Injury Prevention

Jim_PapeJim_Pape Member
edited September 2012 in Beginner Questions
I am currently experiencing severe pain in the neck, left shoulder and arm and down the left shoulder blade. The doctor thinks that this may be a slipped disc and I am awaiting the results of an MRI. While this may or may not have come from swimming, it got me to thinking that I have not been doing very much in the way of dry land exercises to help prevent muscle imbalances, though I have been doing (irregularly) exercises for the rotator cuff.

With all of the very experienced swimmers on this forum, could I ask what you do to prevent injuries (strength training and stretching)? By way of introduction, I have been swimming most of my life, on community and school swim teams thru high-school, and have kept swimming at a much lower volume since, though life factors do get in the way. This year I have discovered the joy of open water swimming and have been steadily building my miles. The Coney Island Aquarium 5K was to be my distance event this year, but as luck would have it a pretty strong storm cancelled the event. My goal is to work my way up to a 10K next year. I really appreciate this forum as well as the blogs of some of it's members, as I am learning quite a bit about the sport.

Thanks in advance.
Jim

Comments

  • heartheart San Francisco, CACharter Member

    I want to revive this! Currently struggling with a broken toe and an ankle problem, and worried that the emphasis on upper body is going to strain my shoulders.

  • CazzwimCazzwim UK.New Member

    Bizarre as it sounds I recently injured myself attempting the dryland injury prevention exercises given in a swimming book..... I called on the services of a sports physiotherapist with a specialism in shoulders. He is working through progressive exercises with me, that are tailored to my specific needs and weaknesses.

  • NeilNeil New Member

    The keys in my opinion are rotator cuff exercises: External, internal, and overhead.

    Personally, working on my overhead mobility and so lat, tricep, and chest stretch also, to ensure that my shoulders are able to move freely.

    Plus a strong core and so different plank variations.

  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    I think being able to recruit your back muscles properly is severely overlooked by a lot of swimmers. I see a lot of people frantically turning over there arms trying to gain speed and I cruise past them with a much slower stroke rate because I am properly recruiting my lats and rhomboids.

    My main focus on dry land has been transabdominal exercises, doing a lot of stuff for my core that works out a very different range then simple crunches, leg lifts. If you think about your body in quadrants, its utilizing your abs to twist and pull resistance from different angles. Kettlebells are great for swimmers and they are starting to catch on a little more now a days. Just rotating a heavy kettlebell from one hand to the other in a 360 degree motion around your body is a game changer for swimmers.

    KatieBunbahsan22
  • curlycurly Issaquah, WASenior Member

    @musclewhale89 said:
    ... Just rotating a heavy kettlebell from one hand to the other in a 360 degree motion around your body is a game changer for swimmers.

    Is the plane of rotation horizontal or vertical? In my mind, I think vertical would be really good, but it seems hard as heck with a heavy kettlebell. Would the same effect be gotten with a light dumbbell?

  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    @curly said:

    @musclewhale89 said:
    ... Just rotating a heavy kettlebell from one hand to the other in a 360 degree motion around your body is a game changer for swimmers.

    Is the plane of rotation horizontal or vertical? In my mind, I think vertical would be really good, but it seems hard as heck with a heavy kettlebell. Would the same effect be gotten with a light dumbbell?

    It would be horizontal. From a standing position, the kettlebell does a complete 360 rotation around your body going from one hand to the other.

    Like this:

    JSwimcurlybahsan22
  • SwimUpStreamSwimUpStream Portland Oregon Member

    At the end of each season, I reflect on my weaknesses. Did I have a sore neck in each of my big swims this year? Was my chest twinging on hour 5? Did my lower back hurt and did I spend every feed stretching it? Did my hip flexors cramp? Then before my next season, I head to a PT and build a plan for Pre-Hab (vs ReHab). It becomes part of my daily training and building up PT sets is part of my weekly plan; if I have a time constraint and have to pick between another 2k and my PT, PT wins. It’s kept me injury free for the last 5 yrs.

  • MLambyMLamby Senior Member
    edited August 2022

    You're way more reflective than I am. And, my PT is my wife and friends, who I whine to.....it's all I can afford. MY approach is reflecting on this old joke... "Hey, I went to the doctor, and said, Hey Doc...it hurts when I do this.... He said....don't do that." :)

  • curlycurly Issaquah, WASenior Member

    I have a new insight (for me) regarding injury prevention. I used to be a daily swimmer. Basically because I like swimming. I've always heard about recovery days and over work etc. When I was a youngster on swim teams, daily was pretty much a given. So it's kind of my habit.

    Well, the pandemic tossed me out of the pool for a while. Then when I started swimming again, I started just going on Tuesdays and Thursdays because it was less crowded. So this year, that is what I've been doing. I decided to enter a couple of 5K races this year just because I figured it would be kind of fun and I like having something to motivate me to work out a little harder.

    I stayed with the two days a week schedule. I'm doing a bunch of work which has also taken up way too much of my play time, so two days a week swimming actually helped me accomplish more. Even when I finally made it out to the lake for our delayed summer, I still just did two days a week. I was kind of curious how this would translate to actually racing a 5K.

    Well, it seemed to work out pretty well. My first race was in July and I did OK. Not as good as I wanted, but I didn't suck. I just did another race this past weekend in a new lake for me. It was a great setting, the water was perfect temperature. Virtually non-existent wind and a bunch of terrific swimmers. I finished mid pack with a personal best time, much to my surprise.

    And more to the topic of this thread. I've noticed that my shoulders never bug me. I've been feeling really good with all my aging body parts. And apparently the reduced training schedule hasn't affected my swimming in a negative fashion. I have also resigned myself to the fact that I'm now going to be finishing races mid pack because it's really hard to keep up with swimmers who are a third my age. For that matter it's hard to keep up with that bunch in California who are my age. Jeez, there were some terrific swimmers down there this weekend. I also saw a gold MSF cap in the crowd, so that was cool.

    I don't think this light a schedule would translate well to big distances, but I think anything up to a 10K wouldn't be hurt. I also do believe that rest and recovery days will help on big distance training if you use the rest and recovery day as a light swim day or a light cross train day. I am now going to incorporate more rest and recovery into my swimming. I think it will help in terms of keeping injury free and will actually allow me to continue swimming at a decent level for a long time. And it also makes me excited to go swimming after being out of the water for more than a day. Overall, an interesting new approach for me.

    MLamby
  • SwimUpStreamSwimUpStream Portland Oregon Member

    I’ve been doing a daily routine of CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations) of each joint and it’s a must for injury prevention and rehab.

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