Back in the water after 43 years

[Sam]

Hi all,

After a lifelong of distractions, I am back to swimming. I have access to a 50-meter pool, as well as clean lake water (thank you, Switzerland!). My 1500 meter time is around 38 minutes, but I would like to pare that down. My biggest issue is tight shoulders. Any suggestions on freestyle-specific stretches to help loosen up?

Thanks, and happy summer (for those in the northern hemisphere.

[Juniper]

Loosening up those tight shoulders is one of the best first steps towards improving your freestyle swimming. Try some shoulder rotation stretches and a few bent arm hang stretches. Side-to-side and up-and-down stretches, and neck rotations can help too. These types of exercises focus on increasing the range of motion of your shoulder joints, which will certainly help you out in the pool. Some of my favorite stretches to keep my shoulders limber are shoulder circles, arm reachbacks, and arm cross reachovers.

[Juniper]

It sounds like you have a great setup, and I’m sure your new focus will help you reach those swimming goals. For the tight shoulders, you can do some spiderman stretches and shoulder openers. You can also try swimming with fins to help loosen up the muscles. Good luck!

[Juniper]

. Y’know, scapula circles, high/low shoulder pickups, that kind of thing. You should also try doing some arm circles and take breaks between sets. Hope that helps!

[Author]

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