Relationship Between Dryland Strength and Swimming Performance: Pull-Up Mechanics as a Predictor of Swimming Speed

• Published in: Journal of strength and conditioning research Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 1637 - 1642
• Main Authors: Pérez-Olea, José I, Valenzuela, Pedro L, Aponte, Concepción, Izquierdo, Mikel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Copyright by the National Strength & Conditioning Association 01-06-2018; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
• Subjects: Adolescent; Exercise Test - methods; Humans; Leg; Linear Models; Lower Extremity - physiology; Male; Muscle Strength - physiology; Muscular system; Reproducibility of Results; Swimming; Swimming - physiology; Transducers; Upper Extremity - physiology; Water sports; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1064-8011; 1533-4287
• DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002037

ABSTRACTPérez-Olea, JI, Valenzuela, PL, Aponte, C, and Izquierdo, M. Relationship between dryland strength and swimming performancepull-up mechanics as a predictor of swimming speed. J Strength Cond Res 32(6)1637–1642, 2018—This study aimed to examine the validity of the countermovement jump (CMJ) and the pull-up exercise as predictors of swimming performance. Twelve young male swimmers (Mean ± SD, 19 ± 3 years; 75 ± 10 kg; 180 ± 6 cm) with a homogenous level of performance (50-m freestyle time [50F]26.41 ± 1.44 seconds, coefficient of variance5.5%) participated in this study. Subjects performed a test of a single pull-up (PU) and a test of maximum number of pull-ups until muscular failure (PUF), and the mechanics of the ascending phase were recorded using a lineal force transducer. The height reached in a single CMJ test and the mean height during 30 consecutive CMJs were also determined. The swimmersʼ 50-m leg-only swimming time (50L) was also registered. The 50F time was strongly correlated with different variables of the PU (r = −0.76 to −0.80; p ≤ 0.05) and PUF test (r = −0.64 to −0.88; p ≤ 0.05), but not with the number of pull-ups performed. A significant relationship between 50F and 50L was observed (r = 0.78; p ≤ 0.05), with no relationship between the CMJ tests and swimming performance. Furthermore, multiple linear regression showed that 50L and the relative loss of velocity during the PUF test accounted for 84% (p < 0.001) of the 50F performance variance. This study shows the validity of the analysis of pull-up mechanics and 50L to predict short-distance swimming performance in trained swimmers, confirming the importance of upper-limb strength and leg kick on this sport.