength. You have nothing to lose with our 90 day money-back guarantee.
Boost your endurance with EPO-BOOST™ and you’ll run faster and farther, we guarantee it!
Flying through the air.
Shantessa Pama (USA) doing a jam on the uneven bars © 2008 Steve Lange
Have you ever been watching the Olympics or a Gymnastics invitational and see one of the gymnasts take to the uneven bars, and just seem to effortlessly fly through the air? Without notice, they will then catch one of the bars, and fly in the opposite direction. I don’t know about you, but I am simply in awe every single time.
What makes these athletes so different from us average human beings? Are they lighter than air? Do they have springs in their feet? Maybe they have rubberized joints? No, the difference between Olympic gymnasts and the rest of us, is simple determination. They see their goal, which is of course, the gold medal, and that is all they think about for years.
These athletes have to have such incredible endurance, you know they are practicing eating habits that enable endurance nutrition, and when diet alone isn’t enough, they will get endurance support via nutritional supplements. Only the best, all natural products will make the grade for these elite athletes. Rest assured that Epo-Boost is one such product! Made of all natural ingredients, Epo-boost can help you get to where your dreams are taking you, even to that gold medal.
Know Your Muscles
Sometimes athletes tend to think that their talent is the most important feature of the game. Unfortunately, this may cause some to forget about sportsmanship, helping others, and educating yourself in all aspects of the sport and your health. Once you know about how the things that make you talented work, you can improve your entire performance.
For now, let’s talk about the extremely important, all-powerful (well, hopefully) muscles! Muscle in general is defined as “an organ, composed of muscle tissue, that contracts to produce a particular movement.” When we workout we hope to tone, build, and strengthen our muscles. You may have learned about muscle in high school biology, but things take on a whole knew meaning when you are dedicating these muscles to a sport that you are passionate about as an adult.
There are three different types of muscle: skeletal, cardiac, and smooth, all of equal importance with their own jobs and locations in the body.
Skeletal muscles are attached to… the skeleton! Surprised? It makes up the majority of the muscle in your body and consists of both dark and light fibers. This is the only type of muscle that is under voluntary control. Tense up your calf and feel the muscle harden. This is skeletal muscle and is what you usually think of when you are running and soreness sets in; or what is being worked when you lift weights.
Cardiac muscle is specific to only one area: the walls of the heart. This muscle looks just like skeletal muscle in color and the striation of the fibers, but is usually not under our control, or involuntary. This is the muscle that benefits especially from cardio workouts and aerobics. It pumps blood throughout the body and to the other muscles when they are working overtime.
Smooth muscle is that major muscle type. These are non-striated, but actually smooth, and are also involuntary. They line the inside of blood vessels, the bladder, the stomach, and the intestines. These muscles are the least likely to tear and are miraculous in the way that they can grow and shrink through the process of hyperplasia. This happens mostly in the uterus during pregnancy.
Muscles love to be worked and kept healthy through exercising, proper diet, vitamins and products that will increase your endurance and ability to keep pushing them, such as EPO-Boost. Muscles really love all-natural and safe substances, so choose wisely what you ingest and keep your fibrous friends in shape!
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