Streaching a Tri Wetsuit - success

I was having trouble breathing in my suit.  Based on my weight it should have been more than large enough.  I searched the web for "streaching triathlon wetsuit", but didn't find much information.   So, since I only paid $60 on Ebay I thought I would give it a try.  I stuffed the  chest area with  packing bubbles until it was 5 inches larger than my chest.  My wife saw it and suggested therapy,  it looked like a blow up doll without a head.  She laughed too soon, it worked.  I went for my 1/2 mile swim and could breathe almost normal.  I don't think I would try this with a new $500 suit, but for those who may have added just too much muscle in the chest or lat area this may work.

One other question occured to me this morning as I started to swim.  If I am going to only be at  what most would consider a warm up speed during my race anyway, do I need to warm up.