Why Do We Warm Up?

This is one question which coaches are very rarely asked, yet the warm up is a vital part of any sport and not just swimming.

The reasons we warm up are as follows:

• to gradually increase heart rate
• to raise core and muscle temperature
• to speed up energy production in the muscles
• to increase blood flow to and within the muscles
• to reduce muscle soreness and risk of injury
• to assist in focusing on the task at hand

At competitions the warm up is not for practising starts and turns.  If you need to then really it is too late and you have not been doing enough practice during training sessions.

I have seen too many swimmers get in for a warm up at a competition, get out after 4 or 8 lengths saying that they have warmed up, and then wonder why they then do a bad swim.

The reason for the bad swim was that their body was not ready to swim fast. To swim fast your muscles require an energy source. This energy source is created in the muscles and is fed by the blood flowing around your body. If your muscles are cold they will produce the energy very slowly but when your muscles and body temperature is warmer the energy production in the muscles happens much, much quicker.  In order to supply your muscles the heart has to pump blood around much more quickly and if the heart rate has been raised moderately before the all out effort swim it will perform it’s duties much better.

Once you have warmed up, especially for a competition, you must keep your body warm.  This means changing into a dry costume or trunks and making sure you put on a DRY Halesowen T-shirt, track suit trousers, sock’s and trainers.  In the winter a Halesowen sweat shirt will be very useful as well.

I am always having to tell swimmers on the pool side to get their T-shirts on and the response I get is that swimmers say they are too warm.  Yes they may feel warm but, on the poolside with only a wet costume or trucks on, the body core temperature will cool down very, very quickly making you too cold to race well.

One other important factor at a competition is when you have finished your warm up and have changed in to DRY clothes make sure you keep on drinking.

In the warm up remember to swim as far as you can at a moderate pace, not as fast as you can.  Don’t stop just keep on swimming.  Avoid breastroke and butterfly to start with.