Customer Reviews

Complete Conditioning for Swimming (Complete Conditioning for Sports Series)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Finally, a good book focused on dryland training for swimmers. I got a copy for my sons, both who are competitive swimmers. It's interesting to note that in recent years even swim greats such as Michael Phelps have added dryland strength workouts to their long hours in the pool. As Phelps re-breaks world records he set in previous years, those results speak for themselves. The vast majority of these exercises can be done on a pool deck with minimal gear--elastic tubing, medicine balls, stability ball. The DVD showing how to execute most of the exercises is a nice bonus.

Not everyone of us has a chance in life to be coached under world-classes coaches that these authors are (watching the Olympics, I wondered what my swimming times would have been like have I been coached by Bob Bowman). But this book gives you a chance to get inside their minds and start doing what they do with their swimmers.

NOTE, this is not the book that will teach you anything about stroke technique. Rather, it'll teach you everything else you need to know besides that - how to exercise properly, how to properly stretch, how to warm up and cool down before races, how and when to eat, AND, what I liked the most, how to build a year round training program to help you peak in your swimming times at the right time of the year.

The book is very well written (took me just a day to read through it all), comes with a DVD that will show you all the important moves for your workouts, and overall - perhaps the greatest value for $15 you will find in any swimming product out there.

I recommended it to all my masters swimming teammates.

The training techniques are very cutting-edge, and I love the way the information is organized. Modules are organized by target area (core, etc) with beginner, intermediate, and advanced techniques. An extremely useful book/dvd. Great for the serious swimmer.

I'm a masters swimmer inspired by Dara Torres. This book provides a smart and thorough approach to swim conditioning. It helps you to identify weak areas and includes great exercises (for in and out of the pool).

I am really enjoying this book. Very clear explanations and the included DVD shows many exercises performed so nothing is ambiguous. I like that they included exercises in different categories including warm ups, core strengthening, stroke specific and stretches.
He explains about the different energy systems and amazingly I can understand it!!
It is a pleasure to read and I know that I will be referring to it for many years to come. Some of the exercises I knew of and have been doing for a few months but another thing that I like about this book is that it shows intermediate and advanced forms of many of the exercises which I never knew about.

This book has everything you need to get stronger as a swimmer, specific exercises for each stroke etc

The book has some excellent pieces of information about dryland training. The parts which were a necessity with my swimmers were the rotator cuff prevention strategies. As an ASCA Level III swim coach and an NSCA-CSCS I find myself gaining new ideas from this book.

Don't think it's ONLY about dryland. There are some strength and power building exercises that the author advocates bringing to the pool. For example, using a medicine ball, or elastic tubing in the water to generate power through a specific range of motion for the stroke or for the core.

The DVD was an excellent addition to the book, and many of the exercises are shown in standard form. Variations of the exercises for more difficulty or simplicity are also added throughout the book. The author does not give you a set workout plan, so if you are new to periodizing I would suggest: "Championship Swim Training" by Bill Sweetenham. The book does not go into detail about sprint vs. middle vs. distance training methodology. I think I was expecting a little more info on that.

But if you are a swimmer, a swim coach, a strength trainer, of a sports conditioner who's involved with a population of athletes who swim, I would suggest buying this book and using it as a reference and incorporating some of the things into your programming.

I coach high school swimming and we've been building our dryland program for a few years. This book has really focused our work and I'm looking forward for some big results this winter.

Good reference for serious swimmers that are looking for comprehensive information on every aspect of the sport. Easy to read and well orgainzed. Highly recommended. Inclusions of more examples of how the author trains the elite athletes and illustrations of his methods in specific programs will make the book even better.

At the end of 2009 I had some trouble with my back and went to see the doctor. She gave me some pain medication and told me to comeback if the pain persisted, which it did. Finally I went back to see the doctor and was recommended to a physical therapist (PT). The PT gave me a number of exercises which help to strengthen my back. I had tried working out on my own prior to visiting the PT but my pain never decreased. The PT's exercises decreased my pain significantly. I then began taking a swimming class and I've had days will absolutely no back pain, it was amazing. The PT in combination with the swimming was incredible. My wife got me this book for Christmas. It has many of the same exercise that the PT gave me and similar additional exercises. Certainly I am not in the business of giving medical advise. I am no doctor, but this has helped me and if you have back pain it may be something for you to discuss with your doctor. Best wishes.