What is one of the most important questions to ask yourself if you have pain when swimming?
It isn’t “what is your pain level on a scale of 0-10” or “what have you done to make it feel better.”
The million dollar question is “at what point in your stroke do you feel the most discomfort.” Here is why….
#1 It gives you a good idea of what muscles may be weak or if you have an area’s that are tight or lack mobility.
An example is if you have the most pain during your pull. Research has shown that if you have pain during the pull phase of swimming, the serratus anterior muscle is LESS active compared to swimmer’s with no shoulder pain.
This makes strengthening your serratus anterior a top priority in your rehab plan.
Some of my favorite exercises for strengthening the serratus anterior, especially if you have pain during your pull, are…
Bear Hugs – Typically I will have swimmer’s start with 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps. I like higher reps for this one because many swimmer’s don’t have resistance bands with enough resistance to make this exercise challenging enough after ~10 reps. After all, if you don’t challenge the muscle enough, you won’t get stronger 🙂
Wall Slides – I like to have to swimmers master this without a band first. Then add a lighter band around the wrists after they get comfortable with the movement. A key mistake you may make is letting your elbows slide outwards, so that your elbows are not directly under your wrist. I will typically do 2 sets, starting at ~12 reps, but increase the reps as your endurance improves during exercise.
#2 You know what specific drills in the pool you need to do so you can keep swimming.
This is another reason why the question “at what point in your stroke do you feel the most discomfort” is important. Because with the right drills, you can stay in the pool and keep your pain down.
Sticking with the example of having the most pain during the pull part of your stroke, incorporating fist drill will be helpful for you. Fist drill will help take stress of the shoulder and help correct any stroke errors that are contributing to your pain. All by just closing your fist!
I will typically have swimmer’s start with doing half of their warm up as fist drill, then adding it into their main set if their pain starts to increase later in the swim. If someone hasn’t been able to swim for a while, I will have them complete 50% of their swims doing fist drill.
It sounds crazy, but it works!
As you can see, working with someone who understands swimming can make a big difference.
It takes the guesswork out of rehab, and helps you get back on track ASAP.
Happy Swimming,
Alex Ewart