I once read an article that talked about how Eddie George and Jerry Rice would jump in a swimming pool and perform various calisthenics to greatly increase their recovery speed after a vigorous workout. Ussually after a squat and lunge day, I’ll be sore for days 2-4 afterwards. I thought I’d give the calisthenics in the water a shot and I started actually trying to sprint laps in the pool. Anyone think this might actually help me get a bit faster, when I’m not in a pool, and maybe increase the drive(power) in my legs?
Also has anyone else heard of such a recovery method? I don’t believe I’ve seen anything about it in past articles. Any ideas on other such activities to help with recovery? I seem to recover fine everywhere but my quads.
It works great for recovery but it would probably work even better if you do it during the days when you’re not training that particular muscle group. It allows you to get blood into the muscles which really helps alleviate soreness etc. I do this type of thing whenever I have a swimming pool I can get to. It’s kind’ve similar to the off-day sled dragging that Louie Simmons and Dave Tate recommend, active restoration. Not only that but it is pretty much a non or low weight bearing activity so your joints won’t be stressed.
It is a very common form of recovery used by rugby and league players day after match.
Poolwork is very common these days with higher-level athletes for recovery and rehab purposes. Doing drills in a pool unloads your body’s skeleton while still promoting high blood circulation and allowing sport-specific moves. I haven’t heard of anyone doing drills in the pool to enhance speed/power, but this may be effective due to the drag factor of the water…anyhow, aquatic workouts are pretty good at speeding recovery and you have nothing to lose by giving it a try for a few weeks. Plus, maybe a female swim team will be there as well!!