Hi! I'd like to give you a short tip, two, three minutes on how to get faster. This tip is for swimming coaches and swimmers.
The soleus muscle is a muscle behind your calf muscle and it's responsible for getting you off the block when your legs are bent. It's an obscure muscle because you don't see it. It's behind the calf muscle, the one that everybody sees. The calf muscle is extremely important also because when you are getting off the block in an extended position, fully extended position of a start and turn you use the calf muscle.
For most of the time getting off a start and turns begins and is initiated with the soleus muscle. You can do this. Exercise by getting on some stairs or plyometric bench, or plank. You can do it on your chair. I'll show you -- in fact, using this chair you can get the idea of what you are trying to work on by watching me as I keep this position bent, and the only thing that's moving is my knees. There's machines like this with a full extension.
There are machines that are specifically developed to work on the soleus muscle. You have to do a little research and find them. Marcy makes one, there is a couple other machines that do a real nice job. But you can also use them on a squat machine, but you are in a bent position and going up and down, keeping a bent leg position. Work on it and you are going to get faster. It's not easy, but if you do it every day or at every practice, part of adrenaline regime, you are going to find out that your times are going to drop, because you are getting off the block faster, farther and off your turns faster and farther.
Do them like you would be doing them or train like you like to swim and that's fast. Don't do it too slow, do it explosively, carefully, and you'll have a good time. You can also do some lunges, lunges are great. If you go to techpaddle.com, go to the EVF exercises, in isometrics you can see some of those exercises performed. Thank you very much, and good luck.
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