Dara Torres is able to swim at an amazing level for her age.
But she is missing a key component in her training. More specifically, her non swim training methods. If she is to swim and win at the next olympics, she must take her non swim training to the next level.
Dara Torres - looking lean and mean
I don’t believe that she takes drugs – well, not more than anyone else 😉
This story by AP talks about her easy victory at the university of texas:
She may have won that easily, but she does complain of her knee in the article.
Her stretching routine is extremely thorough, but it ignores a key factor in how the body is built and how she swims.
Watch this video and see if you can spot where the gap is in this stretching modality that she uses as a key part of her training:
this one is also very interesting:
Now, dont think for a second that she actually follows the above regiment to be a world record swimmer. These videos have been watered down so as not to pop the shoulders out of the sockets of scrawny mortals such as you and I. But the same principles apply.
But unconventional training method notwithstanding, she must embrace something different in the way she trains if she is to achieve full body control and tap into the even greater potential she has.
To win in London 2012, Dara Torres must swim her heart out. But she must also start stretching her body the way she uses it to swim.
In rotation.
If you look at the swimmers body, there is a subtle yet significant rotation in the hips as the legs kick. In the water, this kick done a few thousand times adds a considerable amount of torque on the human body (especially the knee).
If there is an anticipation of pain (no matter what the issue might be) the body has trouble using that joint to its peak potential simply by subconscious deactivation of the muscle and joint.
Dara Torres stretches… a whole bunch.. (like, five times a day!) from front to back. But she does not stretch a bunch in side to side or in rotation. At least not in her hip – knee – foot complex.
To make matters worse, if she fails to train her hip to be flexible in rotation then as the hip rotates in the water her knee must take the brunt of the torsional load (eg if her hip needs to twist then the next link down has to do the work for it – the knee – which can sometimes hurt when it twists like a pretzel).
The foot also is doing some fancy twisting as it goes through the water – the knee has to be able to react with this as well.
As you can see, the knee is getting the blame for what may well be a hip and/or foot that has been stretched in the front/back plane, but not at all in the rotational plane!
As for the rest of us, when you stretch, make sure you give some time to rotational movements and stretches in the rotational plane of of movement – the results just might astonish you.
It is always fascinating to me how swimmers can be built differently but still be successful in the pool.
it is also fascinating to me how amazing an athlete Dara Torres is at the age she is (of course Michael deserves praise as well for being such a golf medal piggy – seriously Michael – let some of the other boys have a turn at the podium! Sharing is caring, I always say).
Take a look at this video to see both athletes showering side by side (with suits on! trying to run a family blogpost here)
Make sure you pause it at 0.29. Then look again at 0.36 and do the comparison between both of these world class athletes.
You tell me who has more muscle. I think it looks almost equal, but not having the flipperlike arms and feet of Phelps, Dara definitely has more muscle and makes Michael look kind of streamlined and Dara a bit more athletic.
Of course, with 8 gold medals (and that’s just this Olympics!), who can fault him if he is a bit more lean in the physique department? Now if I could just figure out how to get a 7 foot wingspan on a 6’3″ body…
What do you think? I had to watch the video four or five times, but I honestly think she has the edge.
Dara Torres has mastered the art of training her own body. But it didnt happen overnight.
Everyone seems amazed by Dara Torres and her olympic journey.
And rightfully so. She is an amazing woman with an amazing story to tell.
Daras daughter looks forward to competing against her mother in the 2020 Olympics.
But before you wonder if there is truth in all the ‘performance enhancing’ headlines, take a moment to ponder this:
what if her training and recovery routine is just that much better than the current system all the other athletes are using?
When I was in Australia I had the opportunity to work at the Australian Institute of Sport (a developmental center for Olympic and developmental athletes). Something I was constantly amazed at was the hours of training the AIS swimmers put in every morning. They would swim for hours and hours, perfecting their technique so they could carve through the water all the more effortlessly.
What I didn’t realize at the time (and what many coaches at high level competition also fail to realize) was the amount of overtraining that was happening. In fact, many swimmers are chronically overtrained.
Dara used to train like that. But not anymore.
Dara is now training 5 times a week in the pool – breaking world records and swimming half as much as her Olympic teammates.
How does she do it?
Swimming records depend on flawless technique in the pool. Once that technique has been learned, is it necessary to put in the same hours? Dara might be living proof that once perfected, training need not be so rigorous and focus can shift to other areas of performance.
Dara is also an example of an athlete who has taken the initiative and chosen her own training routines. If she keeps bringing home the gold, who is to blame her for finding her own path to excellence?
Thankful to her moms and pops
The Dara Torres genetics, limb lengths and mental toughness all play a role in her natural affinity to gold medals – but lets also note the perfect swimming form her coaches constantly praise her for.
Dara Torres is one tough bitch
Wanna know how tough she is?
Dara Torres gave birth… but made sure she found time to lift weights and swim laps the very same day
Mental and physical gifts aside, perhaps the real reason Dara is getting her great numbers at such an age is the great support network she has built around herself.
Let’s take a closer look:
Dara Torres support team
Chris Jackson: Sprint coach
Andy O’Brien: Strength and Conditioning coach
Steve Sierra and Anne Tierney: Two full-time personal stretchers (these people work together to stretch Dara in ways a single person cannot. Might this be a key secret?)
Electro-physiotherapy – not sure of the science on this one, but a lot of the research points towards muscle rehabilitation rather than performance-based outcomes
Nanny to help look after her young ones
Nutritionist and meal plan program
doctor (her boyfriend) to ensure she stays in perfect health
Thankfully Because of the status she is, she receives assistance from sponsors to help pay for this team of (non-olympic funded) experts.
(Spare a thought for the other non-sponsored athletes who must work at Home Depot and live off of the ‘all-you-can-eat-pizza-bar’ to keep their training up with the hope for an olympic dream.)
holding weights while on a fitball makes for strong posture in the water
Daras workout believes that machines are built to help people get better at using machines, not swimming.
She often works out without sitting down in a single machine.
Her constantly changing regimen encompasses Swiss balls, medicine balls, bands and resistance cables in innovative and functional methods.
The compound workout she is driven through is designed to teach her muscles to be stronger together – not stronger apart. The finely tuned neuromuscular network she constantly builds upon means her body works together in all the right places.
Daras recovery may be even more important:
Dara receives daily attention from a couple of experts that stretch and massage her in innovative and brutally painful ways. The result? A body that regenerates quickly and moves smoothly come next workout.
Her workouts make sure the same muscles get worked out differently each time. Her massage/stretch team make sure her muscles get the maximal recovery. Her reduced swim load means she gets to practice her technique but not reach a point where she is overtraining. Which is where the majority of professional athletes are right now.
If you are a high level athlete, chances are you are overtrained right now
If you want to be doing whatever it is you do at an older age, here are some tips for you:
Secrets to help make you a ‘Dara Torres’ at whatever you want to be best at:
Get a massage on a regular basis. If you build up the waste in your muscles, you have to be able to remove the waste from your muscles. Simple equation, huh.
Stop eating food that you know is not good for you. You are what you eat. That means your joints are made of that crappy fast food you choked down last week. Crappy fast-food joints don’t last that long (in case you didn’t know).
Try things outside of your regular team protocol. If you want different results than everyone else, do things differently. Try relaxation. Try yoga. Try acupuncture. Try sleeping at a decent hour every night. If you look at the habits of the greats in any sport, they do the things that others don’t.
Be a stickler for form. Good form means relaxed muscles, smooth joints and reduced injuries. It also means better performances now and tomorrow. Daras coaches know she has her form down pat. She ought to, given the years of practice she has had. But she didn’t get it without focus and conscientious effort.
Make your next gym visit a functional training session. Your body will realize connections it never realized it had before. You will feel muscles that were previously dormant. You will curse me for giving you the idea for this workout but thank me later when your performance improves dramatically.
Stretch. Focus on loosening the tight muscles first – think about what tighten as you sit. Your chest, lats and hip flexors are a great place to start.
If you haven’t been doing any of this, then start tomorrow. It is never too late for good health.
Last word of wisdom for everyone out there, athlete and non-athlete:
If you are working hard, you should be recovering even harder.
Triathlete or Track & Field athlete, money-maker or mother of four – if you are putting in the effort, make sure you give yourself the opportunity to recover.
This will give you the best chance to keep you on your game and keep doing the things you love with less burnout, doing it better, and doing it at a high level for many years to come.
Fitness Insights by Jamie Atlas 