Warming up, before the warmup?

I do dynamic stretching before my workout (examples below) and yoga and static stretching (stretch and hold) after each workout. My 15-minute dynamic stretching includes 10 reps of each of the following: 1. Start with small arm circles and gradually get bigger and bigger. Reverse direction and repeat. 2. Swing my arms back and forth (across my body), gradually increasing the range of motion. 3. Streamline stretches where my arms start in a "goal post" formation and go up above my head to where my arms straighten and my hands overlap. Bring back to goal post position. Repeat. 4. In the streamline formation, do side bends back and forth in a continual motion. 5. Start with goal post formation and bring arms together in front of you to where the elbows and forearms touch. Bring them back to goal post formation. Do these in continual motion. 6. Bring your arms behind your back with elbows bent and the back of your hands on each side of your lower back. Bring elbows towards each other and then back out again. Repeat in continual motion. 7. Bring your neck towards your chest. Rotate your neck and head the left with your neck bent, and then to the right. Continue back and forth in half-circles. 8. Bend over with knees slightly bent and hands resting on knees. Relax your back into a curve, and then reverse the curve. Continue back and forth from "sway back" to "hump back." 9. Stand next to a railing and hold the railing with your left hand for balance. Now, swing your right leg forward and back. Swing your right arm in the opposite direction. Repeat for the ten reps., and then switch sides. 10. Now, while hanging on to the railing, do leg circles without bending your knee. Repeat for each leg. 11. Stand with on leg straight and the other one bent out to the side with your foot resting on the inside of the straight leg. Rotate your bent leg to the front, and then back to the side with your foot still on the inside of the straight leg. 12. Do ankle and wrist circles in each direction. I made up my routine years ago, and these are the exercises I found worked best for me to prepare my body-- especially my joints-- for the pool.

Thank you Elaine! Those sound like the sort of thing I was thinking of doing. I think I found one of the Fitness Blender people's stretching routines that has nearly just these moves. I adore doing Yoga on active rest days!

Thank you Elaine! Those sound like the sort of thing I was thinking of doing. I think I found one of the Fitness Blender people's stretching routines that has nearly just these moves. I adore doing Yoga on active rest days! If you have a link, will you post it here? I'm sure there are others who would also like to see the routine you found. I'm sure it's better written than what I attempted above! What I wrote makes sense to me; however, I am not sure others will visualize the routine the way I intended in my descriptions. Besides, they probably have better ones than some of the exercises I made up for myself. P.S. You're welcome! :chug:

Ah, Elaine! I am sorry to say the Fitness Blender search engine is not too helpful. I've mentioned their workouts to friends before, and then when they want to know a specific one, I can't find it again (there are quite literally HUNDREDS of workouts they've put up). Here is a link to A stretching workout. I am pretty sure this is NOT the workout I am remembering! But if I can find it in my YT history later, I'll update this post! www.youtube.com/watch In case the link doesn't work, a YouTube search should work if you search " Upper Body Active Stretch Workout - Arms, Shoulder, Chest, and Back Stretching Exercises" Oh! This might be the workout that I specifically was remembering doing! https://youtu.be/P8DOZRtIIEQ It says it's a cool down, but as someone comments, it "feels" more workout-like. But not by so much that it's tiring! No affiliation between me and Fitness Blender, by the way, although I admit I'm a frequent user of their stuff.

I guess I don't understand the need to do other types of stretching before a workout. You would understand it if you had my 55-year old body with the physical issues I had (mostly congenital)! Believe me, I have tried it your way several times, and those were the most miserable times I have had in the pool. In addition, as a breaststroker and flyer, between the breaststroke kick and fly pull, not warming up the way I do is a recipe for disaster. I must be very warmed up before I attempt either one, and the exercises I listed in my previous post go a long way to getting me there. I then swim a warm up of 500 free, gradually getting faster on each 100, followed by 8x50 of odds pull/ evens kick, IM order. The older you get, the more warm up you will need to get the synovial fluid working in your joints. Keep this in mind as you age.

I was going to say I guess the only way to know for sure is try it both ways: use a pre-swim routine such as Elaine described, and also try a gradual swimming only warmup and see which one results in better results in the pool.

One exercise that has worked for me is to go on a walk or light jog right before the swim, making sure I've had enough to eat beforehand and I'm hydrating with water or an electrolyte drink frequently as I warm up. It's a really gentle exercise that helps me move without spending energy I need to swim and unlike static stretching you won't risk pulling a muscle or feeling tight. I take a 10 or 15min break after the walk and then go into my warm up swim and main sets immediately after. I read somewhere that in order to improve swimming technique and endurance, you must be swimming, but in regards to just warming your body up in preparation for a swim, it doesn't matter what type of light exercise you do. I've also noticed walking is a great motivator when I'm doing solo workouts because I end up at the gym a good half hour early for the sake of getting the walk in, and therefore if I'm running late one day it comes out of the walk not my actual time I have set for swimming, which is the part that really matters.

My shoulders hurt too if I don't warm up before I get in the pool... also my neck and back needs to get loosened up before doing a flip turn. I'm only in my mid-30s. I'm in such a hurry to start swimming especially when the water feels chilly that I want to take off right away.

I think a lot of people out there swim too hard in their warm up or push the set distances too long. I strive for lots of variety in a swim warm up and find short easy repeats work better to get the kinks out than a longer interval of straight freestyle (although I will do both). Don’t be afraid to do 50’s or even 25’s as you start moving. Easy 25’s, not hard ones. I also like 75’s of 25kick, 25Drill, 25Swim during warm up. Keeps things changing and moving so you’re not stuck in one swim motion too long and you might have better results warming up in the pool.

The older you get, the more warm up you will need to get the synovial fluid working in your joints. Keep this in mind as you age. And, take it from me as well -- I'm even older than Elaine. Warmup movements help me in other types of fitness activities. I have not been doing anything before I get in and swim, but, I want to try some stretching and walking because I suspect it will help, among other things, to work out my trouble with breathing. I think getting warmed up affects how my body uses oxygen. So, it isn't (all) about just muscles getting unkinked.