THEME: Hip Flexor Yoga Poses For Swimmers

AIM: To provide swimmers with poses that stretch the hip flexor. A sedentary lifestyle can lead to tight hip flexors and hip flexor pain, which increases the chance of injury for triathletes. All the poses in this lesson plan help swimmers to build strength and flexibility in their hips.

OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson students should/will be able to:

• Perform a 10 to 30 minute hip flexor focused practice.

• Pick one or more of the hip flexor focused poses to practice.

• Release tight hips (caused by excessive sitting).

• Hold Pigeon Forward Fold (a very deep hip flexor stretch) for 30 seconds.

• Relax at the end of the practice in Supine Butterfly pose, which is a gentle hip stretch.

• Know the other physical areas of focus for swimmers (Arm, Buttocks, Calves, Feet, Hamstrings, Shoulders, and Thighs).

• Choose to spend time sitting at home in Seated Wide Leg Pose (to get a gentle hip stretch), instead of on on the sofa.

• Become aware that sitting is the new smoking (most swimmers have office jobs that involve sitting in front of computers or sitting behind steering wheel. All this "sitting" is creating a body that is predisposed to "injury" which is why it's so important to have a disciplined yoga practice).

• Exhale slowly when going deeper into a pose (This helps to go deeper into a pose and also train for slower exhales when swimming. The trick to exhaling underwater is to do it slowly. Then, as you feel you’re getting ready to come up for air, breathe out at a faster pace, in preparation for your next breath. Avoid exhaling too quickly, however, as this may cause you to gasp for air. Aim for your exhalation period underwater to be twice as long as your inhalation period).