Written by At first glance swimming is not a sport one would think required a great deal of pre-activity stretching. As with other activities of course it largely depends on the intensity of the routine to be performed. A gentle 400 metres may not require much in the way of preparation but an energetic 2 kilometers may well do.
Swimming is an excellent all-over body exercise for numerous groups of muscles. Different swimming styles will also use different muscle groups and they are as follows:
Backstroke: Triceps and Leg Muscles
Butterfly: Abdominals, Deltoids and Leg Muscles
Breaststroke: Thighs, Biceps and Glutes (Buttocks)
Freestyle (Front Crawl): Deltoids and Leg Muscles
That’s a lot of muscles to get warmed up before a swim but assuming your are going to be sticking to one stroke only, it’s fairly easy to narrow your choice of stretches down to a well chosen selection. In fact there are three stretches which can suffice for all swimming styles.
The Reaching Up Shoulder Stretch
Nice easy one this and it will help prepare your deltoids, your shoulder and your arm muscles. Just place your arm behind your back and point your hand and fingers up towards your shoulder blades. Hold it for at least thirty seconds and then swap arms.
The Arm Up Rotator Stretch
This one will also help you with your shoulder and bicep muscles and as you can see from the picture you will need a stick of some sort, about 1 metre in length. Hold the stick as shown then gently use the lower hand to pull forward on the stick. Don’t “bounce” it, just bring it forward until you feel the stretch, then hold it for thirty seconds before swapping hands.
The Single Heel Drop Calf Stretch
Down to the legs now and an ideal stretch to get the leg muscles ready is the heel drop calf stretch. Place one foot on a step or raised surface. Bend that knee slightly and place the ball of the other foot on the edge of the step. Slowly lower that heel until you feel the stretch in your calf. Hold for thirty seconds then swap feet.