Hi and welcome to this week’s stretch-of-the-week. This week we are continuing with the sports with Swimming. Living in Australia, being surrounded by water swimming is a large aspect of our lives. Swimming is a highly active sport that involved the entire body and it is important to stretch the main muscle groups before training. Swimming is an aerobic sport and muscle need to constantly be supplied with oxygen and we all know when improves oxygen supply and circulation…stretching regularly.

There are a number of major muscle groups involved with swimming, these include abdominals, biceps and triceps, gluteals, hamstrings and quadriceps. Obviously there is no way we can provide you with stretches for each of these muscle group but we have provided four to get you started that you may not have thought of.

These two stretches go hand in hand with each other and affectively stretch the calves and Achilles. For both you need to stand on a step or raised object and let your heel drop towards the ground. The only difference is to stretch your Achilles you slightly bend your knee of the stretching leg.

This stretch targets the back and rotators through the trunk of your body and is important to remember for good rotation and reach through the water. To do this stretch make sure your feet are shoulder width apart and when you rotate your hips stay as still as possible to get the best stretch.

This stretch affects the biceps and deltoid muscle which are important especially if doing butterfly. It also opens out your chest and can help with chest expansion and breathing. To do this stretch hold your hand together behind you back and try to raise them. If you feel any pain please stop immediately.

The triceps are involved in the flexion at the shoulder and bend at the elbow which is important for an efficient freestyle stroke. To do this stretch the stretcher should be prone with their head turned to the side. They need to flex their shoulder and elbow so their hand is as close to their scapula that is comfortable and pain free. Make sure to keep their arm close to their ear for the optimal stretching starting position. The partner should place their hand on the posterior of the stretchers elbow (underneath it) and the stretcher should begin to push against the partners hand. After this push the stretcher then relaxes and inhales deeply. On the exhale the stretcher should reach further down their back, remembering to keep their arm close to their ear.

Obviously we could not include every stretch required for this sport instead this blog will aimed to cover the main stretches used and maybe a few you may not have thought of previously. Please remember to follow the safe stretching tips we have given you in the previous blog as well as the individual safety tips for static and PNF stretching.