Transcript:
Hey guys, Alex Ewart here, the Swimming PT. In this video, I wanted to talk to you about some of the things I look for early on when a swimmer has swimmer’s shoulder, to monitor progress, but also what to fix to get on track to recovering. I actually recorded this video and forgot to press record, so I guess I didn’t really record it. So I have everything written up on here, right? Lucky you guys save a little bit of time.
So swimmer’s shoulder, is incredibly common. It impacts so many swimmers around the world every single year. For some swimmers, it’s just a little bit discomfort that goes on for a long time. Other times it can be pretty debilitating and it can really get in the way and really get in your head and it can be an incredible source of frustration.
There are common things though, between the spectrum of swimmer’s shoulder that I like to see and I look for in a swimmer to make sure they’re on the right track. All right. So we’re going to go over those today.
What Do You Want to Look For?
The first thing I look for is a swimmer’s ability to reach overhead, right? Can they get into a streamline? Can they reach overhead? Are they willing to do it? How much pain is there? And having that in the back of your head helps, you know, okay, general levels of your ability. There’s no resistance when you reach overhead. So you’re just testing someone’s willingness to move and really how irritable they are. If someone doesn’t want to reach that high up, I’d bet that their shoulder pain is pretty darn high. And so using this to monitor how you’re doing is a really good one. It’s at a very basic level.
What about Strength?
Next is relative strength. So using my hands and putting the swimmer’s shoulder in specific positions, you can test the strength of a muscle. Now, by only using hands, you can only really detect if a muscle is strong, not weak or painful when using the muscle. And that’s exactly what we look for. If a swimmer is strong, but they have a lot of pain, right? Moderate levels of irritability. It’s something to track, right? In two weeks, can they use that same muscle without as much pain, right? Before, if they couldn’t even hold it because of the pain, can they now hold it with pain? So this is a really good thing to track over time because it gives you an idea of how the muscle’s functioning and how much pain it reproduces.
Don’t forget about Range of Motion
The third thing to track is range of motion, especially internal range of motion for swimmers. Internal shoulder range of motion is when you go here and you rotate inwards. If you lay your swimmer on their back, you make sure that they’re not cheating through other parts of their shoulder. A lot of times it can be really tight and limited, right? But when you pull, you need at least 40 degrees of internal rotation, if not more. And if you don’t have this motion, you’re going to keep cheating, right? So using this is a really good idea to monitor. Let’s say if you improve it on day one, you go from 20 degrees to 50 degrees, come back the next visit. And well, you go back to 20 degrees, something wasn’t addressed or something, the root cause has not been found yet. And so making sure that you improve the range of motion and track it over time can really help you see if you’re addressing the root cause of your pain.
Want to test your shoulder range of motion? Click here.
What is One Thing Many Swimmer’s Don’t Fix: Tightness in the Neck
The next thing to consider is the tightness in the neck, which often accompanies shoulder pain in swimmers. Sometimes, the neck is the main cause of the swimmer’s shoulder. If you want to read more about how to see if your neck is causing your swimmer’s shoulder, click here. It’s important to note that you don’t necessarily have to experience neck pain or significant tightness for the neck to be involved. However, if you feel around your neck and sense some tightness, it’s likely that the neck is contributing to some extent. This connection between the neck and shoulder pain is logical because many muscles in the neck attach themselves to the shoulder blade. Since the shoulder blade and the shoulder are closely linked and physically connected, any tightness in the muscles that insert on the shoulder blades will undoubtedly affect the shoulders.
Monitoring the level of tightness over time is a valuable method to assess improvement. For instance, if you address the neck tightness and it significantly diminishes, but then returns when you check back two weeks later, it indicates that the root cause was not adequately addressed, and something essential is missing. The reappearance of tightness suggests that the issue persists and needs further attention.
Why Do Swimmer’s Typically Have Tightness in the Neck?
Lastly, let’s discuss diaphragmatic breathing. In swimming, a common breathing strategy among swimmers involves breathing from the chest. This approach is understandable because swimmers don’t have the luxury of taking a breath whenever they want during a race. However, breathing from the chest requires assistance from the pectoral muscles and other muscles around the neck. This reliance on chest breathing can create a cycle where tightness becomes a constant issue. If you consistently breathe from your chest, you may find yourself trapped in a cycle of perpetual tightness.
Ensuring that a swimmer can breathe through their belly is another crucial aspect to monitor. During calls or when I’m with a swimmer, I often observe their breathing without informing them. I pay attention to whether they are breathing through their nose, using their belly, or simply relying on chest breathing and experiencing tightness. It is important to examine how they naturally breathe.
How does these 5 things relate?
By focusing on three key areas – improving range of motion, addressing neck tightness, and promoting belly breathing – you can test their impact on your ability to reach overhead. Do these improvements alleviate pain and enable you to use your muscles with less discomfort? These factors are all interrelated, and by primarily concentrating on these three aspects, you may achieve a more significant impact and confirm that you’re on the right path.
If, however, you experience fluctuations in your ability to reach overhead, such as being able to fully extend into a streamline one day but only reaching 120 degrees the next, it indicates that something may be amiss. Perhaps you overexerted yourself in the pool or didn’t perform the right exercises or techniques. Use these indicators to track your progress in rehabilitation. You don’t have to focus on all five aspects simultaneously; selecting two or three as benchmarks will suffice. Remember, having something to track will lead to better outcomes compared to tracking nothing at all.
The Final Touch:
In conclusion, utilize these five elements, choose a few to prioritize, and ensure you track them diligently. If you want to overcome your shoulder pain, it is essential to address these areas and excel in each of them. Thank you for watching, and if you enjoyed this content, please like, comment, and follow. Your support helps me expand the channel and assist more swimmers like you. Thank you for watching, and until next time.