Helen Walker is a physiotherapist at Physio4Athletes and has worked on Australian Swim Teams. Helen has been doing musculoskeletal screenings with a number of my swimmers. It tests flexibility and strength in the parts of the body which are important for swimming. I recommend all swimmers have this done to help prevent injury and improve your ability to swim faster.

1:00 – Doctor, I need a check up.
2:10 – Musculoskeletal screening for athletes, what is it about?
2:30 – Traveling with the Australian swim team
2:41 – Posture, flexibility, strength
4:30 – Increase your flexibility, improve your freestyle.
4:58 – A broader view of how the body is moving…
5:15 – Musculoskeletal Screening should be done once a year.
5:55 – Dynamic Strength Testing
6:40 – The one test that all elite swimmers are good at
7:30 – Combined Elevation Test 101
8:53 – How do you increase flexibility?
9:40 – Foam rollers
10:30 – Which swimmers are more at risk to develop shoulder pain?
12:30 – Coming back from injury
13:10 – “It is important when a swimmer has shoulder pain.”
14:14 – Not all physios are the same.
15:30 – Stay in the water
18:00 – Some people are naturally tighter than others.
18:48 – The 6-8 week rule
20:19 – Stretching is controversial

Helen is available for screenings and can be contacted at www.physio4athletes.com.

If you’re a swimmer or a triathlete who might have some niggling issues in the pool, with your shoulders or your body, I highly recommend getting a screening done because it will show where you need to improve your strengthen and flexibility. It does make a big difference. It’s not always immediate. It does take time to improve these things but if you’re in the sport for the long haul then it’s definitely worthwhile.

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