April 7, 2016 – Invictus Athlete

Swimming Technique and Active Recovery Session
Swimming workouts designed by Heidi Fearon
A.
I.
4 Minutes of Hip Flexor Mobility of Your Choice
4 Minutes of Anterior Shoulder Mobility of Your Choice
4 Minutes of Quad Mobility of Your Choice
4 Minutes of Lat & Subscap Mobility of Your Choice

Focus on relaxed breathing throughout these mobility drills. If you cannot breathe properly, the stretch is too intense and you need to back off to the place where you can maintain a rhythmic breathing pattern.

II.
Warm-Up Technique Drills

Four sets of:
25 Meter Finger Tip Drag
(FTD: Drag your fingertips along the surface of the water as you recover. This drill encourages high elbows.)
Rest 20 seconds between each 25 Meter efforts

Four sets of:
25 Meter Breathe Every Stroke
(Breathe every stroke – both sides – and pause for a count of 3 seconds on each side of your body before rolling to the other side)
Rest 20 seconds between each 25 Meter efforts

Challenging Sets!!!

(Beginner swimmers may consider cutting the following EMOMS in half.)

Every minute, on the minute, for 4 minutes:
Swim 50 Meters
(work on stabilizing your stroke count for each set)

Immediately followed by…

Every two minutes, for 10 minutes (5 sets):
Swim 100 Meters

Immediately followed by…

Every minute, on the minute, for 4 minutes:
Swim 50 Meters
(work on stabilizing your stroke count for each set)

Rest a bit, and then cool down with…

Every minute, on the minute, for 4 minutes:
25 Meter Swim
(focus on tucked chin and rotation of head to breathe – one goggle in the water, one goggle out)

B.
Mobility and Maintenance
* Choose 1-2 Thoracic Mobility Drills from Kelly Starrett’s Mobility WOD and spend 5-10 minutes with them.
* Choose 2-3 Lower Body Mobility Drills from Kelly Starrett’s Mobility WOD and spend 10-12 minutes with them.
* Choose 1-2 Upper Extremity Mobility Drills from Kelly Starrett’s Mobility WOD and spend 5-10 minutes with them.
– AND/OR –
* Body work from a licensed body worker (ART, Graston, acupuncture, etc…)

C.
Inflammation Maintenance
* This could be a lot of things, but think in terms of compression (we love the NormaTec units at Invictus), electrical muscle stimulation (Compex or Marc Pro), contrast baths, salt baths, castor oil packs, etc….

D.
Nutrition Preparation
* Ensure that you have quality foods prepared in the appropriate quantities to fuel your efforts for the remainder of the week.

E.
Mental Restoration
* Different for everyone – could be meditation or could be gathering with friends; the key is to engage in activities that make your life full and help you recharge your batteries.