Stretching. A thread about (or in search of) stretches.
Former Member
I don't stretch at all, other than the odd ankle or arm stretch here and there. I suppose one of the reasons is because I haven't bothered yet to make it a routine and another reason is... I don't know very many stretches!
More and more I'm starting to hunch over and my shoulders are rolling forward. I caught myself in a distant profile reflection recently and noticed my neck seems to be protruding forwards. Surely I need to stretch my torso, especially as I develop more and more muscle in that area. Plus, my legs! At one point a few weeks ago they got ridiculously sore and my assistant coach told me I need to do every stretch for legs I know. But I don't know any!
There was a period earlier this year where my height (which I check religiously every morning, afternoon, and evening) was always about 6'2.5 halfway through the day... now I'm 6'2 barely a half an hour after I've gotten out of bed (after a full night's sleep, too). For someone as height-obsessed as I am, this is a disturbing downtrend. I'm thinking this might be explained by a combination of developing muscles and a huge deficit of stretching.
I don't have any meets coming up until after the New Year. This will be a good time to start stretching. Does anyone here have a routine stretching regimen? What kind of stretches do you do? What can you recommend to me?
Thanks in advance.
Parents
Former Member
Complete Conditioning for Swimming, by David Salo and Scott Riewald. Book and DVD. I like it.
Seconded. Very useful.
Remember to stretch after your workout. It's not a good idea to stretch muscles that aren't warmed up. Also, stretching during your workout (after warmup) will help get better results from your strength training.
But the best thing you can do for your posture is to strengthen your back, especially shoulder blades. Doing that will actually pull your neck up and your shoulders back.
Worked wonders for me, anyway.
ETA: "Thirded", I reckon.
Complete Conditioning for Swimming, by David Salo and Scott Riewald. Book and DVD. I like it.
Seconded. Very useful.
Remember to stretch after your workout. It's not a good idea to stretch muscles that aren't warmed up. Also, stretching during your workout (after warmup) will help get better results from your strength training.
But the best thing you can do for your posture is to strengthen your back, especially shoulder blades. Doing that will actually pull your neck up and your shoulders back.
Worked wonders for me, anyway.
ETA: "Thirded", I reckon.