I recently received an email from someone who has been reading The Swimming PT‘s blog posts. This swimmer asked a really good question. The question was “I will have take a 2 or 3 month break from swimming. What exercises would you recommend to prepare me to return to swimming without injury?” At first, this may seem like a simple question. But once you start thinking about it, the more complex it becomes. This blog post will answer the question of “what can you do to prepare yourself to return to swimming without injury?”
I believe that a movement program in this scenario will need to consider the following…
- What muscles do swimmers rely on?
- How can you maintain general strength?
- What are the specific demands of swimming?
Let’s take a deep dive into each of these.
What Muscles do Swimmers Rely On?
Trick question. Swimming uses pretty much every single muscle in the body. But there are certain muscles swimmers will use more compared to other athletes. As you may have guessed, swimmers use the muscles around the shoulder much more compared to other athletes.
These muscles can be broken down into two categories, prime movers and stabilizers. The muscles in the prime movers category are the muscles that are designed to help move your shoulder. These muscles tend to be larger and more powerful compared to the stabilizers. Some prime examples of mover muscles are your lats, pecs, and deltoids.
Your stabilizer muscles on the other hand, help stabilize your shoulder. These muscles put your shoulder in a optimal position, to help set your prime mover muscles to work optimally. Some examples of stabilizer muscles are the rotator cuff (infraspinatus, supraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis), serratus anterior, rhomboids, and trapezius.
With all of that being said, a program that will help you return to swimming without injury will need to have exercises that work both types of muscles.
Some of my favorite exercises include:
Banded Pull Apart
Plank Protraction
Push Up Plus
Pull ups
How Can You Maintain General Strength?
This is another important consideration, that is often looked. Especially if you are taking a long break from any exercise. Without regular exercise, you can lose a large amount muscle mass, and subsequently a lot of strength. Not only in your shoulders, but in your legs and trunk too. Considering everything is connected in your body, a weakness in one area, may result in an injury somewhere else.
Weakness in your legs may result in a less powerful kick, worse starts, and worse turns. Weaker legs can even more stress put on your shoulder! A weak kick can lead to a compromised body position in the water, making you rely more on your shoulders for speed in the water. The last thing you want as a swimmer is to have a shoulder injury because of weakness in your legs. This makes doing general strengthening important, especially for your lower body.
Some of my favorite general strengthening exercises include…
Rear foot Elevated Split Squat
Squats
Deadlifts
Side Planks
What Are the Specific Demands of Swimming?
Swimming is incredibly complex. Why? Because it requires a unique blend of strength and muscular endurance. In order to improve both strength and muscular endurance, you want to a have some exercises in your program that are higher rep, lower weight and some exercises that are lower rep, high weight.
What I have seen work the best is doing higher reps, 8-20 reps, when your swimming volume is lower or you are just starting to get back into swimming. As your swimming volume increases, decrease your reps and increase the weight to avoid excessive muscular fatigue when swimming.
What Does This Look Like All Together?
Here is an example of a workout that has worked for many different swimmers as they get ready to return to swimming.
Block A
Goblet Squat 4×8
Push Up Plus 3×12
Block B
Romain Deadlift 3×15
Pull ups with 3 second lower 3×5
Block C
3 Way Banded Pull Apart 3×7
Side Plank 3x:40
Single Arm Farmers Carry 3×20 Feet each Arm
The Wrap Up:
Returning to swimming after a long period of time can be daunting. But knowing that you have prepared your body well, will make it a lot easier. Making sure you spend time working on swimming specific muscles, in addition to working on your general strength is the best way to prepare for your return to swimming. The most important thing is to start slow back in the pool, and increase your training volume gradually. Without doing this, no movement program will keep you injury free.
Happy Swimming!
Alex Ewart