Four Mobility Exercises for Open Water Swimmers
We are full-on into open water swim season. Thinking about what I might offer to my OWS people from a fitness perspective prompted this week’s blog post– four mobility exercises that can improve your posture, stroke and hydrodynamic power in open water swimming. If you’re swimming this week, try these on for size.
Looking to start open water swimming? Or improve your endurance, stroke technique or pace? Schedule a free consult with Rachel by emailing her at rachel@unstilllife.com to get some guidance and/or talk about coaching.
Chest Stretch – tight pectoral muscles (chest muscles) cause the shoulders to roll forward. This posture slows you down and makes it harder to use your shoulders and arms effectively. To open the chest and provide the optimal range of motion in the shoulder for a good stroke, stretch the pecs by putting your forearm along a doorway and stepping forward until you feel a good stretch. Hold for 3-4 slow breaths.
Thoracic Twist + Hip Stretch, aka World’s Greatest Stretch or Rainbow Ranger – This exercise helps swimmers get good rotation through their torso with each stroke, taking stress off of the shoulders and making them more streamlined and hydro-dynamic. The hip mobility portion of this stretch allows your leg to access more power from the hips. From a plank position, step the left foot to the left hand in a low lunge. Draw a giant circle with the left arm: reaching forward up and back, following the circle with your eyes, which also helps you have good mobility in the neck for sighting and breathing. Return the arm along the same path and back to position. Repeat on the same side 3-4 more times. Then switch sides.
Lat Hip Hinge Stretch – This is a two-fer. It stretches the lats along the sides of your back to allow for good shoulder movement, but it also stretches low back and hamstrings so you have good alignment in the water. Stand at arms length from a post, park bench, counter or desk with feet hip width apart. Holding onto the post at hip height, bend forward from the hip with a slight bend in the knees and drop your chest toward the ground. Keep your back straight. The further you drop your chest between your arms, the greater the stretch you will feel in your lats. Hold for 3-4 slow breaths.
Front of ankle stretch – Swimmers need flexible ankles in order to harness power of the foot as a paddle in kicking. These two stretches help you get greater mobility in the ankles. The first stretch is not for everyone–it’s a bit intense on both the ankles and the knees. It involves sitting back on your heels with toes extended and feet together. Don’t let your heels splay out beneath you. You can have your hands on the floor, holding a door jamb or a piece of furniture to help lift some of the weight off. If that’s too intense, try putting a pillow behind your knees. If that’s still too intense, try the second exercise, which takes one foot at a time. Place the top of the toes on the floor and allow your leg’s weight to create the stretch. Hold onto something for support and to help you find the right amount of weight to put on the foot to create the stretch. You’re looking for something that’s somewhat intense, but that you can hold for 3-4 slow breaths.
Incorporate these into your warm up and you’ll see your stroke become more efficient. Have a safe and strong swim!
