Indiana Hoosier and American record-breaking breaststroker Ian Finnerty did an AMA on reddit yesterday, saying he’s used rock climbing as a way to strengthen his forearms for breaststroke.
For those who don’t waste too much time on the internet, “AMA” stands for “Ask Me Anything” and has become a format for direct Q&As between people of interest and fans on the Reddit website. Finnerty did his AMA yesterday on the swimming subreddit, answering a number of key questions on his own training and his future in the sport. You can read the full AMA here, but we’ve republished a handful of Finnerty’s questions and answers below:
Q: What’s your favorite thing to do that works on breastroke? Also how wide would you say your kick is? I can’t really tell by videos
A: Thank you! I think the most beneficial thing for breast stroke that you can do in the water is pulling. I had a big focus pulling with a buoy and paddles this seasons. We will also use bands that restrict the ability to use your legs while we do sets. As far as outside the pool goes, I really enjoy rock climbing as it strengthens forearms. The longer you can go in the race before your forearms fatigue, the better, and I think climbing has really helped in that regard. It also takes my head out of swimming and gives me a hobby so that’s also good!
I’m not really sure how close they are in the race to be exact. But in practice I really try to get my knees within about a foot of each other. The less drag I’m causing to get into the kick power position the better.
Q: Do you do pull breaststroke or just freestyle, I feel breaststroke could be quite akward, how do you overcome the odd body position?
A: I pull both frequently. And the awkward body position thing is just something that is going to happen. Your main focus should just be the upper body and getting that strengthened. A dolphin kick with the legs would be fine and would make it less awkward
Q: Did you ever think you would make it this far? How did you choose Indiana as the school you would swim for? What advice would you give to someone who wants to be at your level one day?
A: I had the goals to make it this far, but no one ever really knows if they will. When visiting schools my number one question was “if I couldn’t swim here, would I still be happy to come to this school?” And indiana fit that perfectly.
Naruto is better!!
Most interesting thing about competitive rock climbing training is that it’s basically USRPT. They can’t go to extreme failure because of the risk of injury. Every rep has to be technically sound, and they keep them rested to the extent they can go all reps with perfect technique.
Cool to see this here.
I believe Ian has the equivalent strength of Sheeve Palpatine, but only in Episode III. End of line.
I hate sand.
My maxes are higher than an NCAA champ and American record holder noice
Surprisingly weak squat numbers, but the 85 lbs pullups are pretty sweet —- Cullen Jones territory.
People said the same thing about Adam Peaty’s squat numbers recently. I wonder if maybe there’s a misunderstanding of what kind of squat numbers are best for breaststroke…
https://swimswam.com/myroutine-how-adam-peaty-prepares-for-a-race/
I said that. They’re low. Ian’s even moreso. I’d actually bet that there’s no way he only squats that much, and Peaty is being coy as well.
If he’s only squatting 255, but can bench 180 with dumbells, there’s a big discrepancy there. 180vwith dumbells is close to that Squat number if you swap the dumbells for a barbell.
I’m obviously nowhere near the swimmer Peaty or Finnerty are, but I squat more than Peaty (which I don’t believe) , and about 100 lbs more than Finnerty, for more reps as well!
I think maybe the disconnect is that these guys aren’t focusing their training on squatting the biggest number they can one time. They’re trying to develop strength they can utilize best within a 100 breaststroke, and it’s clear between this story and the Peaty one that these guys are more focused on sustained power with 6-8 reps.
When I was still training and competing post-college, we would do a lot of our squats with a tempo (5 seconds down, explode up) or with an isometric hold at the bottom. We’d also pretty commonly pair our squats with things like hurdle jumps or squat jumps with a sandbag, or we’d go single-leg squats, which were brutal. While I don’t know if… Read more »
Yeah – that’s in line with what we did as well. Often exercises were related to goal times, and often the times related to reps based on stroke counts, flipturns, etc. We also did Anderson squats and Zercher squats, which could be immediately paired with deadlifts for a more circuit-based set. We also never just did squats – they were always super-setted with box jumps, band jumps, etc.
That said, I was squatting more than that for swimming-based utilization…for more reps… in high school. I don’t buy his numbers. Let’s say Finnerty weighs 200 lbs. He can add an additional 85 around his waist, and still rep out pullups, for a pullup max of 285 lbs? He’s a pretty big… Read more »
Different body types have different ways of going fast in the water. I used to hit 335 for 3 reps on back squat and 285 for 5 front squat, but could never kick under 1:35 for a 100 flutter with a board LCM. To many moving parts in swimming for squats to translate directly. Cool seeing my bro on here.
As I mention below — his cracked ribs may have really set Finnerty back in the BB back squats. Core bracing with a huge inhale like a full soda can is critical to good squat numbers.
Yet Ian is an American record holder and you’re not. All the stuff that he’s done has worked and made him successful. Squats are a big thing but apparently not a pivotal thing.
Yet he’s an American Record Holder and you are not. Everything he’s done has worked and made him a successful swimmer. Squats are a big thing but obviously not a pivotal thing.
What ever he is doing is working. Why does it matter how much he squats?
similar to not getting perfect on a test score it identifies areas of improvement for athletes.
I get that, but AVP Wallace box squatted — what was it 365 lbs. And she’s a woman who’s about 3/4 his lean body mass. I know 55-60 plus year old master swimmers who can back squat 255 five times. If anything, it shows he has insane room for improvement. Tough to squat when you have cracked ribs like he did, so this was probably the first full year he was able to give it a go.
That AVP box squat was absolutely atrocious, dangerous, and she wasn’t coming anywhere close to parallel. Wouldn’t use that as a comparison.
Maybe depends on how deep they go in the squat!?!
Peaty’s kick is so narrow it’s much more for him about foot speed in his kick than strength/power (a reason why his breakouts are comparatively horrendous — he get’s nothing from the narrow kick). That’s fine for a 100, but as Lilly King and Peaty, the two elite fast turnover/narrow kickers show, it doesn’t translate to a 200 LCM. Curious what Finnerty’s training buddy Cody Miller does on back squats. Definitely has a wider kick. Or what any of the 100 guys/girls that can also go up to a 200 (Cordes, Yulia, etc.) can do.