Daily Stretches for Swimmers #theraceclub

When I arrived to college my freshman year, I was by far the most immobile swimmer on our team. This limited my ability to jump higher, turn faster, kick harder, and many more movements. By adding a daily stretching routine, I immediately saw the results of staying consistent with these actions! Below are some of our favorite exercises we encourage swimmers to do daily.

1) Freestyle squat - sit on your feet with your feet and bring the knees up to the sky. This helps improve ankle plantarflexion, which is crucial for kick speed.
2) Freestyle squat pushup - this is very similar to a downward dog yoga movement; however, we are now on top of our feet emphasizing a stretch in our ankles while also dynamically warming up the hamstrings.
3) Shoulder external rotation - by lying on our side and bringing the opposite arm over top of our body, we let gravity push down on our top arm and feel a deep stretch in the shoulder we are lying on. This is one of my current favorites.
4) Overhead band stretch - you can use a warm up band, a towel, or even a PVC pipe to do this stretch. Bring the arms up and over the body while keeping our arms straight. Bring the hands closer into our body for more of a challenge, and further away to make it easier.

What are some of the daily routines you do?