7 reasons yoga can take your swimming to another level
1. IMPROVES MOBILITY
The flexibility offered by yoga is one of the main reasons that swimmers and other athletes include it in their gymnastics. Yoga can offer a great range of motion. But elasticity is not always helpful. Many athletes sacrifice their balance in order to increase their flexibility. This leaves the joints vulnerable to injury. For this reason, it is better to prefer mobility than flexibility. Mobility plays a very important role in learning swimming technique and moving with ease in the water.
2. INCREASE STRENGTH
Power is very important, because it plays a primary role in creating thrust through the water. It also enhances the development in the technical part and reduces the risk of injuries. To move effectively in the water you need to strengthen many muscles in your body, but also ensure that all these muscles work together. Yoga is ideal when you want to aim at strengthening specific muscle groups, but also at creating closer bonds between them.
3. IT HELPS YOU DISCOVER YOUR BODY
A yoga class specifically for swimmers helps you connect to the present through movement and breath. This connection allows you to hear your body more clearly. This way you understand better how your body moves according to the sensations you feel. Some other areas that yoga will help you become aware of about your body are:
-BALANCE: To stay stable you must first listen to your body and make some small or big changes. The same goes for swimming.
– BODY SCAN: One of the fundamental exercises of yoga. You focus your attention on different parts of your body from head to toe and notice how you feel during the workout. Then you change exercise and do the same observing your body's reactions.
-OBSERVING THE CHANGES: Noticing how the different poses make each part of your body feel different, you notice how many small changes can happen both while moving and while still.
4. IT TEACHES YOU TO WORK WITH YOUR BREATHING
Swimming is one of the few sports where you can't breathe at will. A specially designed yoga class offers you this possibility by helping you control your breathing more correctly. By combining breathing and movement you manage to perform better in the pool.
5. REDUCES RECOVERY TIME
Allowing the body to recover after a hard workout is critical for athletes. Yoga achieves this because: it activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System (the arm of the autonomic nervous system), reduces stress, relaxes muscle spasms and improves sleep.
6. HELPS REDUCE INJURIES
When your body is not well balanced, it is vulnerable to injury. A yoga program can create better balance that will prevent injuries and support your joints.
7. ACTURENS SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Something admirable about yoga is that it strengthens the spirit alongside the body by enhancing: self-awareness, relaxation, inner dialogue and sharpening of concentration.
7 reasons that yoga
Saltamanikas Nikolas
TEFAA graduate, swimming specialty
Class A swimming coach
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