Australian swimming champion Cate Campbell shares with us her favourite pre-swim mobility exercises.
The following drills focus on thoracic mobility – which is the most important thing she focuses on in her pre-swim routine.
The ‘Starfish Barbie’
“This drill focuses on thoracic rotation. I like to call it the “Starfish Barbie”.”
Top tips:
- try and bend from the hips.
- if your hip flexors and/or hamstrings are tight (mine always are) your quads might want to switch on, try and keep them relaxed.
- Inhale on the first rotation and exhale to come back to the centre.
- It should feel like you have a broomstick running across your shoulders and down your arms keeping them straight at all times.
- If you can’t reach your foot, just lean as far down your leg as you can.
Do about 8-10 rotations in total or until you feel like the movement is a bit easier.
Thread the needle into the rabbit hole.
“In this exercise I am kneeling on all fours, I lift one hand up to the ceiling then slide it through along the ground across my body. I do this a few times, then a thread my arm in between my legs, grab hold of my opposite ankle for a big side stretch.”
