Swimming and Stretching
Swimming is a great low impact cardio workout. Even though the buoyancy of the water makes swimming gentle on joints and muscles, stretching is still important for swimmers to help maintain the maximum range of motion and flexibility for the swimming strokes. Stretching can help to minimize injuries and muscle imbalances as well as increase your endurance in the sport.
Muscles used for Swimming
The strokes that are used in swimming make use of different muscles throughout the body. Every stroke involves the arms and shoulders and is an important area to focus on for stretching and warming up. The legs and glutes create the kick that propels you through the water and are used in treading water when taking a break. The back is also important. In front crawl and backstroke the side-to-side rotations use the back muscles to facilitate the movement.
The four strokes that are often used are the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and front crawl/freestyle. Core Concepts lays out the primary muscles used for all strokes as: the pectorals, the anterior deltoid and posterior deltoid, which are muscles around the shoulders, the serratus anterior, which is the muscle over the rib cage along the side of the chest, the latissimus dorsi which is the muscle on the back, and triceps, hip stabilisers, hamstrings, quads and the glutes. These are all important areas to focus on stretching after a workout. Secondary muscles used include the biceps, abs and calf muscles.
Swimming and Warming Up and Cool Down
In swimming it is important to ensure that you prepare your body for the exercise by warming up. Stretching can play an important role in the swim warm up, especially when dynamic stretching is used. Often it is beneficial to warm up with a few easy laps, to get your body moving and blood flowing, before getting into some stretching exercises. Because there is a large use of shoulders in swimming, while warming up it can be beneficial to concentrate on relaxing the joints and gliding through the strokes. Stretching after swimming helps to reduce soreness from the work out.
Benefits of Stretching
For swimming, many benefits to stretching can be seen. Stretching helps to increase flexibility. This will help improve range of motion on strokes which can make the strokes more efficient in the water. Stretching can also decrease chances of injury because it helps maintain muscles that are strong and flexible, allowing muscles to extend all the way more easily to avoid injury. Posture can be improved by stretching which strengthens the back muscles that are used in swimming and encourages proper alignment. Stretching also helps with your breathing. Dynamic stretching before a workout can start your breathing and help prepare your lungs and heart for the exercise you are about to do. This can increase the amount of time you are able to exercise because your heart and lungs were eased into the workout and properly prepared for it. It can also help your breathing slow down after a swim.
Stretch Therapy for Swimmers
Starting to stretch can be daunting and can even lead to injury. Stretch therapy would aid swimmers who are new to stretching by having a stretch therapist instruct them on proper form and help them experience an effective and healthy stretch. Attending an assisted stretching session can also help with keeping a consistent stretching routine. Having a stretch therapist perform the stretch also helps to ensure that you are getting the most out of stretching.
Sources:
https://www.swimoutlet.com/guides/stretches-for-swimming
https://www.swimming.org/justswim/guide-stretching-warming/
https://www.dolphinacademy.co.uk/important-stretch-swimming/
https://www.coreconcepts.com.sg/article/more-essential-stretches-for-swimmers/