WARM UP WARM DOWN

How important is the warm up and warm down time during a swim meet?  There are probably a million opinions out there and I believe that sometimes the swimmer athlete tends to listen to the one that offers the easiest path as opposed to the one that leads to healthy success.  Why do we bring this up you may wonder?  At  the IMX meet this past weekend I had a lot of spare time on my hands so I had time to observe a lot of different characteristics.  I was amazed to see the number of swimmers who got out after their last race, grab their bags and head out.

As coaches we hear a lot of things from our athletes such as I'm tight, tired or sore, and I just wonder how much of that could be prevented.  

Battle the stiffness and muscle fatigue by ensuring your muscles are warm pre-race and then take the time to cool down post-racing.  If you don't warm up, you risk pulling muscles or just feeling like a stiff board.  If you skip  cool down you will likely feel your muscles start to tighten and become sore.  It also does not help if you don't keep those muscles covered up before your events.  You are going to ask them to do a lot for you during the race, be nice to them and put them in a position to respond for you when you call 

A good example of this was when I was at the national championship game.  A Clemson player had just made a long run for a touchdown after an interception.  You would think a celebration was coming, but no this player headed straight to the bike and started peddling and did so until he went back on the field.  Why? Because he knew he had to be in a position to be successful.

FEED BUBBA not Matt!  Set yourself up for success and do the right things!