Adam Peaty is a world-class swimmer who holds the world record for the 100m butterfly. He achieved championship titles with ease at the Olympics and World Championships. Besides his outstanding technical ability, we can see from his physique that he has strong power and endurance as his foundation. His impressive and muscular pectoral muscles not only attracted countless young women but also played a huge role in his butterfly’s catch, hold, and recovery phases.So how did he achieve this, and how did he train regularly? This time, let's share with you the role of the pectoral muscles in butterfly swimming, and see in detail their functions, and let’s take a look at what chest muscle training exercises Adam Peaty practiced.

How do pectoral muscles support butterfly swimming techniques

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Outer

Inner

Recovery

The upper limb of butterfly swimming can be divided into three stages according to the direction of movement: outer, inner, and recovery. Each stage of muscle contraction is different depending on the force applied. During outer, the pectoral muscles contract with a long, eccentric contraction to perform the catch action; during the inner stage, the pectoral muscles contract with an inward contraction to perform the hold and elbow flexion action; during the recovery stage, the pectoral muscles again contract with a long, eccentric contraction to stretch.

We can see that as one of the major power sources for the upper limbs, the pectoral muscles play a very important role.

Let’s understand our pectoral muscles

The pectoral muscles are a fan-shaped and thick muscle extending from the shoulder blades. They cover the upper chest and assist in the movement of the shoulders and arms. They are composed of three heads: the clavicle head, the rib head, and the abdominal head. They originate from the sternum and the 2nd to 4th ribs, ending at the coracoid process.

Its functions allow the shoulder joint to perform internal rotation (inner), horizontal adduction (inner), and external rotation (); it also allows the scapula to descend (), subscapular rotation (), and protraction ().

Adam Peaty’s Daily Pectoral Muscle Training

Let’s take a look at the chest muscle training exercises in Adam Peaty’s repertoire.

Dumbbell Push-ups

Compared to the barbell, dumbbells can better protect the swimmer’s shoulder joints. Let’s take a look at the action notes.

Choose a suitable weight and lie flat on a bench;

• Keep your back firmly against the bench, and tighten your core, and maintain stability.
• Place the dumbbell approximately at nipple level, keep your shoulders parallel, and contract your shoulder blades to maintain stability;
• Pay attention to breathing during the action cycle.
• Bench Press Push-ups

This is a high-difficulty training that enhances strength based on a foundation of flexibility and strength. If we don’t have excellent physical fitness, we can try it step by step to avoid injuries.

The position of the bench press starts;

• During the downward movement, pay attention to storing power for the starting action;
• Maintain core stability and breathing.
• Weighted Push-ups

Before this exercise, Peaty did several push-ups as a warm-up.

The core must be maintained stable to avoid vertebral pressure;

• Pay attention to breathing and the overall coordination of the action.
• Medicine Ball Push-ups

Compared to flat push-ups, the medicine ball creates an unstable far end similar to being in the water. This exercise tests our core and shoulder joint stability, followed by the strength of the pectoral muscles.

Extend your arms to hold the medicine ball on the ground;

• Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, and maintain a three-point support for stability;
• Quickly lower your body and quickly push it up.
• The above exercises are on-land training actions for professional athletes, based on a foundation of flexibility and strength. If we don’t have excellent physical fitness, we can try it step by step to avoid injuries.

Summary

Finally, let’s review. The pectoral muscles play an important role in the outer, inner and recovery phases of butterfly swimming. Adam Peaty’s on-land training is guided by the action pattern of ‘pushing’ to train the pectoral muscles. The training includes basic bench press exercises and high-intensity burst exercises. If we want to swim out beautiful butterfly movements, we can refer to Peity’s on-land training to develop a training plan for ourselves.

Now, aren’t we surprised that he could have such a dominant swimming position? If you can challenge these exercises, please share your results!