How Effective Is Yoga For Swimmers?

A practice of yoga for swimmers should focus on overall strength and flexibility. It can be stretching the chest, hip flexors, and quads, strengthening the upper back, Developing breathing efficiency, balance, and body awareness as well as decrease the risk of injury.

Regular water exercises, done outside the water, are called “dryland training” which can greatly help with your proper alignment in the pool. It is specifically designed to focus on the needs of swimmers.

How Can Yoga Help Swimmers?

Yoga can be highly beneficial for swimmers, offering a variety of physical and mental benefits that can enhance performance. Here’s how:

Flexibility: Yoga helps to improve flexibility by stretching and lengthening muscles, particularly those in the shoulders, back, hips, and legs. Increased flexibility can enhance swimming performance by improving range of motion and reducing the risk of injuries.

Strength: While swimming is an excellent cardiovascular workout, it may not provide sufficient strength training for all muscle groups. Yoga poses, such as Plank, Downward-Facing Dog, and Warrior poses, can help build strength in the core, arms, shoulders, and legs, improving overall muscular balance and endurance in the water.

Breath Control: Controlled breathing is essential for both yoga and swimming. Yoga teaches breath awareness and control through various breathing techniques (pranayama), which can be applied to swimming to enhance lung capacity, efficiency, and endurance.

Posture and Alignment: Practicing yoga can improve body awareness, posture, and alignment, which can directly translate to better swimming technique and efficiency.

Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation: Yoga can help prevent injuries by strengthening weak areas, improving flexibility, and promoting balance in muscle strength.

When yoga is practiced regularly, it can help swimmers increase their performance in the pool and reduce the risk of injury. Something that every swimmer needs.

Beneficial Poses of Yoga for Swimmers

Both yoga and swimming activities benefit from each other. These are some yoga poses for swimmers that cannot be omitted from the swimming routine.

1. Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward Facing Dog

The Adho Mukha Svanasana is considered to be one of the important asanas that increase the flexibility of the body. It removes stiffness or pain in the spine, shoulders, and body. Stresses relieve headaches and fatigue. Fresh blood flows in the body. Adho Mukha Svanasana is one of the asanas that give full benefit to the swimmer’s body needs.

How to do:

• First of all, sit on your knees by laying yoga mats, keep the heels inside.
• Now, with both hands and feet straight on the ground, make the table position posture keeping the waist straight.
• After this, move both the legs backward one by one and keep both the heel on the ground.
• Keep the knees and feet straight.
• Now move the head back and look at your navel.
• Stayed in this state for a while.
• Now exhale and return to your initial state.

More know about this pose click here: Adho Mukha Svanasana

2. Baddha Konasana – Butterfly Pose – Titli Asana

The practice of Baddha Konasana causes strain in the thighs, knees and back. This asana smoothens the blood circulation in the body and keeps the heart healthy. Apart from this, doing this relieves mental stress, anxiety and depression.

How to do:

• First of all, sit up straight.
• Now bend your knees in such a way that your heel goes in the direction of your pelvis.
• During this time, bring your ankles as close to your pelvis as you can.
• After this, hold the toe with your hands.
• During this time, note that presses the outer edges of your feet on the floor.
• Your pelvis should be exactly the same distance and the perineum should be parallel to the floor.
• During this time, your shoulders and waist should be perfectly straight.
• Now try to touch your thigh bones from the floor.
• Remain in this posture for 1 to 5 minutes.

More know about this pose click here: Butterfly Pose

3. Trikonasana – Triangle Pose

Trikonasana helps us in maintaining the balance of the body. By practicing this, you take too much oxygen in your lungs and the lungs exercise properly.

How to do:

• To do this asana, you stand up straight.
• Now make a distance of 2 feet with both legs.
• After this, slowly raise your hands upwards and raise your arms so that your hands come in the same way as your shoulders.
• The hands should be straight, not up or down.
• Now keep the paws of your left foot straight, rotate your right foot 90 degrees, tilt your body from the waist to the right, try to touch your right heel with the right hand.
• Stay in this position for at least 30 seconds.
• Repeat this left side.

More know about this pose click here: Trikonasana

4. Vajrasana – Thunderbolt Pose

Vajrasana is a meditative posture for people. By doing this the restlessness of the mind reduces and concentration increases. There is a risk of excessive mental fatigue due to swimming, they must do this asana. This removes mental fatigue and freshens the mood.

How to do:

• First of all, spread both your legs straight forward.
• Now fold the left foot from the knee and place it under the left hip sides.
• Same this, fold the right foot from the knee and place it under the right hip’s sides.
• Join both the toe of the feet from the back.
• After this, keep both hands on the thigh.
• Keep the waist, back, and neck straight and look at the front.
• Keep breathing normally and leave it.

More know about this pose click here: Vajrasana

5. Virasana – Hero Pose

Veer means brave or courageous. This posture displays the valor or heroism of the warrior, hence called Veerasana. It gives strength, valor, courage, endurance, and perseverance to the body. Yoga Shastras and Yogis have praised this asana very much. This asana provides elation, strength, and happiness by eliminating laziness, tiredness, and sleeplessness, hence it is a very beneficial posture for swimming.

How to do:

• First of all, sit on your knees by laying a mat on the ground.
• Now bring your knees close to each other, which will automatically increase the end between your legs.
• Keep in mind that this gap is slightly larger than the width of your hips, and when you sit on the ground, the part of your knees to your toes should be adjacent to the ground.
• Press your feet down on the floor and lower your hips.
• You will see that your hips are sitting on the floor and your feet are touching the hips from the side.
• When you rest the hips on the floor, pay special attention to the fact that there should be no sharp movements or sensations in the knees while sitting down. If this happens, stop the practice, and avoid posture.
• Now put both your palms on your knees and try to focus your attention on the navel.
• In this state, remain at least 30 to 40 seconds, increase the time duration to 2 to 3 minutes by regular practice.

More know about this pose click here: Virasana

6. Setu Bandhasana – Bridge Pose

The Sethu Bandha Yogasana described in Hatha Yoga is a simple Yoga mudra. It is a very beneficial asana for strengthening the spine and waist. Blood circulation flows smoothly through its practice daily. This yoga pose reduces fat from the neck muscles, works on the expansion of the lungs, and calms the brain and central nervous system which helps reduce stress and mild depression. One of the best-known yoga for Asthama and yoga for Lungs problems.

How to do:

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet together.
• keep your arms alongside the body and palms on the ground. 
• Now exhale and lift your hips towards the ceiling while keeping your palms and feet on the floor.
• Now slowly move your hands above your head while inhaling.
• Remain in this pose for about 30-60 seconds and inhale normally.

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More know about this pose click here: Setu Bandhasana

7. Savasana – Corpse Pose

It recommends that Savasana practice the end of yoga sessions to relax the whole body. This body posture is the same as the corpse so this also called the corpse pose. It is a relaxing posture and enlightens the body, mind, and soul.

How to do:

• Lie flat on your back on the floor.
• Keeping the palms up, keep the hands slightly away from the thighs.
• Pull the legs out Keep your eyes closed.
• Keep both feet away.
• Breathe slowly from the lyrical but natural.
• Leave each body part loose and the brain relaxed.
• Focus on breath, soul, and God.
• Meditate for a few minutes.

More know about this pose click here: Savasana

Conclusion

Yoga helps all the swimming and dryland training to be physically or psychologically prepared. Regular practice of yoga for swimmers is challenging. Yoga definitely ensures the safety of the swimmer.