Counties is finally over for the swimmers of Harlow Penguins, and there was some fantastic swims.🤩They have spent the past few Friday nights focusing on stretching, and foam rolling, getting their bodies ready for competition. We have spent a lot of time working on each muscle group, so they feel confident on using these tools and techniques on their own, whether it be at competitions, at training sessions or at home.
Swimmers spend many hours training hard in and out of the pool, and for swimmers who are serious about getting better in the water they know they have to take exceptional care of their body. So what have you got to do??
Rest!! Omg this is just as important as training!! Getting a good night sleep every night is most defiantly the best recovery tool!!😴
Food – You are what you eat right? Refuel your body the right way!🍗
Finally, my favourite –. Warm up/Cool down This includes using your foam roller!!
Most swimmers come to the clinic complaining of aching shoulders. 🤷♀️Well of course, the amount of reps swimmers do in a session is thousands. Using the foam roller or massage ball on the shoulders/upper body (traps, lats, pecs, biceps) at least twice a week will help keep that uncomfortable tightness and soreness at bay.
Swimmers need to be able to use their full range of motion to make them swim more efficiently. When muscles become excessively tight, it can have an effect on our joints. Whether its our hips and hamstrings giving us the ability to do powerful dolphin kick, or our shoulders and lats to lengthen and reach in our stroke. Using the foam roller to release these tight muscles will help keep good range at the joints!
If you have any questions or would like any more information about how you can improve your performance, please contact me.