Finding time to train can oſten be difficult, but if all you do is swim then you’re missing out a key part of your work-out.
Flexibility training has been shown to improve posture and range of shoulder motion, prevent injuries, and aid post-exercise recovery. Stretching is part of most injury rehabilitation programmes, so it makes sense that regular stretching when fit can also help prevent injury and improve performance. One major factor affecting flexibility is posture, and one of the most serious and common problems for swimmers (and non-swimmers) is ‘poking head posture’, which results from too much time spent hunched in front of a computer. This results in chest, shoulder and neck muscles becoming shortened and tight, and because these muscles are at the front of the body they pull the head forward.
Such poor posture reduces the blood supply to the brain, which
affects your concentration, says physiotherapist Katherine Watkins (
watkinsphysio.com). “Breathing is also affected, due to the impingement of key nerves supplying the diaphragm,” she says. “Also, the head and the nerves that run through this region to your brain are restricted.” The muscles atached to the rib cage are called the intercostals and Watkins says when these are tight, the ability to rotate one’s trunk is also restricted. This not only limits stroke length but also forces the body to seek this lost rotation elsewhere – usually from the shoulders – which then are likely to become strained. Plus, when the head comes forward it causes the shoulder joint to be pulled forward, meaning when the arm is raised during a stroke the shoulder muscles rub against the bony structures of the shoulder, causing inflammation. In short, poking head posture is all-round bad news for swimming – in terms of technique, performance and injury, such as ‘swimmer’s shoulder’ (which is actually a confection of ailments, including impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tendinitis, subacramila bursitis, and instability).
FLEXIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE Alex Marinof (
leanderswimmingclub.org.uk) is a former Greek international swimmer, and is head coach of Leander Swimming Club. He says performance can be improved by 10-15 per cent by increasing flexibility. “It will give you a larger range of motion, increase recovery between sessions, and prevent injury,” he says. As an elite swimmer, Marinof spent more than two hours a week stretching, including a warm up and warm down regimens. Because he has experienced the value of stretching he makes sure that around 4-5 weeks before competition, his swimmers perform a weekly 90-minute stretching session, to aid recovery and help them to taper – the systematic process many swimmers go through leading up to an event of decreasing training load and increasing rest in order to maximise performance. For pre-exercise stretching, athletes now favour dynamic warm-up stretches instead of static stretches. Dynamic stretching entails a large, quick range of motion movements that mimic the movements expected of muscles during the training or competition itself. Research into dynamic stretching shows it’s important for both speed and endurance events.
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FOR PRE-EXERCISE
STRETCHING, ATHLETES NOW FAVOUR DYNAMIC WARM-UP STRETCHES INSTEAD OF STATIC STRETCHES
CHEST STRETCH
Place your arm on the wall above shoulder height. Twist your chest and waist away from
your hand until you feel a stretch in your chest. Hold for 45 seconds.
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