The importance of work “out of the pool”

Find out why so-called “dryland” training is important for all swimmers, even amateurs and beginners!

Training out of the pool seems to be UNHEARD OF! Stretching and injury prevention exercises seem to be getting very ‘bad press’ and to actually see an amateur doing exercises out of the pool after their “training” session is always a surprising sight…often provoking ridicule.

“Have you seen that guy….. he is really crazy”, is what people seem to be thinking, judging by the expression on their faces.

Joint mobility, core stability and stretching exercises are increasingly seen as a waste of energy and useless for a swimmer: nothing could be more wrong!

Once again you need good body control to perform these exercises properly.

The more control you have over your movements, the more effective the exercises will be.

Your shoulders are your most “delicate” and complicated joints to “get moving” and warm up. So, stretching exercises, like, for example, all kinds of alternating, simultaneous crossover, forwards and backwards shoulder rotations, are part of an important series of dynamic movements to be performed slowly at first and then more vigorously.

In addition to shoulder exercises, there are other less specific movements to get your arms and upper body “going”.

Core stability exercises are designed to “warm up your muscles and getting them moving properly” and, also, to give you better control over and strengthen your entire body.

Of course, even the simplest exercises like arm rotations must be performed properly to avoid any minor tweaks or incorrect movements that might lead to more serious injuries that are harder to heal. I always recommend consulting an expert, who will teach you how to perform the various exercises properly

Shortly, we will be looking at a set of specific exercises….. not to be missed!