GNST is excited to announce a new, cutting-edge dryland program for our athletes. Our Head coach, Leigh Ann Fetter-Witt, and her assistants have been working with Jennifer Platt, the director of education for Postural Restoration Institute, along with Matt Hornung and Hannah Janssen, to bring a dryland program designed specifically for swimmers focused on building symmetry, balance, and strength in all muscle groups - specifically targeting core strength. We are excited about this collaborative effort for our swimmers because it provides them with the opportunity to take their swimming achievements to a new level.
Another exciting aspect of our new dryland program is that GNST has hired Matt Hornung, a graduate from Wesleyan University with bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training, and Hannah Janssen, a graduate from Wayne State with a bachelor’s in Exercise Science, as dedicated trainers for this new program. Both Matt and Hannah are employed as Education Coordinators at the Postural Restoration Institute here in Lincoln. In addition to their extensive education with Postural Restoration®, they are currently studying to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA.
The Postural Restoration Institute® was founded right here in Lincoln by Ron Hruska in 1999, and they now teach over 85 courses a year to rehab and fitness professionals across the country and internationally. Many collegiate and professional teams have begun using the science of Postural Restoration for rehabilitation and training of top athletes across the country.
We are excited to have this amazing team assist and develop the dryland program for our swimmers. With this new dryland program, GNST is able to provide our swimmers with a proven, internationally recognized program that builds core muscle groups and brings symmetry of motion both in the water and on land.
GNST Dryland Program Overview
6/12/2015 Update:
Our dryland program has been based on treating muscle imbalances frequently found in swimmers along with improving breathing function. Every exercise we do has a huge breathing component in it. We emphasize full exhalation no matter what exercise we have them do. This helps the swimmers in a couple of ways; it helps them to get a full breath of oxygenated air on inhalation because they are getting out the “dead air” that does not have oxygen in it. It also helps the swimmers because we have them hold the exhalation by holding the balloon on the top of the roof of their mouth just like they do when they are doing a flip turn.
We heard some great comments after the first couple sessions ranging from “I can feel that my heart rate is lower after we do these exercises” to “I’ve been sleeping better the last couple nights.” The first strengthening step that we worked on in our program was strengthening abdominals by encouraging flexion in their low back along with stretching out between the shoulder blades when they inhale. We saw good results with these exercises as the swimmers were all showing better core control along with improved breathing mechanics.
After the swimmers were flexing correctly and breathing correctly we added in shifting from side to side into their program. When they are in the water they need to be able to rotate into both of their hips while they are having their ribs and shoulders move either the same way or opposite based on the stroke. We will continue to progress these strengthening exercises by integrating multiple muscle groups. Now that we have their shoulder blades in a better position to move we will begin to strengthen the shoulder/thoracic complex. The swimmers have been great to work with and have seen great improvements in each of them. Keep up the good work!
-Matt & Hannah
