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Warm muscles

Share your warm-up moves and get ready to take to the water.

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You’ll need

  • Access to water suitable for swimming

Get ready to warm up

  1. Everyone should form a circle, with room to move around freely. Be aware of other people using the space.
  2. One person should lead the group through a set of stretches that gently warm up muscles around the whole body. Hold stretches for at least 10 seconds.

Raise your heart rate

  1. Everyone should do some more active moves, including lunges, front crawl arms and jogging on the spot. Think about moves that will be useful for swimming.
  2. Gradually increase the intensity of the warm-up, changing the moves frequently, to raise everyone’s heart rate.
  3. Finish with some more stretches after around five minutes of warming up. Now everyone should be ready to go swimming.

During the swimming session

  1. Everyone should warm up in the water as well, starting with gentle swimming and gradually increasing their speed.
  2. At the end of the swimming session, warm down by gradually slowing your pace.
  3. Everyone should stretch their muscles soon after they get out of the water, because stretching warm muscles is more effective.

Reflection

This activity is about preparing the body to be physically active by doing a good warm-up and cool-down. Why is warming up important? What might happen if you don't warm up before swimming? (You could get cramp and struggle in the water, or pull a muscle.)

This activity is also about personal wellbeing, and making sure you’re ready to go swimming. How could a warm-up help if you’re feeling a bit nervous about swimming? Why is it important to warm up your whole body, and not just one part?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Near water

Manage groups carefully when near water. The guidance on activities near water will help you to keep your group safe.

Water games and activities

Be careful when doing activities with, in, or near water. Check surfaces and reduce the risk of slipping where possible. Make sure you have appropriate supervision for this activity.

Prepare some set warm-up exercises beforehand, or give everyone preparation time to come up with their own warm-up moves.

Make sure there are a good range of warm-up moves so that everyone can join in. Remind everyone to not go beyond their ability when warming up, as they could injure themselves.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Swimmer Stage 1