A GOOD START FOR SWIMMERS — STRETCHES BEFORE TRAINING

Take advantage of those spare minutes before training!

The training session starts at 8 pm but at least a quarter you're already in the pool and you don't know what to do in that time. Instead of staring, why don't you start getting your body ready? You may think, "Okay, the warm-up is already included at the beginning of the routine." True, but there is the possibility of using those first minutes as a warm-up and today we are going to see why and how we can get the most out of them.

The “why” is very easy. The most useful thing about a warm-up is that you will feel good immediately when you enter the water, instead of swimming the first few minutes with aches and pains everywhere. In addition, it helps prevent injuries and provides other added benefits such as improving the flexibility of muscles and joints with Lifeguard Training.

Let's move on to the "how" . For your studies, or for work, it is very likely that you have spent the entire day in a chair. So the “how” should include a routine that activates and loosens up muscles and joints. That is why the exercises do not consist of holding the position for 30” or more (what is known, by definition, as static stretches). Instead, these other exercises are preferred, which we refer to as dynamic stretches, in which the speed of movement and the extension of the joints are progressively increased.

Here's a routine for a full head-to-toe warm-up.

– Neck extension and flexion: flex and extend your neck at a controlled rate (the same movement as when you nod your head). Perfect for heating the cervical area.

– Rotations of the arm forwards and backwards: to warm up the shoulders, extend your arm and make a rotation movement first forwards and then backwards. Repeat the exercise with both arms at the same time.

– Hip rotations: describe increasingly wide circles with your hips (as if you were spinning a hoop) to warm up the joints in the area.

– Stride forwards and backwards: to work in a straight line and to the sides, stride forwards and backwards, or from left to right and from right to left. Keep your leg muscles tight and try to stretch your joints as much as you can.