Benefits of Yoga

Are you looking to reduce stress and increase flexibility? Yoga has many great health benefits that can not only relax you, but also strengthen you. If you’re looking to touch your toes, it’s good for that too!

Flexibility

Yoga is primarily the stretching of the muscles. Yoga uses many different positions to lengthen your limbs and muscles. Some may even begin to feel benefits immediately! After 8 weeks of yoga, you can expect to have increased flexibility up to 35%.

Strength

If you aren’t familiar with yoga, you may feel like it wouldn’t exert much energy. Shockingly, yoga is very physical and can help you improve your muscle tone. In yoga you must hold different positions for several long breaths. This often requires strong quads, hamstrings, back and core.

Posture

With a stronger back and core, you will be sitting and standing straighter in no time! With so many different yoga positions, you become more aware of your body. You may quickly notice you are slouching and adjust your posture.

Health

Yoga can be very beneficial for your health. It has been known to lower blood pressure as well as slowing the heart rate. By focusing on your breathing during yoga, it can help calm you to feel more relaxed. On top of this, yoga has also been linked to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

5 Tips for Training Recovery

With high-volume training, it’s normal for athletes to feel fatigued and dilapidated. Athletes often jump right into this type of training at the beginning of the season instead of gradually. All athletes need to include proper recovery into their routines for optimal performance throughout the season. Better recovery equals better practices equals more wins! Let’s get started –

1.       More water! No, not the chlorinated kind! Be sure you are drinking enough water each and every day. When you don’t drink enough water your body functions begin to slow down. To learn more on dehydration and how it affects your body, click here!

2.       Go to bed. Getting to sleep and getting the correct amount of sleep each night is more important than you know. When your body is at rest that is when your muscles grow and recover best. Aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep and you’ll definitely see a difference! Have trouble winding down? These tips can help!

3.       Refuel! If you are training hard, you are exerting a lot of energy leaving your body yearning for nutrients. It’s been said that you should refuel your body within 30 minutes of your training with a combination of carbohydrates and protein.

4.       Ice Baths. Every athlete’s favorite! Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit! Similar to using ice packs for injured joints, an ice bath takes it to a whole other level. By emerging yourself into a cold ice bath, your whole body benefits! With an activity like swimming, your whole body is fatigued which is why an ice bath is helpful. Try an ice bath post-workout and see how well you recover.

5.       Stretching. Stretching is one of the most important things you should be doing if you live an active lifestyle. Stretching and foam rolling keep you nimble, flexible, and resistant to injury. Save stretching for the end of your training when your muscles are still warm. This also keeps your muscles loose, versus tight, which aids in recovery. Still wondering about the importance of stretching? We go into more detail here.

5 Ways to Sleep Better

As an athlete, you may have a lot of different daily responsibilities which can often put your health to the back burner. Sleep is very important to everyone, but especially athletes. Sleep boosts your mood and can overall benefit your heart, health, weight and more! Sleep also affects your muscle growth and your performance so it’s very important athletes get the right amount of sleep each night. Here are some tips to help –

1.       Go to bed at the same time each night. If you make it routine, your body will adjust- leaving you feeling more refreshed and energized! It may be tempting to switch it up during the weekends, but this will only throw you off come Monday.

2.       Stop using electronics at least an hour before going to sleep. Light from devices such as TVs, cell phones, and tablets suppress melatonin production making it harder for you to ‘shut off.’

3.       Create rituals that help you wind down. Try reading a book before bed, or listening to one on tape. If you need help relaxing, try taking a warm bath or stretching. These are all good habits to have and they can aid in a good night’s rest.

4.       Avoid Caffeine. In today’s world, caffeine can be found in many different items such as sodas, teas, candy, and even some medications. Caffeine can interfere with your ability to fall asleep so it’s important thing to keep an eye on your intake.

5.       Create a relaxing sleep environment. In order to get the best sleep, make sure your room is dark and quiet. You may be surprised how much impact these small factors can make in terms of sleep quality.

What things do you do before bed? Are you going to try to incorporate any of the tips listed above? Create a system that works for you and begin to see how a good quality night of sleep can improve your mood, body, and health!

Pain During Exercise

 

We know that you LOVE swimming and possibly even water aerobics, but we also know that’s not the only type of training you might be interested in. Whether it’s running or lifting weights that you enjoy, you will probably feel pain at some point. What you must pay attention to is whether it’s a good pain or a bad pain that you are experiencing. Here’s how –

Good pain can be associated with that feeling of hurting to sit down or stand up, walk up or down stairs, etc. If you are feeling these types of pains after a strenuous leg workout, it’s fine! You should be feeling soreness in the places that you targeted during your last workout. If you have a tough workout and you are still suffering soreness after a couple days, you are probably experiencing DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). If this is too much for you, feel free to take a couple days off until you are recovered.

Bad pain is typically felt in sharp bursts and is localized to one part of the body. If you are in the middle of an exercise and you feel a sudden sharp pain, it’s time to stop. This can be a sign that you are doing an exercise improperly and your joints are taking a beating! If you keep experiencing pain in a certain area, it may be a good idea to stop and get it looked at. If you keep working it and things aren’t getting better, listen to your body and take a break.

To avoid pain, you should do a warm-up and cool-down prior to and after exercise. The warmup will help you prepare your body for your workout and the muscles you will be using. Also by including stretching, you will increase your flexibility as well.  It’s very important to listen to your body and know the differences in the pain you are feeling. Once you understand your body better, you will be able to respond accordingly.

Importance of Stretching

Similar to other athletes, swimmers can greatly benefit from regular stretching.  Swimming uses your entire body and with each stroke, you are stretching your limbs as far as you can. It’s important that your body and muscles aren’t tight which may cause injury.

Swimmers often face great pain and injuries to their shoulders. These athletes tend to have tight shoulder rotators which can cause injury to the rotator cuff. When this happens, the ‘ball’ of your shoulder doesn’t stay within its socket. Some swimmers may even face injury to their lower body such as their knees. A common injury is known as breaststroker’s knee which is located on the medial side of the knee causing pain when in certain positions. As these types of injuries can interfere with training and competing, it’s best to take care of yourself before damage is done.

Swimmers who regularly stretch benefit from increased muscle flexibility and improved performance. Flexibility is very important for athletes in order to perform their best. The two most popular types of stretching are static and dynamic. Static stretching takes place when you slowly increase motion until you feel the ‘stretch.’ You would then hold this position for about 20 seconds. Dynamic stretching occurs when you move your muscles in a range of motion similar to the manner it is used in a sport. This is most popular amongst sport teams. It has been shown that completing a stretch 1-3 times for 30 seconds 5 days a week is best. Always remember that stretching a warm muscle is better than stretching a cold muscle.

Here are some exercises to try:

o   Door Frame Stretch

o   Overhead Lat Stretch (Latissimus Dorsi Stretch)

o   Upper Trap Stretch