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"stryped" <stryped@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1161711319.194791.169040@h48g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com...
>Can swimming add muscle? I mean maybe swimming two days a week on top
>of lifting maybe three days a week?
Sure, swimming can add muscle, but it doesn't increase bone
strength/density. That may not seem important now, but it will be important
as you get older (not just for women like me, but especially for women like
me). Resistance training (typically, weight-lifting) is the best way to
build bone.
Swimming falls primarily on the cardio side of the cardio/resistance side of
the divide, so to speak. Like running.
It sounds like you're basically a runner, and it sounds like you're in good
shape and have good stamina. What you want now is strength, and the best
way to get that is weight training. And you'll probably find ways that
weight training can enhance your running performance, as you get into it.
Weight training enhances performance in just about any sport or physical
activity, AFAIK. (Personally, I started lifting weights 25 years ago when I
was a ballet dancer :-) It helped me keep good body proportions and
improved my scrawny "epaulement" on top, relative to my meaty, strong legs
on the bottom. You might find similar benefits as a runner. But that
doesn't mean you should neglect lower-body strength training. Do both.)
This group's FAQs are a good start:
http://www.trygve.com/mfw_faq.html .
Read sections I and II, for starters. The first thing you'll learn from
these faqs is to use free weights as the core of your work-out (instead of
machines, including Smith machines). Don't lift with the same muscles two
days in a row -- alternate days for full-body work-outs, or alternate upper
body days with lower body days. Rest one day a week -- no lifting and no
cardio. Start light -- there's a whole arcane neuromuscular thing that has
to get up to speed before you can safely start lifting heavy. The FAQs
recommend as follows for a starter work-out: Squat, Barbell Bench Press,
Pull Up, Seated Military Press, Dead Lift, Incline Dumbbell Press, Bent Over
Barbell Row. (Personally, the core of my routine is squat, barbell bench
press, deadlift, pull up, bent-over dumbbell row, incline dumbbell press,
standing military press, dumbbell curls, dips. I alternate upper-body days
and lower-body days.) You get the idea.
Plenty of people can maintain strength by lifting three days a week. YMMV.
You certainly should lift at least that frequently to keep in shape.
As a general rule, you will perform better and more efficiently both at
cardio and lifting if you do them on separate days. If your muscles are
exhausted from cardio, you prolly won't lift as much weight, and you risk
"pulling" something, resulting in tendonitis or some other pesky injury. If
your muscles are exhausted from lifting, your endurance for cardio may be
diminished accordingly.
Do a bit of stretching after you lift, if you like (and, as a runner, you
probably will), but don't stretch to "warm up" before lifting, as one does
before running. To warm up before lifting, do a light set of whatever lift
you're about to do. Like, bench 30 lbs. for a set of eight, then bench your
desired weight for two sets -- at least for starters -- maybe later you'll
develop into all sorts of patterns of reps and sets and pyramiding and
stuff, but if your main sport is running, light to heavy sets is a good way
to go for now.
If you want to mix it up with some cardio other than running, then, sure, I
think swimming is the best possible way to give your muscles some different
directions and stretches and strengths.
Wow, where did all that that come from? Guys, critique me. Be gentle. Or
not.
ep
(Hey, stryped, I'm a top-poster, myself, usually, but these guys scare me,
to I try to remember to snip and bottom-post.) (jk)
Need help with weight program 
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