Yoga for Swimmers: Top Benefits and Poses

Swimming is growing in popularity. In 2006, approximately 18.22 million people reported swimming for fitness (1). That number has grown to more than 27 million people today. As a yoga teacher, you can help these students by helping them build a yoga routine that supports their athletic pursuits. 

What are the benefits of yoga for swimmers? While there are many, we will discuss four specific ones in this article. They are increased strength, improved lung capacity, enhanced body awareness, and better post-swim recovery.

Yoga for Increased Swimming Strength

Yoga is an effective way to strengthen the entire body. Moving from one yoga pose (also known as an asana) to the next increases muscle strength in a slow and controlled way. Holding these poses places even more tension on the muscle. This increase in strength shows up in their swimming routine.

This type of training is known as dryland training. It consists of strength training outside of the water and helps swimmers improve muscle strength. This elevated strength translates into stronger swim strokes and faster lap times. 

Increasing strength in the upper body via a dedicated yoga practice makes it easier for the arms, chest, and upper back to push through the water. Yoga also builds core strength. The body relies on strong abdominal muscles and hip flexors when practicing yoga. In the water, this translates into a better swimming posture. 

Performing yoga regularly also increases strength in the lower body. Poses that involve a lunge position strengthen the quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Transitioning from one side to the other builds the calves. A stronger lower body means more kicking power. The leg muscles are better able to help the body propel through the water.

Yoga Improves Lung Capacity

Improving swim pace requires learning how to breathe effectively. Proper breathing in swimming involves turning your head to the side to inhale, then exhaling as you continue to power through your stroke. 

The more air you’re able to take into the lungs with each inhale, the longer you can go between breaths. The longer you can go between breaths, the more you can focus on your posture and movement. This equates to faster swim times and better body control.

Research reveals that practicing yoga helps improve lung capacity (2). It does this, in part, by increasing chest wall expansion. When the chest is able to expand fully, the swimmer is able to take more air in. This makes it possible to hold their breath for longer periods of time. 

Yoga also improves lung capacity by increasing the body’s forced expiratory volumes. In simple terms, this means being able to exhale longer before having to breathe in again. This longer exhale period reduces the number of times they have to turn their head to inhale. It becomes less disruptive to a smooth swimming stroke. 

The reason yoga is so beneficial to the lungs is because it too relies on proper breathing techniques. This practice is known formally as pranayama. In yoga, each pose requires that you inhale and exhale at specific times. This builds breath control, which is beneficial to yoga students looking to improve their swimming workout.

Enhanced Body Awareness Through Yoga

Swimming for fun doesn’t require much awareness of the body’s posture or form. But if your yoga students are serious about their water routine, body awareness is critical. Even slight changes in technique or form can net big results in improving lap time.

Yoga centers around developing this type of body awareness. Through each slow and controlled movement, practitioners learn to listen to what their body is saying. They are taught to recognize when their muscles are tense. They become better at realizing how each pose relaxes these muscles. They notice how it elongates their spine or otherwise provides positive body changes.

When yoga is added to a swimmer’s exercise regimen, this enhanced awareness helps the athlete notice minute differences in how their body performs. If something feels off, they know that they need to make a correction. The body provides invaluable feedback that becomes more trusted as they work to improve their water-based routine.

Yoga Helps the Body Recover Post-Swim

Another benefit of yoga for swimmers is that it is restorative. Yoga helps the body recover after a taxing swimming session. Swimming multiple laps can make the muscles tense. If this tension is not released, it can result in decreased flexibility and pain. 

Many yoga poses elongate the muscle, typically for extended periods of time. Yoga also helps elongate the spine. The mountain pose, downward dog, and wheel pose all stretch the spinal column. This helps improve alignment and posture, both inside and outside of the water.

Practicing restorative yoga after a grueling swim also helps restore balance in the mind. During a yoga practice, the muscle is given the opportunity to relax. This enables the mind to slow down and become more present as well. Body and mind work together in one uniform movement.

How to Incorporate Yoga for Swimmers

Helping yoga students create a dedicated yoga practice offers many benefits. As their yoga teacher, how can you incorporate this practice into their current exercise regimen?

The first step is to educate your student as to how practicing yoga can help them become better swimmers. Talk about how breathing techniques learned in yoga improve their ability to hold their breath while they swim. Share how yoga increases muscle strength for a stronger stroke and how it helps the body and mind relax after a taxing swimming session.

Once they understand how yoga can improve their performance, the next step is to create a yoga practice that works with their current exercise program. In some cases, this may involve shortening pool time a bit to fit the yoga in. Another option is to incorporate yoga into their current strength or cardio workouts a couple of times a week. This way, they get its benefits without having to set aside additional exercise time.

Check in with your students regularly to ensure that they’re getting what they want out of their yoga routine. The more they feel that yoga is benefiting their swimming practice, the more likely it is they’ll stick with it long enough to enjoy all of its results.

Tips for Creating an Effective Yoga Sequence

When developing a yoga practice for swimmers, it is beneficial to include poses that specifically support their fitness goals.

For example, if your student wants to use yoga to increase muscle strength, Ashtanga yoga is a good yoga sequence to consider. In Ashtanga yoga, the same poses are used in the same sequence in each workout. This repeated sequence helps build those specific muscles over time. Yoga poses known to build strength include:

• Chair pose (Utkatasana)

• Boat pose (Paripurna Navasana)

• Extended side angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana)

• Dolphin plank pose (Mokara Adho Mukha Svanasana)

• Upward facing dog pose (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)

If your student is more interested in improving their recovery post-swim, poses that elongate the spine and relax the muscles would be more appropriate. Postures that fall into this category are:

• Lizard pose (Utthan Pristhasana)

• Bridge pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

• Reclining bound angle pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)

• Bow pose (Dhanurasana)

• Child’s pose (Balasana)

Additional Yoga Tips for Swimmers

Work with your students to ensure that they’re always using proper form. This helps reduce the likelihood that they’ll injure themselves while performing their yoga practice. For example, when doing a low lunge, their knee should be directly above their ankle. In a yoga plank pose, their shoulder should be directly above their wrist. 

A balanced yoga routine also involves working both sides of the body. If a pose is practiced while leaning to the right with the left arm in the air, the same movement shall be repeated on the other side (leaning to the left with the right arm in the air). This prevents a muscle imbalance, which can negatively impact their swimming routine.

To learn more about how to create an effective yoga practice, ISSA offers Yoga 200, a Yoga Alliance approved yoga teacher training course. This course teaches the proper form for each yoga posture. It also discusses how to create a yoga sequence for students based on their current fitness level. Sign up today and help your clients gain the many benefits that yoga provides.

References

1. Published by Statista Research Department, & 8, D. (2022, December 8). U.S. Americans who did swimming 2021. Statista. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/191621/participants-in-swimming-in-the-us-since-2006 

2. Mane, A. B., Paul, C. N., & Vedala, S. R. (2014). Pulmonary functions in yogic and sedentary population. International Journal of Yoga, 7(2), 155. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-6131.133904