This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week comes from David Swensen, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and assistant coach for the YMCA of the North Shore in Beverly, Mass. Swensen offers some advice on how to stretch before swimming.
Swensen’s Tip:
People used to think stretching was the best thing to do before exercising. What recent research has shown is that static stretching (holding a stretch for 10 seconds or more) is not the best way to prepare your muscles for exercise. It is better to perform light exercise, like calisthenics, to work the muscle through a large range of motion with a low resistance. This increases the temperature of the muscle (that’s why we call it a warm-up), making it more flexible to work more efficiently. Exercises such as arm swings, windmills, squat thrusts and lunges are good examples of dynamic stretching. Traditional static stretching still has a place in your workout. Try it at the end, after your warm-down. Think of it as wringing out your muscles, like you would a wet towel. This wringing actually “squeezes” the lactic acid and other stuff out of your muscles, letting new blood, with oxygen and nutrients, rush to your muscles, starting the recovery process.
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