Warming balm and swimming: is it really useful before exercise?
This is a question often heard at the poolside. If you're used to swimming, whether for pleasure, health, or competition, you know that precise moment: the instant you have to dive into the water. Even in a heated pool, the water temperature is almost always lower than your body temperature. This slight thermal shock, this sensation of "freshness" that grabs you, can sometimes tense your muscles from the very first seconds.
In other sports like running or football, the use of warming creams or balms is very common for muscle preparation. But swimming is a unique sport. There's the water, the chlorine, the risk that the product won't stay on the skin or that it will wash off... So, is warming balm a real ally for swimmers or a false good idea?
Article Summary
- The Swimmer's Challenge: Thermal Shock and Water
- Why Do Shoulders and Neck Suffer So Much While Swimming?
- The Real Benefits of Warming Balm for Swimming
- Pool or Open Water (Sea/Lake): Two Different Worlds
- The Practical Problem: Does It Wash Off in Water?
- Application Guide: The Swimmer's Perfect Routine
- Recovery After the Session: The Key Moment
- Conclusion
The Swimmer's Challenge: Thermal Shock and Water
Unlike a sprint athlete who moves through the air, a swimmer is immersed in a medium that conducts temperature 25 times faster than air. This means your body loses heat much more rapidly in water.
Reflexive Muscle Tension When you enter slightly cool water (around 26 or 27 degrees Celsius for sports pools), your body has a defense reflex: it slightly contracts muscles to produce heat and protect internal organs. The problem? To swim well, you need to be relaxed. A tense muscle fatigues quickly and pulls on tendons. It's often in the first 10 minutes of swimming that you feel minor discomfort or struggle to find your rhythm.
The Importance of "Warming Up the Machine" Dry warm-ups (at the poolside) are often neglected by amateur swimmers. They do a couple of arm circles and jump in. This is a mistake. Your joints are "cold." Applying local heat even before changing or going to the poolside helps anticipate the cooling caused by the water. It's a way of telling your body: "Everything is fine, stay warm."
Why Do Shoulders and Neck Suffer So Much While Swimming?
Swimming is a supportive sport, making it gentle on the knees and back, but it can be very demanding on the upper body. To understand the benefit of warming balm, we need to look at the swimmer's anatomy.
The Shoulder: A Complex Mechanism The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the human body. In front crawl, butterfly, or backstroke, it performs thousands of rotations per session. It is held by a group of small, very fragile muscles. When cold, these small muscles lack elasticity. If you force your way forward, you risk creating friction and tendon inflammation. This is the number one injury for swimmers.
The Neck and Trapezius Muscles In breaststroke, or when breathing during front crawl, you heavily engage your neck. Cold water tends to stiffen the neck. The result? You leave the pool with a stiff neck or a crick in the neck. Preparing this area with a warming balm helps keep the neck flexible despite the coolness of the water.
For more on neck pain, consult our specialized guide: Cervical pain: causes and solutions to relieve your neck
The Real Benefits of Warming Balm for Swimming
So, is it useful? The answer is yes, but not to warm up the pool water! The objective is targeted at your muscles.
1. Faster Start-up By applying a warming balm to the shoulders, triceps (the back of the arm), and trapezius muscles 20 minutes before the session, you stimulate blood flow to these areas. When you start your first laps, your muscles are already supplied with blood. You avoid the "heavy arms" sensation at the beginning of the session.
2. Cramp Prevention Cramps are the swimmer's enemy (often in the calf or under the foot). They frequently occur due to cold or fatigue. Warming balm, by improving blood circulation, helps delay the onset of these painful involuntary contractions.
3. Psychological Comfort Do not underestimate this aspect. Feeling a gentle warmth on your shoulders or lower back as you enter the water provides a sense of comfort and security. This allows you to relax and swim more fluidly.
The biggest problem with creams at the pool is greasy hands. Discover our Izom Warming Stick: clean, direct application.
Pool or Open Water (Sea/Lake): Two Different Worlds
The usefulness of warming balm varies depending on where you swim.
In the pool (controlled environment) The water is temperate. Here, the balm primarily serves for muscle warm-up and shoulder comfort. It is useful for intense sessions.
In open water (sea, lake, river) Here, it's a different story. The water can be cold (15 to 20 degrees Celsius). Triathletes and open water swimmers very often use greases or balms.
- Protection against cold: A layer of warming balm creates a protective film on the skin that slightly insulates against direct cold.
The Practical Problem: Does It Wash Off in Water?
This is the big question: "useful or not." If you apply a cream or product and it dissolves in the water after 2 minutes, it's useless (and you also pollute the water).
The Secret: A Rich Base for Deep Penetration Unlike water-based gels that stay on the surface and wash off with the first lap, a good balm for swimmers must contain natural fatty substances. This is where coconut oil and shea butter play an essential role. These two natural ingredients don't just nourish the skin. They act as "carriers." They help the products effectively penetrate and carry the warming active ingredients (like camphor) deep into the muscle, instead of leaving them on the surface. Once absorbed by the skin, they are no longer at risk of washing off in the water!
Application Guide: The Swimmer's Perfect Routine
Step 1: Key Areas Only There's no need to apply it to your entire body. Target the active and vulnerable areas:
- Shoulders (front, top, and back).
- Neck and trapezius muscles.
- Triceps (the back of the arms).
- Lower back (the lumbar region is heavily engaged in maintaining balance in the water).
Step 2: "Clean Hands" Application This is crucial in swimming. If you have warming balm on your hands and you put on your swim goggles, you risk getting it in your eyes or on the silicone seals of your goggles (which can damage them and cause leaks).
- The advantage of the Izom Stick: You apply it directly to the shoulder without touching the product with your palms. Your hands remain clean to adjust your goggles and swim cap.
Recovery After the Session: The Key Moment
Once out of the water, the body cools down very quickly due to evaporation from the wet skin. This is often when you shiver.
After a warm shower Once washed and dried, your muscles are fatigued from the effort. This is the ideal time for a second application, this time for recovery. Post-session massage helps to:
- Relax the trapezius muscles that contracted to keep your head out of the water.
- Relieve the lower back.
Be careful, after swimming, the skin is often dried out by chlorine. Choose a warming balm that also contains nourishing ingredients for the skin, or apply a moisturizing cream once the warming effect has dissipated.
If you often experience muscle soreness the day after your swimming sessions, it's important to understand why to manage it better. Read our article: Muscle soreness after training: understanding DOMS and recovering better
Conclusion
So, warming balm and swimming: useful or not? The answer is definitely useful, provided it is used correctly.
It's not a miracle solution that will make you swim faster effortlessly, but it is a formidable tool for comfort and injury prevention. For the swimmer, whose shoulders are the main engine, providing warmth before diving into a cold environment is common sense. It helps "oil the machinery" before intensely soliciting it.
Once you adopt this habit, you'll find it hard to go back, especially during winter or morning sessions!